Things We Need To Say by Linda Middleton
It is lovely to welcome Linda Middleton to my blog this week. Linda attended the Summer Fling event in Birmingham I blogged about last week and it was lovely to have a short conversation in the busy schedule for the day. Linda is going to tell readers about her writing journey and about her new novel for Choc Lit Publishing Things We Need To Say. Over to Linda …
Thank you for inviting me onto your blog and letting me tell you about my latest novel, published by Choc Lit (Joffe Books).
Things We Need To Say is my third contemporary romance and is a spin off from my first book, Things They Never Said. It follows Jay (a chef) and Emma (a graduate trainee hotel manager) who met in Book 1. They are both career driven and extremely ambitious. This causes bumps in their relationship which they must learn to negotiate if they are going to reach their happy ever after. We also catch up with main characters from Things They Never Said, Liz and Alex. The book is available on Amazon. The paperback version was released on 20th August and the kindle version will be available from 27th August 2025.
I have been writing for more years than I care to remember. For a long time I received one rejection after the other, and almost gave up hope of having a novel published. I’d had several short stories published in women’s magazines, but the acceptance for a novel was ever elusive. Despite all this though, I never gave up (although there were times when I wavered). Maybe it’s because I’m a Taurean, or maybe because I’m just stubborn, but something inside compelled me to carry on.
Following two significant bereavements at the end of 2017 and then a major health scare myself in 2018, I decided that life was definitely no dress rehearsal and that I should do everything I could to make my dream come true. It took me a while to get back to health though so it wasn’t until 2023 that Choc Lit accepted Things They Never Said.
They offered me a three book deal and I was practically dancing on the ceiling with joy that I had finally ‘made it’. After that I wrote First Impressions, which was published in August 2024 and now, my book deal is complete with Things We Need To Say. I’ve got several more book ideas in the pipeline and can’t wait to get writing again.
I grew up in the Cheshire countryside but always dreamed of city life, so when I was eighteen I went to university to study hotel management in London. I loved the vibrancy of the city but after nine years Cheshire drew me back. I settled in Chester where I still live with my husband, two grown up sons and my cat. I haven’t yet achieved the dream of writing full time, and work part time as an administrator, but I live in hope of one day being able to just write. When I’m not in Cheshire, you’ll find me at our apartment in Spain, where I can soak up the sun, while scribbling away. I still have ambitions to travel to other places though, and hope soon to visit Italy, the Greek islands and maybe even go on a cruise or two.
I have just got my writing website up and running. It’s very much still a work in progress, but I’m so pleased that I managed to design it myself even though I’m not that technically minded.
You can see my website at www.middletonwrites.com
You can also find me on social media:
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/linda.middleton.735
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/middletonwrites
Twitter/X : https://x.com/middletonwrites
About Things We Need To Say
Don’t let The One become The One Who Got Away.
Emma thought she had her life figured out – the career, the love, the future. But her career feels like it’s going nowhere, and her once-perfect relationship with Jay is beginning to unravel. She fears that the life she envisioned is slipping away.
Jay has always dreamed of running his own restaurant. But he never imagined that in chasing success, each step forward would pull him further away from Emma.
As cracks in their relationship deepen, Emma and Jay realise that their love story wasn’t as perfect as they once believed. There are things they’ve never said to each other – things they must confront if they’re to save what they once had.
If they don’t take control of their own happiness, they might lose the one thing they can’t afford to – each other.
Emma and Jay are about to discover that finding where you truly belong means letting go of everything you thought you knew about love . . . and yourself.
Book buying links:
Out Now Things We Need to Say: here
Good luck with the new book, Linda and it has been fascinating to read about your writing journey. Mx
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Published by Choc Lit an imprint of Joffe Books
