Celia Anderson's Reading List

"This book is set on the Isle of Wight, and the characters and her descriptions of the different places are as warm and vibrant as ever. I think, especially in these times when we’ve all been starved of holidays by the seaside, Carole has given us some much-needed escapism and hope for future adventures of our own. All her books are just so, so much fun. She’s written so many of them, and they are all so well-written. She does loads of research into the settings. She has a husband called Lovely Kev who goes with her and helps with the research, there are pictures of them everywhere! Romantic comedy authors, particularly, seem to have very warm personalities. And that comes over in their writing. They want to pass on this feeling of fun, don’t they? And warmth. Carole Matthews is a real RNA star."

"All of Trisha’s books hit the spot. She’s got a fan base that spans generations. She takes us somewhere else—and I think a garden is the place we all like to be in the summertime, especially one in the process of developing into an even better place. Also, it’s great to read about someone bravely making a new start. This is a well-loved theme but Trisha always puts a fresh spin on her stories. Trisha’s descriptions are quite amazing. She posts on Twitter and Facebook a lot, often just a little snippet about the weather where she is, and they are just magical—she’s very lyrical in her writing. And she’s got a gentle irony too. Yes, they cover so many different issues. Take Love, Actually , the film—the number of different relationships covered in that… it’s mind expanding, really, to think about other people of all ages and backgrounds, different issues like grief, family break-ups… all these things are woven into a lot of these books, and help people understand and process what they are going through themselves. Exactly. A good writer will take you through something you’ve not experienced, but also get right into where you’ve been hurt yourself. I think you can tell quite quickly, in the first chapter, if a book is going to touch you personally. Not all books need to do that, obviously. There are different ways of reading. But romantic comedies, I think, need to get right in there straight away and touch your heart—you need to feel the humour, the fun, the pain. All those things are mixed together. You’re in it for the ride. “Romantic comedies need to get right in there straight away and touch your heart—you need to feel the humour, the fun, the pain” Also, they’re very personality-led. You don’t necessarily have to like the main character, but they do have to be fully formed. You’ve got to root for them in some way. You’ve got to want them to get to the end—if not a happily-ever-after, then at least what we call a ‘happy for now.’ You know. Like: it’s going to be okay for a little while. Rom com books tend not to have everybody die at the end, in other words."

"Yes. It’s absolutely brilliant. There’s an older protagonist and a much younger one—grandmother and granddaughter—and they swap lives for a little while. One part is set in a village, and it takes you there immediately, and the other part is set in London—so it’s a complete comparison of settings and age group. There are so many issues in there—grief, loss, friendship, new relationships and the traumas of old relationships. It’s extremely well written. Yes. The Flatshare did very well."

"The crisp, wintery atmosphere in this book sparkles and shines all the way through and the relationships between the characters involve plenty of secrets to keep the reader intrigued. Again, the setting is very important. I love Stratford, and Kiley’s story takes you right into the theatre scene. She really knows her stuff when it comes to Shakespeare and his home town; a very talented writer. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . Kiley has written about Stratford before, and is using a lot of the same characters, but this is a standalone. That can be said of a lot of these books—they might be in a series, but especially when they’re up for awards judged by readers who don’t know the background, they have to work as standalone books. Last year, particularly, Christmas books were very popular. I think because none of us knew whether we would be getting a Christmas or not until the very last minute. So a lot of people wanted to read cosy winter stories. Although Christmas ones are always very popular. I’m still reading the Christmas books now, just because I like that cosy feeling. And funnily enough, we’re introducing our new Christmas-slash-winter holiday category right at the start of summer! These books often come in late due to publication dates but it’s never too early to read about the festivities."

"Oh, think the cosiest Christmas scenes ever, delicious food, nostalgia, unusual characters and just general feelgood magic! Set in a department store and bursting with sparkle. Lovely!"

"Jenny is a very popular author and you can see why when you read this latest festive treat. It’s very atmospheric and gives you that lovely, chilly feeling whether you want to wrap yourself in a blanket and drink hot chocolate. That’s really appealing to lots of people Even if we didn’t do it in person last Christmas, we it’s still nice to remember all the things that we like about it and hope for the for the next time. Jenny Colgan is equally talented at the summer and the winter books. A lot of authors do both every year. They always do a summer and a winter one, so you’ve always got that contrast. It’s quite hard for them because they have to write it at the wrong time of year. They’re imagining Christmas when they’re sitting on the beach, or in the garden in the sun. It depends on the publisher. Some prefer their authors to just focus on one book a year, some make it clear that two are welcome or even essential. My books with harper Fiction always come out in September but other publishers— particularly the digital ones—operate in other ways. Fans then know there’s a new book coming soon, and the momentum carries it all along. Either way is fine, there are pros and cons. Also, it depends how fast the authors are prepared to write. Our styles are very different. Some need to do a lot more research, depending on what sort of book they’re working on. So it’s very variable. It’s difficult to say, but generally I think the current crop of books have more depth, more emotion, more interwoven and varied relationships, which can involve a diverse range of protagonists; any age group, any combination of girl-meets-boy, boy-meets-boy or girl-meets-girl. There can be a combination of several themes running in parallel and crossing over. There doesn’t have to be just one relationship taking centre stage all the way through. As an organisation with more than 1000 members, we’re trying hard to be more inclusive. Diversity is very important to the RNA. We aim to encourage writers from all backgrounds, ages, races, colours, sexualities to join us and want everyone to feel welcome in the RNA. For this reason we’re currently trialling a listening exercise to find out how our members really feel about this situation. We’re always open to ideas as to how we can be more inclusive. Going back to the short-list, I think we have a good variety of relationships, settings and backgrounds. So the trend is more depth, if there is a trend. Oh, and possibly even more warmth and cosiness! That’s what we need at the moment, and it will carry us into next year. Next year’s books will all have been written during the pandemic, but after that, who knows? They might go completely off the rails! But we will keep supporting and celebrating romance in all its forms"