MADE IN NASHVILLE – @MandyBaggot likes to do it the American Way


Today I am delighted to welcome a wonderfully talented writer and performer to my blog – Mandy Baggot. 

I first met her at a literary event where she was not only promoting her novels but was entertaining the crowds at lunch with her microphone and PA system belting out Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab”. She is a total star.

She has a brand new book out called MADE IN NASHVILLE … for a good ol’ dose of country-style romance. 

Without further ado – Mandy, I’ve noticed a number of your books are set in the US. Why is this? 

Mandy:  To be really honest I’m not entirely sure how this happened!

When I started writing I had in mind using my cool British humour and knowledge of UK popular culture in my novels. My first four books had British heroines and three of those were set predominantly in England but two had ‘foreign’ heroes – American heartthrob actor Nicholas Kaden and ice-dance sensation Jimmy Lloyd.



By the time I got to novel number five I was writing about an American-born heroine travelling back to her homeland. There were diners, hockey, my words had Zs in them and one less ‘l’. I was talking pants instead of trousers and clutching purses instead of bags.

I think having my dad living in the US is an influence. He’s a constant source of inspiration, keeps me in touch with American culture and all things Michigan.
But another reason is my obsession with US TV shows. British drama for me has got a little too British. I want escapism. I want action, talk of bodegas and a sexy drawl on my hero.



Made in Nashville was born out of my love for country music and the American lifestyle. Writing about things you’re passionate about always makes for a great story and I really hope that passion shines through on the page.

Although the book is set in Nashville, in the middle of the music scene, you don’t have to be a fan of bluegrass to enjoy Honor and Jared’s story. Their relationship is the focus and it’s their feelings that drive the plot forward. But, before you know it, you’ll be listening to Tim McGraw and wearing plaid!
So there you have it! I’m a girl who loves writing over the pond but I also like to keep everyone on their toes. My next hero’s a Bulgarian!


Mandy Baggot is a romantic fiction author. In 2012 she won the Innovation in Romantic Fiction award at the UK’s Festival of Romance. Her self-published title, Strings Attached was also short-listed for the Best Author Published Read award.

Also in 2012 she signed with American publishing house, Sapphire Star Publishing, who produced her novels, Taking Charge and romantic suspense, Security.

In June 2013 she signed a two book deal with Harper Collins’ digital first romance imprint, Harper Impulse.

She is a regular contributor to writing blogs and on-line magazine, Loveahappyending Lifestyle http://www.loveahappyending.com/.

Mandy loves mashed potato, white wine, country music, World’s Strongest Man, travel and handbags. She has appeared on ITV1’s Who Dares Sings and auditioned for The X-Factor.

Mandy is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and lives near Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK with her husband, two daughters and cats, Kravitz and Springsteen.

Loveahappyending Bookshelf: http://loveahappyending.org/mandy-baggot/
Harper Impulse: http://ow.ly/mAQBP
Latest release: Made in Nashville– Amazon UK http://ow.ly/sMOIG


Passion in the Parsnips and Love in the Lettuce – SHANNON’S LAW #romance #novel….. and allotments?

Day one of the “Shannon’s Law Pinterest Reveal Virtual Book Tour” kicks off by getting down and dirty…. in the allotments.  

Read all about it on Nancy Adam’s blog

Or visit my Pinterest Board


The tour runs throughout February until the launch on 28th. At each stop new background info about the characters, locations, food, music etc. from Shannon’s Law will be revealed….

