Tell me about your latest book and why we should read it?
One Christmas Kiss in Notting Hill – Isla Winters loves Christmas – especially the parties! Prosecco-infused everything is her ideal start to the busy festive season, and she can’t wait to wow her contacts in international construction throughout the month of December. But everything changes when she’s given a new remit: right-hand girl to the new CEO of the company.Chase Bryan’s marriage has fallen apart. Given a secret project, he moves from New York to London for the holidays with his two young daughters, hoping to dive in and ignore the distractions of Christmas. Problem is, he’s been saddled with Little Miss Candy Cane.
Isla’s wheelchair-bound sister, Hannah, lives life to the max. Isla’s unofficial second job is to keep her sister from trying to take over the world – but what will happen when Hannah starts to pay attention to Isla’s love life? One moment in Notting Hill could change everything…
One Christmas Kiss in Notting Hill is a romantic, cosy, gorgeously festive read I hope will warm your heart this Christmas!
If someone was to write your life story what would the title be?
Ha! White Wine, Mashed Potato and Gorgeous Greeks? Or maybe Handbags, Glad-rags and Country Music. A more serious one? The Girl Who Never Gave Up… now that sounds like a bestseller!
What’s the strangest fan question or request you’ve received?
I have lovely readers who ask me lots of great questions. I don’t think I’ve had any really strange ones. Oh, hang on, someone did want to keep one of my used napkins once… perhaps they just liked my shade of lipstick and wanted to match it… Let’s hope so!
If you could co-write with anyone in the world (alive or dead) who would it be?
Famous person? I think it would have to be a team of people – either the writers on TV shows Nashville or Neighbours. I do love a bit of soapy drama. Closer to home, I quite fancy writing a book with my good friend, Rachel Lyndhurst. Put us together and our ideas just flow so well!
Tell me something nobody else knows about you (yet!).
My life is quite the open book! Let me think… everyone knows about the handbag fetish, that I’m a singer and I auditioned for X-Factor, that one of my cousins is Britain’s Got Talent winning magician, Richard Jones… um… I’m learning to speak Greek! There, I don’t think anyone knew that yet!
Finally please recommend 3 books that you have recently read and tell me why you’ve chosen these.
Hush Little Baby – Joanna Barnard – this was a great, page-turning, psychological, domestic suspense that I couldn’t put down.
Summer with the Country Village Vet – Zara Stoneley – I adore Zara’s writing style so she’s one of my big go-to authors.
The Choir on Hope Street – Annie Lyons – Again, like Zara’s books I read everything Annie writes. This book is hilariously funny, warm and uplifting.
Who is Mandy Baggot? Mandy Baggot is an international bestselling and award-winning romance writer represented by The Kate Nash Literary Agency. In 2017 she was signed by Ebury Publishing (Penguin Random House).
The winner of the Innovation in Romantic Fiction award at the UK’s Festival of Romance, her romantic comedy novel, One Wish in Manhattan, was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year award in 2016.
Mandy loves the Greek island of Corfu, white wine, country music and handbags. Also a singer, she has taken part in ITV1’s Who Dares Sings and The X-Factor.
Mandy is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors and lives near Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK with her husband and two daughters.
