I love a good romance novel, which, if you’ve seen past posts of mine, is not a big surprise. But like most romance readers, I am very, very specific about what I like and want in a romance novel. Romance is the only genre where you essentially know the ending: two people will end up together. The who, what, where, and how of the story, however, are all up for grabs.

A favorite sub-genre of mine is British romcom, a.k.a chick lit (a moniker I hate). Think Bridget Jones’s Diary: singletons with messy personal and professional lives. These novels are all set in England/Scotland/Ireland. (I do love a guy with an accent!)

Here are a few of my favorite British romcom authors and books they've written:

Jenny Colgan                       

Currently known for her recent Little Beach Street Bakery series, I discovered Jenny Colgan in 2000 with her first book Amanda’s Wedding. It’s a hilarious story of a girl trying to sabotage her frenemy’s wedding to get back the Scottish guy of her dreams. It’s naughty, ridiculous and I’ve been hooked ever since. A few of her books are set in Scotland, Bookshop on the Corner has a laid off librarian starting a mobile bookstore in the Scottish Highlands and in her newest book The Cafe by the Sea, a London paralegal is sent back to her Scottish Island home to help with a court case but ends up helping her estranged family even more. Another favorite, The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris, sends an English girl to Paris for the chance of a lifetime. Colgan’s books are a perfect mix of wit, wish-fulfillment , sweetness, quirky characters and heart.

Jill Mansell

Jill Mansell is a romance writing legend in England but less well known this side of the pond. A favorite is Good at Games, a ridiculous romp of famous exes, police officer fiances and annoying family members. Perfect Timing has a young women meeting an alluring, perfect stranger on her bachelorette night, jilting her fiance and impulsively moving to London to track that stranger down.  If you like your perfect stranger to come with a one night stand and a wicked reputation there’s Solo, where struggling artist Tessa realizes that her impulsivity comes with biological consequences. In the brand new Meet Me at Beachcomber Bay, Clemency meets her perfect man on a plane where they talk and laugh like old friends only to discover upon landing that he’s married. Now three years later, he walks into her real estate office looking to buy a weekend retreat. Mansell’s books always include a large, fun cast of characters. Her books aren’t just romances but drop-ins on lives of people you'd want to know in real life.

Katie Fforde

Katie Fforde’s books are pure, sweet escapism, full of very British manners and men that make you go oy! In Perfect Proposal the quintessential nice girl who gets taken advantage of by everyone finds herself in Manhattan befriending a wealthy American and her snobbish grandson. In Stately Pursuits, Hetty is nursing a broken heart and looking after a crumbling manor house in a village filled with nosy neighbors and an annoying distant cousin with his own agenda. Highland Fling’s London based "virtual assistant"Jenny impulsively runs off to Scotland to keep a failing mill from closing. In Love Letters, bookstore clerk Laura’s one innocent white lie leads to her having to go to Ireland and track down  reclusive author Dermot who is maddening and temperamental. If you enjoy humor, happy endings, and plenty cups of tea, Katie Fforde’s books are you you!

Sophie Kinsella

Best known for her Shopaholic series, Sophie Kinsella is a master of the British rom com and all it’s entertaining tropes and comedy of errors. In her latest My Not-So Perfect Life, London singleton Katie is struggling in both her personal and professional life. With so much not-winning she heads back to her parent’s place in the country to regroup and start over. Samantha, a smart London lawyer is also forced to start over in Undomestic Goddess. One huge career mistake has her reeling and falling into job as a housekeeper only she has no idea how to boil an egg or iron a shirt.The farcical delight Wedding Night has younger sister Lotte marrying her ex-boyfriend on the rebound and older sister Fliss desperately trying to derail their honeymoon. Finally, my favorite just might be Can You Keep a Secret? Emma thinking she’s about to die in a plane crash, confesses all her most embarrassing secrets to the male stranger sitting next to her - only for the plane to not crash and for the male stranger to turn out to be the boss she’s never met before. Kinsella’s books somehow mix broad comedy with a romantic optimism and a world weariness that always satisfies.

Giovanna Fletcher

Giovanna Fletcher is a relatively newish author. In England, she’s also known for being married to Tom Fletcher of the pop band McFly and sister to reality star Mario Falcone of The Only Way is Essex. Her knowledge of tabloids and fame are clear in her first stateside novel Billy and Me. A sweet romance that has a shy, small town girl falling for a young, hot movie star. For her next novel, You’re the One that I Want, she explores that staple of romance novels: the love triangle. Since the age of 12, Maddy, Ben and Rob have been inseparable but now she’s walking down the aisle towards Rob but should she have chosen best man Ben instead? OMG the agony of it all. Fletcher’s novels are vicarious fun through all the twists and turns of romance. She’s definitely one to remember as more of her books become available in the U.S.

And lastly, debut author Kate Eberlen. I recently read her debut novel Miss You and fell in love. In the novel, two young strangers, Tess and Gus, briefly cross paths in Florence, Italy while on vacation. For the next twenty years, they will live parallel lives, unknowingly cross paths—never knowing that their soul mate could be out there. Wonderfully romantic and poignant, this will have you laughing and crying. Eberlen is deflintely one to watch.