About the Book
Book: Meet Me in the Yorkshire Dales
Author: Valerie Massey Goree
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: February, 2025
To inherit her grandfather’s estate, Roxanne Clarke has to prove the identity of her birth mother. Considering all the ancestry help online, that shouldn’t be a problem. However, the only clues Roxanne has are an old photograph and hints provided by a member of her grandfather’s household that her mother was born in Yorkshire.
Accompanied by her best friend, Avery, and Avery’s twin brother, Lucas, Roxanne travels to England. Their attempts to identify Roxanne’s mother send them from one village to another. To add to their frustration, a fellow Texan is following them, threatening them, trying to locate the woman first.
Lucas has been in love with Roxanne since high school, but botched their relationship two years ago. While helping her find her mother, can he salvage their once-blossoming romance, build a new beginning, and keep her safe when the Texan’s actions intensify?
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About the Author
American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis Award winner Valerie Massey Goree resides in San Antonio, Texas.
She was born in South Africa and grew up in Rhodesia—now Zimbabwe. Valerie met her husband, Glenn, at a Christian university in the USA. After they married, they served as missionaries in Rhodesia. When the family returned to Texas, Valerie began her teaching career. She served 25 years in the public school arena, focusing on children with special needs.
Her writing journey only began when their children were in high school. Attending workshops and ACFW conferences helped propel her toward publication. She has eleven romantic suspense novels published.
Valerie and her family traveled extensively throughout North America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. Now retired and widowed, she spends her time writing, reading, traveling, and spoiling her grandchildren.
Valerie loves to hear from her readers.
More from Valerie
Meet Me in the Yorkshire Dales is the second book in my series From England with Love and…Treachery. The three standalone stories feature American characters who are visiting or working in England. When they meet, romance blossoms, but is hindered by misfortune, menacing strangers, betrayal, and dead-end clues. Book One, Meet Me Where the Windrush Flows, is set in the Cotswolds. Book Three, which I’m writing now, takes place in the City of Bath during the Jane Austen Festival.
As an author, my goal is to set stories in places I’ve lived or visited. What a hardship it was for me to travel to England to research the Cotswolds area for Book One, and the next year to visit the Yorkshire Dales and Bath!
During my two-week sojourn in the Yorkshire Dales, I stayed in a cottage in each of the villages featured in the story. When I walked down the ‘Snake Path’ in Grassington, I knew I had to include it in the story.
Roxanne, my heroine, has never been to England and is enthralled by the villages’ narrow roads, cobblestone streets, and the ancient cottages, some built in the seventeenth century.
When I made the reservation for the cottage in Grassington, I didn’t know that the TV show All Creatures Great and Small is filmed there. They usually film in April, but alas, I was there in September. I did recognize many places used in the show, such as the village center, featured in the photo.
Needless to say, I loved visiting these places. Roxanne did, too.
Interview with the Author
- What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
I consider my visit to the City of Bath, England, during the Jane Austen Festival a literary pilgrimage. My third book in the series, From England with Love and…Treachery, is set in Bath. I visited many places associated with novels Jane wrote, and dressed in Regency finery during the Jane Austen Parade.
- How do you select the names of your characters?
I spend a lot of time selecting the names of my characters, especially my hero and heroine. First, I review all the names I have used in previous novels, and then I peruse my baby-name books. I keep the character’s personality traits in mind and make sure the name I choose conveys strength. I avoid names that a reader might have a hard time pronouncing.
Sometimes a name just catches my interest, or I’ll use the name of a person in my life who has blessed me. For each novel, I keep a list of all the names I use to make sure I don’t have too many names that begin with the same letter. Lastly, I pair the first name with the last name and make sure they ‘sound’ good together.
- What comes first, the plot or characters?
Hmm. That’s a tricky question. Sometimes it’s the plot, sometimes it’s the character(s). For example, a plot idea occurred to me one day while doing laundry. What if I began a story with… “I’d been in the witness protection program for three years when my identity was compromised”. That was the plot nugget for my novel Weep in the Night.
When I create my heroines, I avoid the stereotype of them being blonde, petite, and the most beautiful woman in the world. One day, I was walking in my neighborhood, and a woman jogged toward me. She was tall, had curly red hair, and her expression seemed to indicate she carried a heavy burden in her heart. I stopped and turned as she passed me, and I thought, “I want to write her story.” She became the heroine in my novel, Every Hidden Thing. Her height and uncontrollable curls play a part in the plot.
- Who is the author you most admire in your genre?
I admire Kelly Irwin, who writes romantic suspense and Amish novels. We were two of the founder members of the San Antonio chapter of ACFW way back when. Although she had a family, she wrote many novels while still working full-time. Then she experienced numerous severe health issues and had to retire. In spite of all her medical setbacks, Kelly continues to write great stories and always appears upbeat.
- If you could invite one person to dinner, who would it be and what would you cook?
I’d like to invite Jane Austen to my home for lunch. I’d introduce her to Mexican food, Tex-Mex style. I want to know how she endured the hardships she faced in getting her novels published under her name.
Blog Stops
Texas Book-aholic, April 28
Stories By Gina, April 29 (Author Interview)
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, April 30
Simple Harvest Reads, May 1 (Author Interview)
Artistic Nobody, May 2 (Author Interview)
Life on Chickadee Lane, May 3
Guild Master, May 4 (Author Interview)
For Him and My Family, May 5
Fiction Book Lover, May 6 (Author Interview)
Blossoms and Blessings, May 7 (Author Interview)
Mary Hake, May 7
Jodie Wolfe – Stories Where Hope and Quirky Meet, May 8 (Author Interview)
Paula’s Pad of Inspiration, May 9
Books, Books, & More Books, May 10 (Author Interview)
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, May 10
A Modern Day Fairy Tale, May 11 (Author Interview)
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Valerie is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://gleam.io/kqX7Q/meet-me-in-the-yorkshire-dales-celebration-tour-giveaway