Grace’s Turmoil by Peter Perrin

Not Too Old for Love
Book 1

Divorced and emotionally damaged, artist Grace Stollery wants nothing more than to spend her semi-retirement painting and let time heal her emotional scars.

But when dashing widower Alfred Nobel moves into her retirement village he turns her life upside down and her heart inside out by awakening feelings she wants to keep dormant.

Alfred quickly sets out to woo Grace and slowly she warms to him. But the village’s resident femme fatale wants him for herself. Will she succeed in driving a wedge between Alfred and Grace?

Excerpt

Grace jabbed at the volume button on the remote control, turning up the sound on the television. She was trying to drown out the chatter which filled the palatial residents’ lounge. It had been like that for days, and she’d grown tired of it. Who would have thought the imminent arrival of one man could affect mature ladies like that?

One of the things which had appealed to her when she moved to The Grangeretirement village was the lack of men. Yet a man who aroused feelings in her she didn’t want was going to add to their number.

Grace had caught a glimpse of him across The Lounge a few months ago, taking the standard tour of The Grange. He’d towered over the young woman he’d been with, and she’d guessed he was at least six-foot-five. Built like a tank, with a mass of wavy white hair and a snow-white beard, he’d reminded her of a polar bear. His presence had been overpowering and almost menacing. An image of him defending a seventeenth-century mansion in days gone by had jumped into her mind.

Looking at him had sent a spontaneous burst of attraction rippling through her. It had caught her by surprise. Becoming attracted to anybody was the last thing she’d needed right then. Her divorce had been too recent and too painful. All she wanted was to focus on her painting to block out the pain. Although she hadn’t come there to look for a man, there was no denying how she’d reacted to the sight of him. She wondered how she would cope when they met. And she couldn’t help feeling he was going to have quite an impact on her life. Whether it would be a good impact or not was the million-dollar question. He might be the greatest thing since sliced bread! Or he could turn out to be a snake in the grass like her ex-husband.

About the Author

Peter Perrin writes sweet, seasoned romances involving larger-than-life mature characters who will make you rethink your views on older people in a positive way. His characters are mature in age but not necessarily in their behaviour. They may not be in the first flush of youth but that doesn’t stop some of them acting like hormonal teenagers.

Peter was born in Romford, in the county of Essex, near London, England. For nearly twenty years he has lived with his wife of almost forty years in a quiet suburb of Swindon, in the county of Wiltshire, in England. He is a father and grandfather.

He is a former member of The Royal Air Force who has served in the UK, and in Madagascar, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia. He was also stationed for two years in Aden—which nowadays is part of Yemen.

After almost fifteen-years’ service in The Royal Air Force Peter worked in Engineering, Quality Control, and Procurement Management, not to mention myriad smaller jobs in between those careers.

Now retired Peter’s interests are Writing, Carp Fishing, and (despite being in his early seventies) PC and PlayStation games.

His favourite quote is “Youth passes, but with luck, immaturity can last a lifetime.”

Buy Link. http://www.devinedestinies.com/preorder/grace-s-turmoil/

Website: https://peterperrin.blog

Blog:  https://peterperrin.blog

Twitter: https://twitter.com/peterperrin44

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeterPerrin44/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/peterperrin/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/

Amazon Author Page: Coming soon!

Interview with Holly Hewson for TRS

HH: Peter, thank you for talking with us at TRS. Please tell us about your new release, Grace’s Turmoil.

PP: Thanks for having me. Grace’s Turmoil is more than just my new release. It is my first release, my debut novel. It’s my attempt to provide mature romance readers with characters they can identify with. Mature characters who have life experience and bring with them emotional baggage.
HH: This is the first in a series called Not Too Old. What can you tell us about the series?

PP: Well, perhaps the first thing I should tell you is that it didn’t start out to be part of a series. It was going to be a one-off. A challenge to see if I could write a novel. But the characters grew on me and I felt some of them deserved their own books. This was confirmed when a critique partner asked me if two of the characters she especially liked could be in their own book. I thought about the various characters, and their interaction in Grace’s Turmoil, and realised there needed to be at least another two books.
HH: How does Grace’s story kick off the series?

