Come and meet the locals who might just stroll straight into the pages of a romance novel!

Pub gossip, market-day smiles, and maybe a hint of matchmaking...

I’m often asked where I get the ideas for my characters from, and to be honest, I find them everywhere. Behind every pub counter, every market stall, and every cottage door, there’s a little romance waiting to happen - everyday people who could belong in a romance novel.

Whenever I’m out and about, especially when I visit the little villages and small market towns that feature in my stories, it doesn’t take me long before I start spotting people who could easily walk straight into the pages of one of them. I’m surrounded by potential characters for a romance novel:  in the bakery queue; tucked behind a market stall; nursing a quiet half pint at the pub while pretending not to listen to everyone else’s conversations; tending allotments; or striding across the village green with a purpose that may or may not involve meeting someone at the bench by the duck pond.

There’s the retired chap who insists he’s perfectly content with his crossword and his cat who polishes his brass letterbox every Saturday and refers to the thirty-two year old postman as a “young lad”. Then there’s Marjorie from the florist, who insists she’s much too busy for love, but somehow always has time to arrange an extra bunch of freesias for the widower who lives down the lane.

And over at the allotments, you’ll find Ted, whose runner beans are thriving, even if his love life isn’t. He swears he’s sworn off women forever ever since his ex left him for a man with a polytunnel, but the lady who runs the cake stall at the farmers’ market keeps giving him the biggest slices of lemon drizzle. He hasn’t noticed yet, but the rest of the village certainly has!

Of course, every pub or village shop has its matchmaker. It could be the landlady who knows everyone’s secrets and dispenses pints and advice in equal measure. She might claim to have no time for nonsense, but she’s been known to accidentally seat two single people at the same table when the fire’s roaring and the rain’s lashing at the windows. Pure coincidence, of course!

I think that’s what I love most about small communities - the quiet romances that bloom in the background. You can see them in the knowing smiles in the cafe, the handful of home-grown asparagus left on doorsteps, the way someone always saves the last scone for someone else. These are the little details that sneak into my books, the tender, funny, heartwarming moments that make a place feel alive and the characters like friends. Because behind every market stall, every pub counter, and every overgrown garden gate, there’s someone harbouring a secret longing or a half-forgotten dream.

I like to think that every real-life village has its own cast of hidden romantics, quietly living their stories until someone like me (with a notebook and a fondness for tea and slices of lemon drizzle cake) happens to write them down. You'll find them in the pages of the Tanglewood series, in Applewell and Foxmore, and in Duncoorie on Skye.

See what else Lilac Mills has written.

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About the Author

Lilac Mills writes heartwarming romance inspired by life in the Welsh countryside, her love of simple pleasures, and the beauty of everyday moments. She’s the author of over twenty feel-good novels, and also writes as Liz Davies and Etti Summers. Meet her here.