MY LIFE IN BOOKS
Romance author tells us how she got hooked on love stories, and which book she wishes she’d written!
Like many ’70s kids, I was fed a steady reading diet of Enid Blyton. The Naughtiest Girl in the School was my preferred choice, which probably says quite a lot about ten-year-old me! But even as a child, romance snagged my attention. I’d accompany my nan on weekly librar y trips to choose her latest pile of Mills and Boon’s, and I’d often sneak a look to see what she was so enthralled by. By four teen, I’d made my mind up. I was going to be a romance writer, so I sent away for the Mills and Boon writer’s guide. The booklet and cassette tape they mailed me are still some of my most treasured possessions.
I’m a love story geek. I love writing them, watching them on screen, and of course, reading them. I have a handful of authors on my auto-buy list – Jane Fallon, Emily
Henr y and Mhairi McFarlane to name a few. I couldn’t go on holiday without the latest Marian Keyes in my suitcase. I especially loved The Break, but Rachel’s Holiday is my absolute favourite. I’m beyond excited that she’s written a sequel, Again, Rachel. I’ll be the over-eager one queuing outside the book shop on publication day!
Is there a book I wish I’d written? The Time Traveller’s Wife,
always and forever. Besides that, I was lucky enough to snag an early copy of Impossible by Sarah Lotz (out March 22) and it absolutely blew me away. It’s such a clever concept and beautifully written – I can’t say too much for fear of spoiling it, but there’s a huge plot twist early on that sets the rest of the stor y up to be enthralling. I couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks after wards, always a sign of a really good book!
My family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell is hands down my ultimate comfort book. My copy is over twenty years old, dog-eared and held together by luck, love and well-worn paper, but even just holding it in my hands is enough to make me feel better. It ticks all of my comfor t boxes – the gorgeous descriptions of life in Cor fu, the love and loyalty between the Durrell family, the frequent sprinklings of hilarity. I can almost feel the Greek sunshine warm my shoulders whenever I settle down with it in my hands.