Scarborough romantic novelist Jessica Redland is nominated for a novel of the year award for a love story set on our coast

Scarborough novelist Jessica Redland has been shortlisted in the Christmas / Festive Holiday Romantic Novel Award category with her novel, Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café, for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s annual Romantic Novel Awards for 2022.
Scarborough novelist Jessica Redland has been shortlisted in the Christmas / Festive Holiday Romantic Novel Award category with her novel Snowflakes Over The Starfish CaféScarborough novelist Jessica Redland has been shortlisted in the Christmas / Festive Holiday Romantic Novel Award category with her novel Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café
Scarborough novelist Jessica Redland has been shortlisted in the Christmas / Festive Holiday Romantic Novel Award category with her novel Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café

Jessica is a bestselling author of emotional but uplifting stories of love, friendship, family and community.

Her Whitsborough Bay books transport readers to the North Yorkshire Coast, predominantly inspired by Scarborough where she lives with her husband, daughter and sprocker spaniel.

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Her Hedgehog Hollow series, set in a hedgehog rescue centre, takes readers into the beautiful rolling countryside of the Yorkshire Wolds. She's a stationery addict with a notepad obsession who loves chocolate, hedgehogs, 80s music, collectible teddy bears and lighthouses.

“Being shortlisted for a RONA is genuinely a dream come true," she said.

"I was so excited the evening I found out that I barely slept! I joined the New Writers’ Scheme in 2012 and the feedback and encouragement I received from my manuscript critiques was absolutely invaluable.

"Through actioning that feedback, I secured my first publishing deal and, even though that didn’t work out how I’d hoped, the NWS feedback gave me the self-belief to keep going.

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"A decade on from first joining the scheme, so much has changed. My publishing contract with Boldwood Books has turned me into a bestselling author who’s able to write full-time. To then be nominated for this amazing award a decade after I joined the Romantic Novelists’ Association is such a privilege and takes me full circle. Without the kickstart from the New Writers' Scheme, I doubt I’d be where I am today.”

Sharon Ibbotson, the awards cotheordinator for the Romantic Novelists’ Association, added, “During a difficult year, people needed escapism and romance more than ever. Our shortlisted authors, chosen by our readers, delivered both. The Romantic Novelists’ Association is proud to celebrate them and their achievement.”

Since their inception in 1960, the Romantic Novel Awards have recognised outstanding Romantic fiction and previous winners include Phillipa Gregory, Joanna Trollope and Rosamunde Pilcher.

The award categories for this year are as follows: the Fantasy Romantic Novel Award, the Jackie Collins Award for Romantic Thrillers, the Katie Fforde Debut Romantic Novel Award, the Christmas / Festive Holiday Romantic Novel Award, the Shorter Romantic Novel Award, the Romantic Saga Award, the Jane Wenham-Jones Award for Romantic Comedy, the Historical Romantic Novel Award, the Contemporary Romantic Novel Award, and the Popular Romantic Fiction Award (voted for by librarians, booksellers and book bloggers / reviewers). The Outstanding Achievement Award will be presented later this year.

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The winners of the awards will be announced during the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romantic Novel Awards ceremony, which is being held at the Leonardo Royal Hotel London City, Cooper’s Row, London on Monday March 7 at 6.30pm.

SNOWFLAKES OVER THE STARFISH CAFÉ BOOK BLURB (Publisher: Boldwood Books)

Since she inherited The Starfish Café, Hollie has poured her heart into the business, striving to keep her mother's traditions and warm-hearted spirit alive. But behind closed doors Hollie is searching for true happiness as she grieves the tragic loss of her family who were once the beating heart of the café ...

Jake lives by two rules: don’t let anyone get close and don’t talk about what happened. Little does he know that a chance meeting at The Starfish Café, facilitated by a fluffy lost dog, is about to turn his world upside down ...

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Can Hollie and Jake break down the barriers that have been holding them back from finding love and happiness, before Christmas comes around? After all, with courage, nothing is impossible ...

"Readers love it when they recognise the area and often try to guess which street / pub has inspired my fictional ones," said Jessica.

"Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café is my 13th book but, with an award nomination, is clearly not unlucky.

"I'd never considered writing until my manager at work said my business reports read more like stories and I should write a book. I loved that suggestion but had no idea what I'd write about. Not long after, something happened in my personal life that seemed like a great premise for a story and, when I started writing it, it was as though a dam of creativity had burst and the ideas kept on coming.

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"I took a career break from my job is human resources to relocate back to the north and set up a specialist teddy bear shop in Richmond, North Yorkshire, which I ran for two years.

"That experience gave me the knowledge to create the much-loved world of Castle Street full of independent shops and businesses. Some years later, the artist Lucy Pittaway - whose work I love - opened one of her art galleries in the same premises. Lucy's artwork is the inspiration for part of the storyline in Starry Skies Over The Chocolate Pot Café. Lucy and I have since become friends and have discovered that our lives have very much run in parallel, full of amazing coincidences.

"I conduct loads of book research online but nothing beats real-life experiences. I've spent a day with a chocolatier, at a hedgehog rescue centre and, for Snowflakes Over The Starfish Café, have spent time with Scarborough's RNLI crew. Scarborough RNLI is my charity of the year.

"Inspired by the amazing work undertaken by my local rescue centre - Wolds Hedgehog Rescue (in the real Hedgehog Hollow country) - I've joined their team, helping them with their social media.

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"I had several years where I struggled as an author after my first publisher ceased trading and I failed to make an impact as an indie author. Joining Boldwood Books changed my life. After only two years, I reached half a million sales and still have to pinch myself that it happened."