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Guest Post from Author Samantha Tonge on Her New Novella

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How to Get Hitched in Ten Days is my first novella and the story just flew onto the page. It is a tale of friendship, unrequited love and about turning around the challenges that occasionally strike us all as we go through life. Mikey helps the boyfriend of his best friend and flat mate, Jasmine, turn around a disastrous Valentine’s Day proposal.

Early reviews are coming in and I am thrilled that many readers are reacting to Mikey in the way I intended – they all love him and wish he was part of their lives.  As one reviewer,  Coffeeholic Bookworm says:

“ I want some Mikey in my life! Mikey isn’t your typical hero. He’s soft, fluffy, sensitive and yummy. His friendship with Jasmine was admirable. He’s a keeper”

Do you have a best friend? Someone you can turn to in your hour of need? 

I think I created this character because, apart from my lovely husband, I don’t. And sometimes life gets difficult. You don’t necessarily want to burden your family or partner with your problems. You simply want an objective view from someone who will crack open the wine, stick on a romcom DVD and lend you a listening ear, because they care but aren’t too involved.

I think many of us, nowadays, don’t necessarily have a best friend. I have lots of really good mates, in real life and online, but it is difficult to keep a close friendship going when you might move around with work or your life changes, for example you have children and don’t go out so often. I went to university, spent my twenties travelling on and off and temping and then moved up north, away from where I’d grown up. I am still in touch with school and uni friends, and people I got to know during various jobs, but the closeness, over time, understandably diminishes. And even if your close friends live nearby, we are all so busy nowadays –  people go back to work after having babies, or perhaps climb the career ladder and have less time to socialize. Plus life feels as if it is twenty-four seven, with more of us working shifts and the rise in popularity of the ever-present Social Media.

So, I created this character and whilst writing dreamt of Pinot sleepovers and popcorn parties! Mikey is warm. Loyal. Funny. Hardworking. Generous. Give great hugs. And he is pretty easy on the eye too! Everything you could want in a best friend.
After one especially hard day, Jasmine returns home to her flat:

“... oh, what a welcome sight: Mikey, in his night-time shorts and T-shirt, sitting on the far side of his huge king-sized bed which stood opposite a widescreen telly. Next to him was a bottle of wine, large bowl of popcorn and an array of DVDs. I pursed my lips to trap a sob I could feel rising as he folded down the duvet and patted the mattress...”

Yes, it is a fantasy figure – my husband wouldn’t be too pleased if I had sleepovers with a male friend, and that I could understand! But then stories are supposed to be escapist. And my husband shouldn’t worry, because at their core, all of my heroes are based on his qualities.

 If you are looking for a short story to whisk you away from life’s problems and temporarily lend you a new best friend, then How toGet Hitched in Ten Days might be the book for you!

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Samantha Tonge's new novella How to Get Hitech in Ten Days is out this Thursday! Get ready to grab your copy soon. You can find out more about Samantha Tonge novels on her website, and she's also on Twitter and Facebook. Happy reading!

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