I’m delighted to announce that Bear With Me is now available for pre-order under the brand new title of All You Need Is Love. Woo hoo! It will be out on 11^th March 2021.

This is the penultimate book from my back catalogue to have ‘the Boldwood treatment’. As part of my first publishing deal, Boldwood acquired my entire back catalogue. A whopping six books were re-edited and re-released during 2020:

The Welcome to Whitsborough Bay series (available as a box set or individually):

• Making Wishes at Bay View (previously released as novella Raving About Rhys and short novel Callie’s Christmas Wish)
• New Beginnings at Seaside Blooms (previously released as Searching for Steven)
• Finding Hope at Lighthouse Cove (previously released as Getting Over Gary)
• Coming Home to Seashell Cottage (previously released as Dreaming About Daran)

Christmas on Castle Street:

• Christmas at Carly’s Cupcakes (previously released with the same title but the POV got changed from 3^rd to 1^st person and several new chapters were added)
• Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Café (previously released as Christmas at The Chocolate Pot Café, several new chapters being added on re-release)

Re-releasing a book with a fresh edit, fresh cover and (usually) fresh title is commonplace when an author changes publisher and agrees for the publisher to acquire their back catalogue, as in my case.

Prior to being published by Boldwood, my books were relatively unknown as I’d struggled to make an impact on the charts as an indie author. I therefore knew that there wouldn’t be many readers who had already discovered my books and could mistakenly duplicate their purchase on re-release; something I appreciate can be frustrating. 

We make it very clear in the blurbs that the books are re-releases (and specifically name the previous title) and I shout about it all over social media but there’ll always be readers who miss this. Unfortunately, I have a few negative reviews on Amazon criticising this which is disappointing when the blurb has made it clear but I try to look on the bright side: the reader loves my work so much that they instantly purchased it without reading the blurb. Okay, so that doesn’t quite take the sting out of a 1-star review but I’m trying!

Now that Boldwood have worked wonders with my books this year, taking them to a much greater readership, there is more of a risk that Kindle readers will duplicate purchases of the final two re-issued books (a revised version of Charlee and the Chocolate Shop will be out in August 2021) so I’m steeling myself ready for the negative comments and hoping they’re not too nasty/personal. Again, the blurb does make it clear and I will continue to shout about it on social media.

For readers on Apple Books or Kobo duplicate purchases are not a risk as Bear With Me was never available on those platforms.

 All You Need Is Love will be available as a paperback, large print, physical audio, audio download and via streaming services. It will also be available in hardback format which is an exciting new format added to the Boldwood portfolio. This will be the first of my books available in this format but, in time, all the others will be. Bear With Me was only ever available as an eBook.

So what has changed on the re-issue of Bear With Me as All You Need Is Love? 

The changes – as with the Welcome to Whitsborough Bay series – are minimal. Anyone who has already read Bear With Me does not need to read All You Need Is Love unless it’s a book they absolutely love and would choose to read twice anyway. There are no new characters or scenarios introduced that have an impact on any of my other books.

My edits are mainly around tightening up a few sentences, adding a little more ‘colour’ into some of the emotional scenes and removing a little bit of extraneous detail.

Two characters have name changes although their personalities and roles in the stories don’t change:

• Jemma’s younger brother, Sean, is now called Logan. There are two main male characters called Sam and Scott. Throw in a Sean and we have three one-syllable male names beginning with ‘S’. Potentially confusing. I couldn’t change Sam or Scott due to specific plot points connected to their names but I could change Sean’s name. So I did!

• One of Sam’s nieces, Connie, is now called Isla. She’s a minor character but is mentioned several times. Connie is also the name of a main character in my Hedgehog Hollow series and, despite me keeping a spreadsheet of character names to avoid duplication, I didn’t actually look at it! Lesson learned. It therefore made sense to change Connie’s name here

This book is written in dual perspective – Jemma and Sam – and each chapter is clearly signposted with the name of the person telling that part of the story. Towards the end of the book, quite a lot happens for both of them on the same day. I covered this in a few chapters but it had potential to be a little bit confusing with the timeline so I have broken it down into several shorter chapters to help the reader keep a better track.

There are several other tweaks along these lines but the characters and the story don’t fundamentally change. I have slight adjustments here and there but to say what they are would give away some huge spoilers.

There will be an official cover reveal in January but, as it is now available for pre-order on Amazon, Apple and Kobo, you’ll be able to see it so here’s a sneak preview. You can pre-order on Amazon here and the blurb is below.

Isn’t it beautiful? I’m so pleased with it and I hope that readers will love reading Jemma and Sam’s story for the first time or rediscovering the refreshed version.

Big hugs

Jessica xx

When you’ve loved and lost, how do you find the strength to let love in again?

Jemma thinks she’s found the love of her life. Scott is everything she ever dreamed of and she can’t wait to begin the next stage of their life together. But just as she is heading for her happy ever after, a shock revelation shatters Jemma’s life as she knows it. Left to pick up the pieces, Jemma’s friends and family rally round to help her find the courage to move on.

Sam think he has his future all worked out. A thriving career, lovely home and an amazing fiancée. But when tragedy strikes, he finds himself alone, far from everyone he cares about. Did he do the right thing by running away and trying to rebuild the tatters of his life alone?

This is the story of Jemma and Sam. Two lost souls, desperately trying to find closure and happiness. When a chance meeting brings them together a friendship is formed, but the guards are up. 

Will it finally be their turn for a happy ever after? Or will the secrets from their pasts prevent them from moving on?

Escape to Whitsborough Bay for an emotional, uplifting story of love and friendship from top 10 bestseller Jessica Redland. 

This book was previously published as Bear With Me.