Book Blitz: The Lady of the Pier by Effrosyni Moschoudi

ASIN: B00LGNYEPC

LOVE WILL GO ON FOREVER, SEEKING A SECOND CHANCE.

BRIGHTON, 1937
Dreaming of wealth and happiness, Laura Mayfield arrives in Brighton to pursue a new life. She falls for Christian Searle, a happy-go-lucky stagehand at the West Pier theatre, but when she’s offered a chance to perform there, her love for him is put to the test. Charles Willard, a wealthy aristocrat, is fascinated by her and pursues her relentlessly. Will Laura choose love…or money?

CORFU, 1987
On a long holiday with her grandparents, Sofia Aspioti meets Danny Markson, a charming flirt who makes her laugh. Although she tries to keep him at arm’s length, worried that village gossip will get back to her strict family, she falls desperately in love. That’s when strange dreams about Brighton’s West Pier and a woman dressed in black begin to haunt her. Who is this grieving woman? And how is her lament related to Sofia’s feelings for Danny?

Praise for The Lady of the Pier – The Ebb

“You will find yourself engrossed, happy, sad and intrigued before the book’s end . . . and you will also find yourself calling your friends and recommending this book to all of them!”
~Kelly Smith Reviews

“Beautifully written . . . The book contains beautiful descriptive writing and I couldn’t put it down.”
~L. Mullarkey-Amazon Reviewer

“Captivating until the end! Totally recommended! I’m looking forward to the rest of the series because I’m officially hooked on both stories!”
~ Sofi Kara, Goodreads reviewer

 

Excerpt from The Lady of the Pier – The Ebb

Outside the tearoom, Meg said goodbye quickly to rush back to her post, leaving Laura behind to have a look around. Feeling the most carefree she’d felt in a long time, the young girl sauntered to the eastern landing stage in order to enjoy the sea view.
She sat on a bench and watched the world go by for a while. Generous views of the Hove and the open sea that stretched toward an indigo horizon made it a pleasure to be there, even though it was late afternoon. The remaining sunlight was fading fast. She stood up and walked to the railing, dreamily watching the sea horses breaking on the shore. The breeze had picked up in the past few minutes, and she was almost shivering now in her dress and woollen cardigan. She looked up to see clouds travelling to the west, growing darker and darker by the second as the feeble sunlight continued to be engulfed by the growing darkness.

“Excuse me,” she heard a voice from behind her. She turned around to face a young man around her age. He didn’t look older than twenty-two, twenty-four at most. He had short dark hair and sparkling blue eyes. He wore a rather shabby-looking jacket, dark trousers, and a pair of worn out shoes that had seen better days. His choice of clothes would have been unworthy of notice had it not been for a thick, rusty-brown scarf that was tied snugly around his neck.
He stood smiling at her rather awkwardly, his thin lips twitching and all the while, his eyes seemed to speak to her through their amazing sparkle.

She felt drawn to them as if they were sending out signals she was meant to interpret. He was nervous; she was sure of that. It was evident in the way he had dug both his hands in his pockets, looking a bit lost for words. And yet, the look in his eyes seemed quite confident.

“Yes?” she asked, mystified by his body language.“Hello miss, sorry to disturb,” he finally said, rather unsurely.“Yes?” She asked again after another awkward pause.
“Um, I was wondering if you could do me a favour…” His voice trailed off as he scratched his head.
Laura gave him an encouraging nod. “How can I help you?”
He still looked hesitant as he stood before her, shifting his weight from foot to foot but then, he finally spoke. “Well, I was wondering if you could pretend that we’re friends.”
Laura knitted her brows. “I don’t understand.”
“Could you offer me a handshake please? Or smile and give me a hug or something?” The half-smile he flashed her then, could also be perceived as a rather cheeky smirk.
“What?” she protested. “What on earth for?”
“You see that chap behind me, sitting on the bench?” He motioned with a slight movement of his head, shifting his eyes to one side. “No! Please don’t stare! He mustn’t suspect anything!” he pleaded, his blue eyes huge.
“Why not? Who is he?” she asked even more intrigued now, as she darted her eyes surreptitiously to the young man on the bench once more. He wasn’t even looking, and she wondered what the fuss was all about. Silently, she thought the whole thing was rather amusing, but she wasn’t going to show that to the dashing lad before her. Instead, she fixed him with a stern stare that demanded an instant explanation.
“Look, I’m sorry, all right? It’s just that I made a bet with him that I could prove that we’re friends. He sort of said you’re too beautiful for the likes of me, and I wanted to prove him wrong; that’s all!”
“So you told him a lie about me and now you want me to help you confirm it?” she asked, trying to sound stern despite aching to dissolve into laughter by then.
“In essence, yes!” he answered, giving her a smile that this time, could definitely pass for a cheeky smirk.

Find it now on Amazon US or copy and paste this universal link in your browser to visit your local Amazon store: myBook.to/ladyofpier

 Available in kindle and paperback format

 

About the Author:

 

Effrosyni Moschoudi was born and raised in Athens, Greece. As a child, she often sat alone in her granny’s garden scribbling rhymes about flowers, butterflies and ants. Through adolescence, she wrote dark poetry that suited her melancholic, romantic nature. She’s passionate about books and movies and simply couldn’t live without them. She lives in a quaint seaside town near Athens with her husband Andy and a naughty cat called Felix.