Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2024 i Take a Break Fiction Feast

Janice moved the cursor into the Google search box and typed: Michael Bublé Look-alike Birthday Gift. The first three results were from companies who had paid to be at the top of the list. She clicked on the first one, found her laptop screen bombarded with pop-up ads, then hit the back button to return to the previous screen. Janice decided to skip the other two sponsored listings and opened the fourth result. She found herself on a not-very-professional website with Your One And Only Michael Bublé emblazoned across the top. In the centre of the screen was a picture of the one and only Michael Bublé and concerns about professional-looking website building disappeared. Because this guy was gorgeous. Which was all that mattered, wasn’t it? When you needed the…

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Shall we meet? Sam suggested. My heart leapt as I read his SM private message. I’d been hoping he’d suggest a meeting. But I kept my tone light and friendly and typed: OK. Where and when? This all started two months ago when I joined a crime fiction book-lovers’ group on social media. For security reasons, I made up an identity. I picked the name Miss Kitty and chose an image of a sleek black cat for my photo. Then a guy called Sam (he used a white poodle image) began to message me privately. We liked the same authors, you see, so we had a lot in common. Sam and I didn’t reveal our real names — and, of course, we didn’t know if either of us were single…

Mum frowned at me as we sat in her lounge. ‘I think they’re planning to do away with Ann’s husband,’ she said. She meant the ladies in the cul-de-sac. She’d moved there not long after my dad passed away. Once she’d settled in, the neighbours had turned up like a flock of starlings. Ann from number five, Sue from number eight, Little Mo from number two. Mum said they swapped skill sets too. Ann used to be a seamstress in a bridal shop and could alter anything. Sue used to work as a bookkeeper, accounts were her thing. Mo once ran a bakery, so if Mum ever needed a cake making… Still, as far as I knew, none had ever worked as an assassin. ‘His name is Robert,’ Mum went…

Patricia should have been in a good mood at the thought of meeting her new friend, Anne, for coffee. She did try to focus on that, but she was grumpy. That morning, she’d dropped the milk, and then when she’d put on her comfy old sandals, the strap had broken. Of course, last night’s terse disagreement with her daughter hadn’t directly caused her to drink black tea for breakfast or wear shoes that rubbed, but Patricia couldn’t help thinking the one had contributed to the others. She was feeling rather exasperated with her daughter, Danielle, as well as generally fed up. Patricia’s grumpiness only increased when she saw someone had dumped a load of empty beer bottles and takeaway containers in the big raised flowerbed on the high street. What…

Nobody said Andy would struggle with his new venture, but everybody kept giving Lynda funny looks. ‘Will you cope?’ her mother asked one day in the kitchen when she called in for a cuppa. ‘With the book-keeping?’ Linda replied. ‘I’ve done loads of research. You know Andy’s not great at maths.’ ‘That’s not what I meant.’ ‘Will you be all right?’ her dad then asked one day when he popped in for coffee. ‘Andy will be working weekends sometimes.’ ‘Actually, that might be a very lucrative time of the week,’ Lynda reasoned. ‘That’s not what I meant,’ her dad replied. Luckily — or perhaps not — her 17-year-son was more direct. ‘Mum, will you tell Dad he needs to find another job soon?’ Noah asked one Saturday when she sat…

After she’d poured herself a glass of water, Liz sat down at the kitchen table opposite her husband and let out a long and heartfelt sigh. ‘What’s the matter?’ Dave asked, looking up from his phone. ‘Does your hand still hurt?’ ‘Yes, it’s agony,’ Liz replied. ‘It’s even more painful than it was last night, so I won’t be able to make Harry’s birthday cake.’ Dave frowned. ‘Why not? You can use your other hand, can’t you?’ ‘Of course I can’t,’ Liz snapped, wishing he’d try to understand how much pain she was in. ‘You need both hands to pick up the bowl and mix all the ingredients, and I wouldn’t be able to do the piping on the top. I can’t even write with my left hand.’ ‘Oh, well.…

