Walking on Air [Paperback]

What better way to cure a phobia, then to face the fear head on? When 28-year-old aerophobe, Billie Pascoe takes on a warehouse on the edge of an airfield, her family and friends think her positively mad. When Billie gets involved in an airshow, they think she has completely lost it. Running from the mistakes of her past, Billie lands in Amberley Hill and works as a taxi driver for creepy Ruben, and then trades in her taxi cab keys for an empty warehouse. Despite Ruben's constant plaguing and interference, Billie is determined to shake free from the secret that Ruben holds over her. With the help and support of her colourful neighbours she hopes to make her warehouse a success. Things start looking up when the gorgeous pilot, Jonah Sullivan, owner of Sullivanair, arrives on the scene. The plot thickens when Jonah's ex-wife shows up insinuating that she and her wealthy new husband might buy up the airfield and the warehouses. Billie leads the warehousers and they band together to save their businesses. But can Billie save the day and keep her secret safe?

This is a great holiday read but consume it in one go or you might start to forget who is interested in whom. If you have never heard of "wing-walking," this book will make you want to don a cat suit and jump on the wing of a plane next time you are up there. Christina Jones' heroines are daredevil gutsy women in books such as Stealing the Show or Running the Risk and "Walking on Air" is no exception. --Neena Dutta

An enchanting, exuberant novel, featuring a girl who hates flying adrift in the world of aeronautical acrobatics, by a favourite storyteller.

Billie Pascoe, currently a taxi driver in a country town, takes an impulsive risk when she spends her grandmother’s small legacy on a warehouse on the edge of a small airfield.

But her attempt at business enterprise and at a new image of professional efficiency is marred by her ex-boss’s determination to keep her under control; her friends’ and family’s attempts to find her a suitable mate; and the mystery about her past, complicated by cover-ups.

Among the first items in her warehouse is an old ‘plane waiting to be restored. Billie hates flying, so it is even more surprising that she finds herself offering to perform acrobatic stunts and wing-walking…

Filled with a great cast of characters from her flatmate who runs the local beauty salon to the fellow owners of the neighbouring warehouses, from the unspeakably glamorous air engineer to her redoubtable, interfering mother, Walking on Air is Christina Jones’s most exhilarating novel.

Thanks if you've already bought Walking On Air - if not...
If you've already bought Walking on Air, thank you so much - I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it: if you haven't bought it yet - go on, treat yourself! You get men in uniform, lots of laughs, and tons of second-hand terror - and all for under a fiver! Oh, and there are no desperate singletons here - everyone is having far too much fun to worry about the size of their bums.

When I wrote my other novels, they were all based round backgrounds I knew about - Going the Distance and Jumping to Conclusions because my grandad was a jockey, Stealing the Show because my dad was a fairground traveller, and Running the Risk because I'm married to the toyboy trucker. However, Walking On Air was a bit of a departure - I had to do research! So, last year we spent loads of time with the only wingwalking team in Europe, the Utterly Butterly Barnstormers - who taught me all I needed to know... Of course, this was very tough because it meant the toyboy trucker had to spend his weekends with four gorgeous women dressed in skin-tight lycra - mind you, there were compensations - it meant that I got to play with the pilots... It's a hard life, this writing business - but a lot more fun than working in the doughnut factory. (Yes, honestly!)

If you enjoyed Walking On Air please let me know... I'll really look forward to hearing from you. Meanwhile I'm going to the dogs - my next novel, Nothing To Lose, is based around greyhound racing, which is a great excuse for a few boozy nights out.

Thanks again - and all best wishes, Christina

Billie Pascoe knows what she wants – and it isn't a designer wardrobe, a nifty sports car, or even a suitable man. No, all Billie wants is a chance to escape from her past mistakes, her present job, and her very uncertain future.

So will the ramshackle warehouse on the edge of a run-down airfield be her salvation? Doubtful given that Billie is the world's biggest aerophobe who doesn't have a clue about what to do with a warehouse. But what is life without a challenge?

And there are plus points: the warehouse is home to a gorgeous 'plane and its even more gorgeous pilot – so what if his love life is unbelievably crowded? Love is strictly not on Billie's agenda. She has enough to worry about from her ex-boss who has turned stalker, her man-eating flatmate, and her mother who thinks she can give Poirot a run for his money.

While everyone may think that her fortunes are about to take a nosedive, Billie is sure that she will soon be walking on air.

Filled with a great cast of characters from the flightcrew of the shoestring airline company to the owners of the neighbouring warehouse, from the tequila-slamming hairdressers to Billie's sprawling family, 'Walking on Air' is Christina Jones' most exhilarating – and high-flying – novel yet.

Christina Jones, brought up in a circus family, wrote short stories for some time before being encouraged to write her first novel, Going the Distance, which became a highly successful WHS Fresh Talent entry. She is married and lives outside Oxford. This is her fifth novel.