Osgodby best-selling writer Jessica Redland reveals first novel in new romance series

Jessica Redland at Scarborough Lifeboat Station with mascot Stormy Stan who features in her The Starfish Café series

The million copy-selling romance writer’s 21st novel The Start of Something Wonderful was released this week and is the first in a new series set in the Lake District.

The plot revolves round Autumn Laine. After losing her grandad and her job as an illustrator, she is at a crossroads in life. Spending time with her parents in Paris is not the answer.

When her penpal Rosie invites her to stay in the Lake District, Autumn jumps at the chance to go. After all, where better to re-discover her creativity than the place which inspired her heroine, Beatrix Potter?

Arriving at the picturesque lakeside village of Willowdale, Autumn is swept up by the beauty and magic of the stunning landscape. Welcomed into the community with open arms, she slowly starts to feel like herself again as her creative instincts re-ignite.

But when she meets Dane, who has escaped to the Lakes for his own reasons, will Autumn's walls come down to let someone in again after so long? Or will the secrets of her past continue to hold her back?

Jessica, who lives with husband Mark and daugher Ashleigh, is the top 10 bestselling author of novels of more than 20 novels including The Secret to Happiness. Inspired by her hometown of Scarborough, she writes uplifting women’s fiction which has garnered many devoted fans.

One of her series set in Whitsborough Bay – a fictional version of Scarborough with elements of Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay – is now complete at three books. The final part of The Starfish Café series – Summer Nights at The Starfish Café - came out earlier this year.

In honour of this, her publisher Boldwood Books made the RNLI its charity of the year.

It said: “Boldwood Books are proud to support the RNLI. Boldwood Books have pledged a donation to the RNLI in 2023 as part of our support for the work they do saving lives at sea".

It follows a personal donation Jessica made to the RNLI after the second book in the series - Spring Tides at The Starfish Café - was released lastyear.