Summer Reading from Christina Courtenay

Unusually for me, I haven’t had much time for reading this summer, mostly because I didn’t go on the customary beach holiday.  When I do, I always take one book for each day (well, there’s nothing else to do, is there?) and hopefully get through ten to fourteen novels that way.  This year I’ve had to make do with reading at home, which meant I had to prioritise.

The choice in my TBR pile is daunting, to say the least, but some books call to you more than others.  That was the case with All That Mullarkey by Sue Moorcroft, a superb contemporary with a most delicious hero, and ditto Turning the Tide by Christine Stovell.  (And no, I didn’t read those because the author’s are my fellow Choc Lit-mates - truthfully, I would have loved them anyway.)

Then there was The Perfect Proposal by our lovely chairman, Katie Fforde.  A gentle love story that really was perfect in every way, with another wonderful hero to fall in love with and some fabulous settings.

For something a bit different, I read The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry (I need some stories other than romance occasionally), but I was soon back with my favourite genre, delving into Wicked Regency Nights by among others, our own Nicola Cornick and Louise Allen.  Almost Human by Cat Marsters provided more variety and in between, I devoured two dark and paranormal YA novels, Radiant Shadows by Melissa Marr (a very different world of faeries) and Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, which features a fallen angel quite literally to die for.

I don’t know about everyone else, but the sheer quality of fiction and the fantastic stories that continue to be published, especially by RNA members, astonishes me and makes me realise how much I have to look forward to.  Whenever I want, there is always another wonderful world to immerse myself in.  The only question is which one to choose next?

(Writing as Christina Courtenay, Pia's novel Trade Winds (published by Choc Lit) is out now, and her Regency novella Never Too Late published by DC Thomson (no.1737) is in shops this week.)