Georgia’s background in countryside living, riding, instructing and working
with horses has provided the knowledge needed for some of her storylines; the others are a product of her overactive imagination! Following a long stint working in the law Georgia set up her own business
providing administration services for other companies which she does to this day entwining that work along with her writing.
Her busy life is set in a tranquil part of rural Cambridgeshire where she lives with her much neglected family of a husband, two nearly grown up children and two dogs.

Ever since I reviewed the first book of her Grayson trilogy, I’ve been waiting to read the next book and hoping to interview author Georgia Rose. That day is here at last, and I’m so excited to welcome her today. Georgia Rose is a writer and the author of ‘A Single Step’ and ‘Before the Dawn’, the first two books in The Grayson Trilogy. She says her concluding book,‘Thicker than Water’, is on the way and should be available 2015 – Spring…possibly Summer!

1. What was your first car? It was a Talbot Horizon (I think?) in white, though the type of car, as with every car since, has been less important to me than the freedom they’ve provided. I got my license the moment I turned 17 but have no interest in cars at all, can barely tell one make from another and have never had anything flashy. To me they are purely a means of getting from one place to another and I’m only interested in their reliability – that is until it comes to changing to a newer one when strangely the more battered and tatty they’ve become under my ownership the bigger piece of my heart they hold and I hate to see them go.

2. Worst movie ever? ‘Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence’ immediately leapt to mind. I love films usually, but years ago I watched this and it’s the only film I can remember seeing where I was willing for the end to come knowing it was 2+ hours of my life I was never going to get back.

3. As a child (or now!), what did you want to be when you grew up? As with so many children I wanted to be a vet. I was heavily influenced by James Herriot and the wonderful ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ TV programme that was on at the time. I’ve worked with horses for quite a while and have had various interactions with vets over that time which has satisfied my curiosity to a degree. Also years later I’ve realized that whilst I would have been fine dealing with most of the work, if someone had brought in a dog or cat mangled from being hit by a car I doubt whether I would have coped well with that at all. And now? Well until a few years ago I still didn’t know what I wanted to be ‘when I grew up’ but writing has solved that for me.

Contact Links for Georgia Rose

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Blurb 

…he moved closer and slowly ran the point of his blade along my jaw line as he spoke softly, intimately, to me.

“So, you are Trent’s woman. Now that is very…appealing.” I glared back at him silently.

There are testing times ahead for Grayson and Trent as trouble threatens Melton Manor. When an attack is made against those on the estate, Grayson gets caught in the middle finding herself and those around her in terrible danger. Terrified when she thinks tragedy has struck again she fights to protect those she now views as family and, suffering bloodshed and pain, confronts her fears – both brought by the enemy and by the one she loves.

• Book Title: Before the Dawn
• Author: Georgia Rose
• Genre: Romantic Suspense
  Length: 175 pages
  Release Date: January 2, 2014
  Purchase Links: Amazon UK| Amazon

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My Review: 5 out of 5 stars for Before the Dawn [note: reviewed for Rosie’s Book Review Team on Rosie Amber’s amazing blog]

I’ve been reading about Japanese sword-making for a current project, and the process sounded oddly familiar. Then I sat down to write a review of Georgia Rose’s Before the Dawn, the second volume in her Grayson trilogy. And I got it. A good sword has to be hard enough to hold a sharp edge, while being strong and flexible enough to absorb massive shocks without cracking or breaking. The story of Emma Grayson parallels the process of creating the katana, the masterpiece of Japanese sword-making.

In creating a katana, or samurai sword, the swordsmith starts with a block of carbon and iron sand, which is heated and folded over and over. Too little folding and the steel will be too flexible. Too much and the strengthening grain will disappear. In the first Grayson volume, A Single Step, Emma Grayson goes through this process. Tested over and over through devastating loss—her parents, her child, her marriage—she emerges with both strength to survive and flexibility to embrace new growth and even find love. Both Emma and her new love Trent have faced their past nightmares and found the courage to commit to each other.

