Prize of the month

As the author of a forthcoming book called 21 Rules for Not Catching Feelings, she knows better than most about the perils of falling in love.

On arrival at the island wedding destination, Fred is delighted to discover that the groom’s hot muso son Leo is just as set against the wedding as she is.

Together, they come up with ‘Operation Break-Up’ to prevent their parents from making what they believe will be a catastrophic mistake.

But as Fred and Leo get to know each other better, their unexpected feelings for each other create further complications, and Fred is forced to rethink her own rigid rules about romance and family.

Maybe not every relationship has to play by the book, and could Fred become the star in a rom-com of her own?

A heart-warming friends-to-lovers romance about the magic and mayhem of weddings, and what happens when everything you thought you knew about love is turned upside down.

Rachael Johns was briefly an English teacher, before her dreams of becoming a novelist came true. Now she spends her days writing romance and women’s fiction in the Swan Valley in Western Australia.

Her book The Patterson Girls won the ABIA Award in 2016 for General Fiction and she has also won the prestigious Romance Writers of Australia RUBY Award twice.

The Bad Bridesmaid by Rachael Johns is published by Penguin, RRP $34.99.

My Big Fat Fake Marriage by Charlotte Stein

A fake marriage goes awry when two people fall in love for real in this sexy and laugh-out-loud rom-com.

Connie Evans has always distrusted nice guys. In her experience, they’re just waiting to reveal some horrible secret.

And then she meets big, adorable Henry Samuel Beckett — sweet, a lover of bow ties and so cheery that Connie struggles to believe he’s real.

Until Beck — as he’s known to most — tells Connie what truly lurks underneath his sunny surface. He’s been single all his life, but somehow seems to have told everyone he works with that he’s married.

And, when Connie can’t help but defend him, she ends up being the wife he doesn’t have.

And now they’re on a writing retreat together, surrounded by people convinced they can’t be for real, with both of them sure that those people are right.

Until they have to share their first kiss, their first touch, their first time in only one bed.

Side by side, every night, as the simmering tension builds — something has to give.

The only question for Connie is — will that be the fake marriage or her heart?

Charlotte Stein is the RT nominated author of more than 50 short stories, novellas and novels, including When Grumpy Met Sunshine, a book The New York Times called “a triumph”. She lives in Leeds with her family.

My Big Fat Fake Marriage by Charlotte Stein will be published on March 11 by Pan, RRP $22.99

GIVEAWAY

For a chance to win a copy of one of these books, send your name, address, daytime phone number and the answer to this question: Where was the annual Kagome tomato picking day held? (Hint: see page 10.) Entries close on Friday, March 28, via post to: Country Life ‘Married’ Competition, PO Box 8000, Shepparton, 3632; or email to: competition@countrynews.com.au — please include the word ‘Married’ in the subject line.

First prize is a copy of both The Bad Bridesmaid and My Big Fat Fake Marriage; second prize is a copy of The Bad Bridesmaid.

WINNERS

The winners of our February book giveaway are: Kylie Budgen, Tocumwal and Gwen Burchell, Tallygaroopna (Blood and Gold); Katherine Lohse, Mooroopna and Jenny Younger (On This Ground); Jennifer McNamara, Finley (Rural Dreams); and Marg Richards, Kyabram (A Woolly Tale).

Congratulations! You can collect your prize from the Shepparton News office at 7940 Goulburn Valley Hwy, Shepparton.