Greg and I had been circling the hospital car park for 10 minutes, trying to find a space. ‘Whose bright idea was it to hold these antenatal classes bang in the middle of evening visiting?’ Greg complained. ‘It’s going to be like this every week.’ ‘Look — there’s a space!’ I exclaimed. ‘Well spotted,’ said Greg. But as we edged towards the empty bay, another car appeared out of nowhere and zoomed into the spot. ‘Hey! Not fair!’ I cried. ‘It’s the law of the jungle here, Ellie,’ Greg said. ‘All’s fair in love, war and hospital parking spaces.’ ‘Aren’t you bothered?’ I demanded. ‘We’re going to be late and miss the start of our first class.’ I scowled at the other car. In doing so, I noticed it was…

Each time Graham takes me in his arms, or when Tony kisses me goodnight, I feel so alive I could burst. Sandra couldn’t believe her eyes. She hadn’t meant to read her teenage daughter’s diary, but it had just been lying there, open, on the floor by the bed. It would have taken somebody with stronger willpower than hers to resist having a quick peek. Now she really wished she hadn’t done it. Eighteen-year-old Emma was only home for a couple of weeks, then she’d be going back to college. If she spoke to her about what she had seen, she’d have to admit she had invaded her privacy. Carefully, she put the diary back where she’d found it and left the room, her mind in a whirl. Who on…

Carly smiled at her friend, Jude, as they sat down with their coffee. ‘Thanks for calling...’ she began, and then stopped as Jude started to splutter. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked, jumping up. ‘This coffee!’ Jude cried. ‘What on earth have you put in it?’ ‘I’ll just check!’ said Carly. She rushed out to the kitchen and came back looking shame-faced. ‘What is it?’ asked Jude. ‘What have you poisoned me with?’ ‘I put in a spoon of bicarbonate of soda instead of sweetener, I’m afraid,’ said Carly. ‘I’m so sorry.’ ‘You need glasses!’ Jude told her. ‘I’ve told you before.’ Carly pulled a face. ‘I know. It’s just, well, they’d make me feel so old.’ ‘What? I had glasses when I was 10,’ said Jude. ‘Besides, there’s nothing that…

Do you know one of the things I love best about spring?’ asked Laura, pinning her brooch on her jacket. ‘The cricket on the TV?’ Steve suggested. ‘As if!’ Laura laughed. ‘No! All these weddings of course. To think it’s only March and we’re off to our second wedding already. And we’ve got two more in the next few weeks. They’re such a lovely excuse to dress up and meet family and friends.’ ‘Wearing a suit on a hot day is hardly my idea of fun,’ Steve moaned. ‘Can’t I wear a T-shirt instead?’ ‘No,’ said Laura, picking up their present. ‘What have we bought this time?’ ‘A toaster,’ said Laura. ‘I don’t know, we can’t afford all these weddings!’ ‘Don’t be so miserly, Steve. We have to help our…

Late Friday afternoon, and Carla was trying to enjoy the peace and quiet before her 15-year-old twins arrived home from school. Usually, she loved this time of the week — work over and the weekend to look forward to, plenty of time to catch up and reflect. But after last Friday, she was dreading the evening ahead… Friday night had always been takeaway night, a treat for the family, and a chance for them to be together. But last week, everything had ended up in a row and all because nobody could decide on which takeaway they should eat. For years, it had been fish and chips all round. But over the last few months, Maisie and Mark had wanted to try different menus. And now they’d experienced foreign cuisine,…

The wind raged and howled, gathering fury as it charged along rooftops and swarmed through gardens. It screamed at the windows, clamouring to get in, and it coiled around trees, rocking them in their roots. Ribbons of rain lashed down, becoming ravines that swept away plant pots, recycling boxes, fallen tiles and anything else that hadn’t been tidied away. They’d said Storm Benjamin would be a big one and they hadn’t been wrong. I stood at the window and watched a dustbin lid sail past like a frisbee and grimaced at the thought of being cooped up for another day. My sisters, Jo and Natalie, and their husbands, Gary and Leon, had come to stay for the weekend. As much as I loved living in Cornwall and seeing my family…

