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Original poster

please help me find my next comfort read (I'm v fussy!)

107 replies

Namechangetimesigh · 06/03/2023 10:34

(reposted as I put it in the wrong topic to start with)

I'm a total escapist comfort reader and I know exactly what I like, but having exhausted the back catalogue of my favourite authors (Jenny Colgan, Trisha Ashley and the comfort food cafe series) I'm always struggling to find another that hits the comfort-reading spot:

  • set in the UK countryside or seaside
  • featuring a sensible woman who makes the best of her situation, often through organisation, home/shop renovation or cooking
  • quirky friends and/or family provide comedy
  • nothing horrible happens
  • romance optional

If it helps, I liked Cathy Bramley until her style changed slightly, I can't get into Debbie Johnson's non-comfort food cafe books and Heidi Swann very nearly hits the spot. For some reason, Kate Forster, Phillipa Ashley and Jo Bartlett didn't click for me.

Thank you!

OP posts:
lmnabc · 06/03/2023 20:48

Following.

CharlotteStreetW1 · 06/03/2023 20:47

Jill Mansell. All of them.

Original poster
Namechangetimesigh · 06/03/2023 20:46

TuneInThisTimeNextWeek · 06/03/2023 20:33

Katie Fforde?

Thanks for the suggestion, I find her books hit and miss TBH. I loved A Summer at Sea, but her frequent approach of 'controlling man takes over her life even though she doesn't want him to, but it turns out he loves her!' is a bit hard to stomach in 2023. Trisha Ashley's very oldest books are infuriatingly like that too, but her later heroines have more gumption :)

OP posts:
hilariousnamehere · 06/03/2023 20:41

Oh and the Cornish Cream Tea series - Cressida McLaughlin 😁

LetMeJustCheckMyCitrusPocket · 06/03/2023 20:40

Also came to say Katie Fforde, I prefer her older books.

Lucy Dillon too...not escapist but heartwarming, and although not a series her books loosely interconnect.

hilariousnamehere · 06/03/2023 20:40

This is 70% of my fairly extensive library 😁 Try Veronica Henry, Katie Fforde, Celia Anderson, Maeve Haran, Milly Johnson, Caroline Roberts, Vanessa Greene, Nicola May, Sue Moorcroft, Rebecca Raisin, Holly Hepburn and Donna Ashcroft.

Also Christina Jones and slightly different but if we have similar tastes, Sarah Addison Allen and Ali McNamara - all three fit your requirements but have some magical realism going on and are among my all time favourite reads!

TuneInThisTimeNextWeek · 06/03/2023 20:33

Katie Fforde?