As a tour host for Rachel’s Random Resources, I’ve gotten to participate in some cool book promo events.

Stormy Skies at the Beach Hotel blog tour ends in a few days, so check out all the cool stops before it’s over. My stop includes an exclusive excerpt from the book. Check it out and leave your thoughts for the author below. Don’t forget to join my email list to get more book event updates.

Book Details

Chambermaid Fanny is thanking her lucky stars she has had a second chance at life. As an unmarried mother, it could have been very different, and she is happy.

But when new maid, Susie, arrives at the Beach Hotel, it isn’t long before sparks fly. Susie begins to meddle in Fanny’s friendships and even in her budding romance with Walter, an American working at the aerodrome.

Meanwhile, a flu epidemic starts to spread and as more people fall ill, the hotel is forced to close.

Matters come to a head when Susie plots to reveal secrets about Fanny that could spell her ruin.

Can the hotel and the hardworking women who run it survive?

Purchase Link – https://geni.us/y3d0su

Author Bio

Francesca Capaldi has enjoyed writing since she was a child, largely influenced by a Welsh mother who was good at improvised story telling.

Writing both under her maiden name, Francesca Capaldi, and her married name, Francesca Burgess, she is the author of historical saga novels, short stories published in the UK and abroad, and several pocket novels. She is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists.

The first novel in the Beach Hotel series, A New Start at the Beach Hotel, won the Romantic Saga Award at the Romantic Novelists’ Association Awards in 2024. The first novel in the Wartime in the Valleys series, Heartbreak in the Valleys, was shortlisted for the Historical Romantic Award in the RoNAs in 2021. Both the Valleys series and the Beach Hotel series are published by Hera Books.

Francesca was born and brought up on the Sussex coast. She currently lives in Kent with her family and a cat called Lando Calrission.

Website: francesca-capaldi.com/

Exclusive Excerpt

Susie Shorn, a new chambermaid at the Beach Hotel, becomes jealous when head chambermaid, Fanny Bullen, has an afternoon out planned with her toddler, Elsie, but without Susie. She decides to go to the beach to find out what she’s up to.

When she got there, she was annoyed to see that the beach was chock-a-block. And, apart from Fanny and Elsie, she didn’t know who else she was looking for.

She panned around that part of the beach. If she didn’t spot them, she’d move on, towards the pier. As she was thinking this, a slow grin formed. A group of people, more men than women, were building what looked like a fort in the sand. There, among them, were Fanny and Elsie.

She found some steps a little further along to go down. She’d make out she’d just been taking a stroll and had come across them by accident, then stop to chat. What could Fanny do about it? So, she was here with a man? Sneaky little minx, not letting on she had a sweetheart.

Nobody in the group noticed her approaching, so intent were they on their antics in the sand.

‘Well I never, fancy seeing you ’ere, Fanny,’ she said.

Fanny’s head shot up, her expression suggesting she’d been caught out in something.

‘Susie, what ya doing here?’

I decided to have a stroll on the beach, since it’s such a nice day.’ She looked around at the others. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt you and your friends.’

Who were these young men? A group on leave? They weren’t in uniform, just trousers and shirts.

The man nearest her, helping Elsie, looked up, curiously. 

‘Um, this is Susie, one of the chambermaids at the hotel. Susie, this is Walter.’

Walter stood. ‘Nice to meet you, ma’am.’

‘Where are you from? You’ve got a weird accent.’

She could have kicked herself straight away. That was not the way to endear herself to people, and that’s what she needed to do. But all the men there laughed.

‘Can’t tell you how many times we hear that, ma’am,’ said Walter. ‘We’re from the United States, buildin’ the aerodrome in Rustington.’

‘I see.’ Did this have something to do with the men Fanny had told them she’d bumped into, a couple of weeks back?

He sat back next to Elsie.

‘Where are you heading?’ said Fanny.

Was her friend trying to get rid of her? It would take more than that. And she noticed she was putting on that voice she used for the guests, as if that would fool anyone.

‘Don’t know, exactly. I was just ’aving a wander… What are you building, Elsie?’ she said, kneeling next to her.

‘San cartles. Lotsa san cartles,’ she said, her eyes wide, as she pointed to the various structures being worked on by the rest of the group.

‘Takes me back to my childhood,’ said one of the women.

‘I like doin’ this,’ said the man next to her. ‘Diggin’ my hands into the soft, warm sand. It’s kinda relaxin’, after workin’ on the airfield all week.’

They all carried on, digging and making castles with the buckets.

‘What time you going back to the ’otel this afternoon?’ Susie asked Fanny. ‘Perhaps we could walk back together.’

Surely someone would invite her to stay. After all, there were other women here. She glanced around the six men. Walter was certainly the best-looking of them.

‘I, I don’t know yet,’ said Fanny.

‘Yeah, we’re takin’ it easy,’ said Walter. ‘See where the day takes us.’

‘Right. That’s nice. Are you all ’ere for long, I mean, in England, building the aerodrome?’

‘We’re here for as long as it takes, and we don’t rightly know how long that’ll be, ma’am.’

The others were talking among themselves and laughing as the sand structure got bigger. No one else seemed inclined to bring her into the conversation. Fanny seemed a little uncomfortable with her there too. Serves her right for being so secretive.  She stood back up, contriving another question for them all, so they had to talk to her.

‘Well, I hope you have a good day, ma’am,’ said Walter.

‘Nice to meet you, ma’am,’ said one of the other men.

They were dismissing her? Standing up had probably given them the wrong idea about her intention. If she’d remained kneeling down, she could have stayed longer.

‘Right. Nice to meet you all too.’

They all glanced her way, and a couple waved, but all were soon occupied with the sand once more. She walked away, furious with them all for not including her. What was so special about Fanny that she’d been invited?

Walter was a handsome man, of that there was no doubt. He was far too good for Fanny. Surely it was just some kind of weird friendship. And why would he want to be with a woman with an annoying brat in tow? She certainly wouldn’t have minded walking out with him herself. If she bided her time, she might be able to do just that.

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