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5 British Romance Authors that will Set Your Heart Aflutter

British romance. It’s pretty specific, but it is a corner of the universe of books that I love. I actually look for it specifically. So, I have decided to give you my top five British Romance Authors with 2 books I recommend for each.

  1. Jill Mansell

    I have read every single book that Jill Mansell has written. That’s no small feat. Since 1991, Mansell has written around 30 books with another one being released this year. She is one of the first authors, after completing my writing my writing and literature degree, who was able to give me a plot that I just could not predict.

    Two books I recommend:     An Offer you Can’t Refuse, This Could Change Everything

  2. Paige Toon

    Paige Toon is very similar to Jill Mansell. They are both queens of the warm and fuzzy, though Paige Toon has evoked significantly more tears from me. Again, I have read every one of Paige Toon’s 16 lovely novels … and I can’t wait until I read the one that has just been released. Her books aren’t strictly all set in Britain, but she is British, and her books are usually at least partially set in the UK.

    Two books I recommend: The One We Fell in Love With, If You Could Go Anywhere

  3. Giovanna Fletcher

    I have to admit, I first found out about Giovanna Fletcher through her husband (a member of the British band, McFly). She very quickly gained popularity in my eyes—especially when she began releasing cracking British romance novels. The quickest way to my heart is a British romance that is basically a love letter to Pride and Prejudice.

    Two books I recommend: Billy and Me, You’re the One that I Want

  4. Mhairi McFarlane

    Mhairi McFarlane is a relatively knew discovery of mine. I impulsively bought her book, Don’t You Forget About Me, when I went berserk on a shopping trip and bought half a bookstore (okay, maybe that is a slight exaggeration). I was delighted to find out that buying this book meant that I had found a new author whose word I would hand on to with all my might.

    Two books I recommend: Don’t You Forget About Me, Here’s Looking at You

  5. Lindsey Kelk

    Lindsey Kelk, technically, is living in the US now, but she writes a damn good Brit romance. Always funny and easy to read, Kelk tops off my five authors to recommend quite nicely. She is the second of the five (the other being Paige Toon) whose content spans across continents a lot more frequently (The I Heart… series is set all over the globe).

    Two books I recommend: What a Girl Wants, Always the Bridesmaid

Does the title of this book make sense to you?

When I first heard about The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson, I thought ‘How does someone have an accidental life?’ It made me ponder on all the criteria that classify something as an accident, and how it could potentially apply to someone’s life being “accidental”.

Personally, this title doesn’t make any sense to me. Though I understand the intended meaning, I feel as though what I view as accidental, and those criteria I mentioned before that making something “accidental” differs from those that belong to who wrote the title. And that is ok. I still thoroughly enjoyed the book, which is the main thing, right?

The Accidental Life of Jessie Jefferson – Paige Toon

Year: 2014

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Acquired From: Own collection

Genre: Family Saga/Fiction

Audience:  Young Adult

Setting: Los Angeles, USA

Synopsis: Jessie’s mother died without telling her who her real father is. Imagine Jessie’s surprise when she finds out that her biological father is none other than Johnny Jefferson, international party boy and rock god. Jessie wants nothing more than to meet her father, but what will Johnny’s reaction be? Can Jessie handle the life that comes along with having Johnny Jefferson as a father?

Impressions: The first in a series, Paige Toon extends her tumultuous tale of Johnny Jefferson even further than her adult fiction. Having read both Johnny Be Good and Baby Be Mine, I was not oblivious to the character of Johnny and to see him again from a different perspective was a nice change. Jessie, who I originally thought was going to turn around and ask her father for all of the child support she never got, turned out to be a genuine and lovely person, and I am not sure I agree with the way she is treated by Johnny despite the fact that he is only trying to protect her and his family. I wasn’t sure how Toon would go writing for Young Adults, but I thoroughly enjoyed this first instalment. I am sure I will be reading the second and third before long.

Recommended for: Anyone who loves light hearted young adult fiction. Similar to Jenny Han and Stephanie Perkins. Recommended for anyone who enjoys a good tale of being catapulted into the spotlight.

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

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Author: Helen Fielding
Year: 1999
Pages: 422
Genre: Comedy

Another book closer to completing the challenge. 3/20 read…oh dear…

This book has been sitting on my shelf for a while now. In the style of Ms Jones, I had every intention of reading it when I bought it, but just never got around to it…until now.
The second Bridget Jones installment, ‘Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason’ is hilariously ridiculous and makes one appreciate who they are (ie. Not Bridget Jones, thank goodness).
Similar to the first book, I found it difficult to get used to Fielding’s (or rather Bridget’s – it is her diary, after all) tendency to write with incomplete sentences. Though this writing style does lend itself to both story and character,I wanted throw the book across the room at times because of it.
I finally got past this (for the most part) after the first chapter and a half and began to enjoy it much more. Bridget and her clumsy and unfortunate luck had me in fits of hysterics.
After a series of circumstances surrounding her on and off boyfriend, Mark Darcy, and fueled by bad luck, Bridget and her friend Shazza decide that a holiday in Thailand will solve all problems. They plan to have some sort of spiritual awakening, as per ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, but Bridget being the magnet for everything bad, finds herself in worse circumstances than those she left in the UK. She somehow finds herself serving time in a women’s correctional facility where she uses her Wonder bra as a bargaining chip to stop herself from being groped.
To read the Bridget Jones novels, I believe you need a strong sense and acceptance of the ridiculous – otherwise you will never survive Bridget’s mother and her obsession with her Kenyan, Wellington.
Bridget Jones is all the self-help books you want wrapped into a ‘what not to do’ manual. Entertainment = 10/10