The next step in the sword-making process is to temper the blade, to make it strong and flexible by heating it to red-hot before quenching it in water. This is what Emma goes through in Before the Dawn. She and Trent are together, exploring the still-fragile bonds of their new love. They learn that his undercover work is about to follow him home, putting everyone at Melton Manor into danger. Despite her feelings of inadequacy at lacking the military training and experience of others on the estate, it falls to Emma to protect not only herself, but the wife and children of Trent’s partner. She has to become that strong, flexible tool—willing to use her beloved horses, a child’s recollections, and even a fire extinguisher as a weapon.

In my review of A Single Step, I commented on the “careful, deliberate pacing” of the novel. No more! Before the Dawn is a roller-coaster, a not-to-be-put-down adrenaline junkie’s dream of a thriller. If Georgia Rose took the elements of a gothic novel and made them into her own genre in the first volume, this time she does the same with the thriller. She lays meticulous groundwork, allowing us to see Emma’s doubts and fears. The action rises to edge-of-your-seat levels in the middle of the book, followed by the piece you seldom get to see in other thrillers as Emma and her friends come to terms with the lingering effects of the violence that engulfed Melton Manor.

For me, the definition of a five-star review is a work that not only would I not hesitate to recommend to others, but an author who goes straight to my auto-buy list. I’d buy their work in hard-copy—and I wouldn’t ever lend it out. Before the Dawn meets all of these criteria and more.

The last step of sword-making is to hone the edge and provide the correct hilt so that it can be balanced, lightweight, and sharp enough to wield effectively. In the first two books, Emma Grayson has been forged into that weapon. There are still questions to be answered, about both her past and the forces who attacked Trent and the Estate. I can’t wait to see how Emma—now strong, flexible, and sharp-edged—meets those challenges.

*I received this book for free from the publisher or author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.** 

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Before the Dawn Excerpt

This extract comes just after Emma has been enlightened as to the true

nature of the undercover work carried out by coworkers on the estate…

 

Emma must save the wife and children of Trent’s partner, owner of Melton Manor

I stood and looked around me, feeling a bit like a spare part before Trent appeared at my side, slipping his hand into mine, our fingers interlocking. His lips brushed my temple in a gentle kiss as he murmured close to my ear, “Are you okay?”

I nodded, a little unsure as to whether I actually was or not, then said, “It’s been quite an eye opener.”

“How angry are you with me?”

“I’m not,” I murmured.

Trent raised his eyebrows. “Not too much of a shock?”

“No, though perhaps it hasn’t sunk in yet. You’ve been holding out on me, though. I hadn’t really realised before what you were actually involved in, and I guess I’m feeling a bit out of my depth.”

“I didn’t want to scare you by telling you any more than you needed to know. I’d hoped it would never come to this.”

“Thoughtful as ever.” I smiled at him. He tilted his head to one side and gazed at me for a moment.

“So….judging by your reaction, dare I assume you’re up for facing the challenges ahead?”

“Always…who doesn’t love a challenge?” At the time it seemed so easy to say. As I looked around the room, my gaze drifting from face to face, animated groups, couples talking, Cavendish wrapping his arms around Grace before kissing her, I realised that this was what it had all been about; what we’d been brought together for. To protect this family; this family that inspired loyalty and affection from everyone who surrounded them –their extended family. I knew we were in this together, and in that moment wondered what the future would hold for us.

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LIE-DAR CONTEST!

For this week’s contest, I asked Georgia to tell us about the household chore she hates most. Please enter your guess about which one is true in comments below for a chance to win a free copy of Before the Dawn. (NOTE: if you haven’t had a chance yet to read A Single Step, she will substitute that  for your prize if you prefer.)  (Winners will be announced next Thursday, November 20)

1. Cleaning the windows, we have a very old house with ancient glass in
   sash windows and it doesn’t matter how much you clean them they never look sparkly and to me it’s just a waste of time.
2. Cleaning the oven, if I did this more regularly it probably wouldn’t be so bad but because I don’t it seems to take all day and it’s still never
   spotless at the end of it.
3. Ironing, it builds up until the pile is so huge (and I have nothing left to wear!) and I end up stuck there for 3 hours or more in a massive attempt to clear the backlog.

Good luck!