PP: Grace’s story sets the scene. It introduces readers to a lively bunch of retirees, all aged at least sixty. But, although they are mature they’re mostly not yet ready to watch TV all day, or doze in front of the fire. Instead they’re active people looking to enjoy life, who don’t see themselves as old people—just people who are getting older.

It shows you that some of the residents of The Grange retirement village are interested in having romance in their lives, even relationships. And there’s even a femme fatale to stir the pot.
HH: What can you tell us about the stories to come?

PP: I can’t tell you a great deal at this time as I only have a vague idea of what will be in Book Two, and a preference of who I’d like to see get together in future books. What I do know is that each book will be able to be read alone but, because it is set in a retirement village, readers will be able to follow characters from one book to another and see how they develop.
HH: What do you personally like best about Grace and how will readers identify with her?

PP: She has led a tumultuous life and had little luck with her relationships to date. Indeed, she’s still recovering from a painful divorce. And yet, despite her misgivings, she doesn’t totally reject Alfred when he makes it clear he wants to get to know her well. I like that she is prepared to take a chance on him, just as long as things go at her pace.

I think many readers will identify with her as someone who has had her heart broken more than once. Someone who has suffered an unpleasant marriage and a painful divorce, but is trying to be strong enough to risk another relationship.
HH: What do you like best about Alfred and why will readers love him?

PP: I like the fact he quickly becomes a good friend to a couple of the guys he meets at The Grange and helps out when their funds are short. And although he’s well off he doesn’t flaunt his money.

I think some readers will love him and others will loathe him. He’ll be loved because he tries to be a nice guy, and wants to bring Grace happiness. But, he may be loathed because he’s not always honest with Grace about what happens between him and a man-eating female resident.
HH: What are you working on at the moment and how is it going?

PP: I’ve been jotting down random notes, ideas, scenes, and scraps of imagined dialogue for Book Two. Sadly, I’m not great at multitasking so I didn’t really do anything while the book was in its final stages of editing. And the marketing side of things is so new to me that it has taken up a lot of my time since then. But, I’m about to start putting together a basic outline for Book Two.
HH: What’s your writing schedule like?

PP: I think chaotic, intermittent, and random, about covers it. I’m not a disciplined or organised writer although that may change as I get more experienced. So, I write when I feel like it or when inspiration suddenly strikes me.

HH: What do you enjoy when you aren’t writing?

PP: That depends on the time of year. All year round I like to play online computer games or play games like ‘Rise of the Tomb Raider’ on my PS 4. But, between about April and October I also like to fish. Carp fishing is my speciality and this year I caught a new all-time personal best carp of twenty-six pounds. Fortunately, fishing time isn’t all time lost in respect of writing. If I have a quiet day I get the chance to write notes through the day, and being away from the computer, PS 4, and the internet means no distractions from writing or thinking of ideas.

And of course, I like to spend time with my soulmate, my wife of nearly forty years, Ann.
HH: What are you reading at the moment?

PP: I’m not a typical romance writer, indeed I hadn’t even read one romance before I started to do research for Grace’s Turmoil. I don’t read a great deal even now and when I do it’s a mixture of thrillers and romances. The romances are not by well-known authors but by up-and-coming authors I’ve found through the various online writing groups I belong to.
HH: What are your plans for 2018?

PP: At the moment I’m totally zoned in on the release date for Grace’s Turmoil which is 15^th December, although it is already on pre-order. Then it will go onto Amazon, hopefully just in time for Christmas, where it can be bought as an ebook or a paperback. I plan to sit down in the next few days and trawl through the random notes I’ve made over the past year. Then I want to see if I can do a proper outline for Book Two to try to have a feel for the overall book before I start writing it. This time I just let things happen and the book develop at its own pace. While this was great creatively it meant the book took a long time to write, and I want the next one to be produced much quicker