Book news: The Arcade by Kitty Charles

Today in my lunch break I read The Vintage Boutique which is episode one in the new monthly e-novel The Arcade. It was perfect ‘bite sized’ lunchtime reading and I love the idea of a serialised novel. Set in Angell’s Arcade, a beautiful Victorian shopping centre, the series will follow the fortunes of the different shop owners with a new episode each month. Judging by this first instalment, there is a lot to look forward to!

What do you dream of?

Gorgeous clothes, gourmet foods, beautiful men?

Whatever you wish for, Angell’s Arcade is all your dreams come true. Under its Victorian glass atrium, twelve little shops glow like gems– and the people who run them love and fight and sell for their lives.

As a new year beckons, the Arcade’s newest tenant, Faith, dreams of a new start – away from the front-line ambulance work she once loved. She’s hoping for a quiet life selling the vintage clothes she loves…

Hairdresser Marilyn dreams of glamour, of a man to take care of her, and of fitting into the next dress size down. But she’s not ready for the biggest shock of 2013.

And arcade owner Joan, who keeps an eye on the Arcadians’ lives – and loves –  from her apartment in the Gothic glass turret, is pulling the strings. But who is pulling hers?

As all the members of the Angell’s ‘family’ gather to see in the new year together, new rivalries, old loves and fresh passions fizz like champagne.

For at least one of them, things will never be the same again…

The Vintage Boutique focuses on Faith, a newcomer to the arcade as she prepares her vintage clothes shop for its New Year opening. Faith is reluctantly persuaded to attend the annual New Years Eve party thrown by the other residents of the arcade and we are introduced to a varied and interesting cast of characters. I warmed to Marilyn the hairdresser straight away and I loved the dramatic twist that her story took! Despite being a short read there is a lot packed into this first episode and it left me eager for more.

I can see The Arcade turning into a must read ‘soap’ for me each month as I’m dying to know what is behind Faith’s dramatic career change, how the bitchy lingerie shop owner Eve is going to meddle in everyone’s business and how Marilyn will cope with the changes to her life!

Find out more about The Arcade and Kitty Charles at: http://www.facebook.com/KittyCharlesAuthor