I’d spent years pretending I got on with Dan’s mother. She’s the size of a small building, never takes her wellies off, and drives around in a mud-splattered Land Rover. Dan says she’s perfectly normal. Then again, he grew up on a farm surrounded by herds of sheep. He watched his mum successfully give mouth-to-mouth to an exhausted ewe once, after it had spent hours trying to give birth during lambing season. Now lambing season was here again, and it does strange things to Dan’s mother. She turned up one day in early April, her 4x4 flaking mud all over the drive. She wore a man’s tweed jacket and a flat cap on top of her bird’s nest hair-do. ‘Right,’ she rumbled in her deep voice as she stood in…

As she climbed the hotel stairs, Edith spotted her best friend, Daphne, peering around the corner of the stairwell. Intrigued, Edith asked: ‘What’s going on?’ ‘Take a look for yourself,’ Daphne whispered. An elderly woman, wearing large sunglasses and a blonde wig, appeared to be trying to break into the staff room. ‘What a cheek!’ Edith exclaimed. ‘Come on,’ Daphne said. ‘Let’s report her to the hotel manager.’ Ten minutes later, they found themselves in the hotel manager’s office. At the conclusion of their tale, the manager promised to deal with the matter. Despite his promise, two days later, Daphne spotted the mysterious woman acting suspiciously once more. ‘What shall we do now?’ Edith asked. ‘Let’s follow her,’ Daphne suggested. Daphne and Edith followed the woman out of the hotel…

Wake up sleepyhead, you’re going to be late.’ Patty opened one eye and spotted her husband’s huge smile. ‘Late for what?’ she said. ‘Your surprise.’ Nerves erupted. She had an awful feeling she knew what was coming. Hadn’t she glimpsed that website Frank was looking at a few weeks ago? Her fears were confirmed a moment later when Frank held up a piece of paper, one she recognised. Her bucket list. Everything had a tick next to it, except the last one. ‘You didn’t.’ Her heart pounded. ‘I did. Hurry up and get ready, you’re going parachuting today!’ ‘OK.’ She slowly pushed back the duvet. ‘I’ll have a shower first.’ ‘But you had one last night. You always shower in the evening.’ ‘Yes, but if I’m going to be hooked…

With 9pm approaching fast, Gemma decided to bring the latest meeting of the book club to a close. ‘Well, we seem to have exhausted Pride and Prejudice, so unless anyone has anything they wish to add, I think we should wrap things up.’ Gemma glanced around the room, but as none of the group wished to contribute anything further, she thanked the members of the book club for coming and then quietly congratulated herself on how well the evening had gone. And it had. Even the normally argumentative Angela Barrett had been fairly well-behaved tonight. Turning to Tom White, Gemma smiled and said: ‘I believe you’re hosting next month’s event, Tom.’ Before he had the chance to respond, Angela interrupted. ‘Actually, Tom and I have swapped.’ Gemma’s smile faded. She…

Holly Ashworth strolled down the street, pleasantly aware that she was attracting appreciative stares from the men she passed. She thought she might have heard a wolf whistle, too. Holly was used to this. Men falling at her feet was their default position and the lovely Mike was no different. She’d seen him across the room at a car show where she’d been standing next to the latest must-have gleaming set of wheels and he’d winked at her. He was so assured and sexy that she’d winked right back, and later, she joined him for a drink at the exhibition bar. This man had definite possibilities. ‘I’m Mike,’ he said, clasping her hand warmly. ‘And I have a feeling we’re going to get to know each other a lot better.’…

Craig closed his laptop when he heard the key in the front door. Surely she’s not back already. His partner Brianna appeared before him, all smiley and cheerful. ‘Hi, Craig.’ ‘What are you doing back so early? I thought you finished work at 4pm today.’ ‘Yeah, would have, except I quit.’ ‘You’re kidding. Again?’ Craig couldn’t keep the annoyance out of his voice. ‘That’s the fourth job you’ve left this month alone! You really have to stop bailing out of your jobs.’ Brianna said quietly: ‘Aren’t you even going to ask why I quit?’ Craig sighed deeply. ‘I guess you got offended by something someone said or did again, instead of just ignoring them and doing your work.’ ‘Hang on, you were supposed to be home… what are you doing…