Author of the week Carol Kirkwood

BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood is back with a new novel, and explains why she's drawn to glamour and romance

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Does anyone in Britain get through a day without mentioning the weather?

"I find all weather exciting, but you have to watch your language because not everybody likes heat," says BBC weather presenter Carol Kirkwood.

"Don't be like, 'Oh, it's going to be a fabulous day', just state the facts, because for the vulnerable and elderly, heatwaves are no fun."

Scottish meteorologist Carol, 63, is not only on the frontline, reporting on volatile weather and climate change, she is also an ambassador for sheer escapism. "[Escapism is] always valuable because it takes you into another world. There's so many things going on it's nice just to stick your nose in a book and forget about it for a time."

Her fifth novel, Meet Me at Sunset, is a dramatic romance about a fashion designer called Camille Fontaine who is "running away from a shattered love affair" with a secret-filled past in danger of overflowing into her present.

More than your classic boy-meets-girl romp, Carol says: "I really hope you think at the end of it, 'I didn't see that coming'."