http://fancynancyadams.blogspot.ca/ 31 st Jan
http://jennyinneverland.wordpress.com/ 3rd Feb
http://writersandauthors.blogspot.com 3rd Feb
http://readingintwilight.blogspot.com 3rd Feb
http://www.urbangirlreader.com 5th Feb
http://bookstolightyourfire.blogspot.com 6 Feb
Celtic Connexions 7 Feb
http://everafterromancebookblog.blogspot.com 7 Feb
http://venturegalleries.com/author/emmacalin/ 8th Feb
http://sherylbrowne.com/blog/  9 Feb
9 Feb
http://reviewsbycacb.blogspot.com/ 10 Feb
http://nightskydarkstar.blogspot.com 10 Feb
http://www.loveahappyending.com/ 11 Feb
http://julielynnhayes.blogspot.com 11 Feb
http://www.allthingsbookie.com/291105966 13 Feb
http://www.longandshortreviews.com 13 Feb
http://chicklitpad.blogspot.co.uk/ 14 Feb
http://crooksonbooks.blogspot.co.uk/ 17 Feb
http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandinterviews.blogspot.com 18 Feb
http://cometbabesbooks.blogspot.co.uk/ 19 Feb
ttp://sharinglinksandwisdom.blogspot.com 19 Feb
http://www.mandybaggot.com/apps/blog/ 20 Feb
http://queenofthenightreviews.blogspot.com// 20 Feb
http://www.cluereview.blogspot.com 21 Feb
http://kimthebookworm.blogspot.co.uk/ 21 Feb
http://patriciasands.wordpress.com/ 23 Feb
http://wordsfromanneli.wordpress.com/ 25 Feb
http://www.harliesbooks.com 27 Feb
http://thesaucyreviewer.wordpress.com/ 27 Feb


Cooking the books with frit-lit

Kitchen scales for a King

Okay – you write a hot sexy action romance novel. So what? These days everyone’s mother is an author. So – you think about what people do on this planet. They work blindly and hopelessly trying to please insatiable faceless bosses. They declare wars and pour hate on the other tribe.They divide and sub divide tribe so there’s always an enemy. They work out how to keep money in their own pocket. They work out how to get it out of the other guy’s pocket and into theirs. If you wanna applaud that endless circus leave now! Still there? Here’s the real deal of ennobling human experience.

There’s nothing better than a nice tart.


They have loving unselfish sex. They hunger, dream and eat. They taste and worship the other.  This is my department of life. Oh yes – they savor and flavor. They concoct and consume. They tempt and create longing. They mystify and reveal. Their appetites come together in bed and in the kitchen. Forget the wars and and greed. Love and eat. Eat and love. Dip in to the juice of the others and their tribes and know the true meaning of life, belief and human joy. Fellow wo-men  – scrape off all the dividing junk food you’ve been fed all your lives. Take off and bake off. Fly and get hot. 

Fuel your passion with a meaty sausage



No decent romance novel should ignore food. I’m not talking here about chocographic flavored encounters of the flesh. This kind of stuff is for the sun bed sugar daddies of sclerotic friterature. I’m talking the food and flavor of sexy love. Whether it’s a rich sausage toad in the hole, silky salmon slither or tantalizing tart, it’s all food for love. 

In my latest book SHANNON’S LAW, boy do they eat and love. The front burner of unleashed passion needs to be fed and fanned. There was only one thing a dedicated novelist and philosopher could do. There’s no formula for love – but there’s a recipe for passion. Nothing but an accompanying cook book would do. If those lovers you’re following can taste it, so can you. Whether it’s a heart revealed raw in Venice or a canteen meal in a south London police station, the food of love in SHANNON’S LAW is now a sister book. It’s a munchin’ of luncheon, its an eye full of trifle it’s a stuffed heart palpitating with love. It’s COP’S KITCHEN.


Every erotic moment of sexy passion shared is in the novel. Every morsel of tender taste is in the cook book. It’s more than love. It’s the love of love itself expressed in perfume, aroma and appetite. It’s the front line and burner of desire.

If you want to check out how to get the absolute fuel of total world saving love, follow Shannon’s Law on Facebook or Pinterest or join my mailing list and get a free copy of Cop’s Kitchen. (shipping after 28th Feb).



Emma thinx: Books are hotter than any fire that can burn them.