Hi! I’m Sophie Toovey, and I’d love to introduce myself and my books to you.
My top favourite books include: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, the ultimate romance, the Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness, a spectacular original Sci-Fi that blew my mind with each book, and The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, one of my childhood favourites. Gardens and secrets, what’s not to like?
So, what can you expect from my books?
I write with overlapping genres from romcom to dystopian romance, but romance is the heartbeat of everything I write. I’m all about swoon, but kisses only. I love witty banter, and strong female characters. I’m also passionate about creating flawed characters who have to go through gritty stuff to grow and change. There’s a lot of grace in my books, and redemption, coming from my Christian perspective. Some of my books have faith elements. Overall, I describe my writing as ‘clean, not sweet’. I don’t want fluffy cliche, I want love that costs something. I prefer ‘Happy For Now’ endings rather than the traditional HEA, particularly if there’s a wedding at the end of my book… After all, that’s just the beginning of a new adventure!
My books
Bell Time and Wedding Bell Time follow Jen and Michael, two teachers in a struggling school. These romcoms focus on hilarious situations and how these two opposites attract.
I Want You Back is a free novella for all my newsletter subscribers. It’s a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. You can get your copy here.
The Day of the Dice is the first in a dystopian romance series. It’s like Pride and Prejudice meets The Hunger Games. It’s not as brutal as The Handmaid’s Tale, I promise! It’s an enemies-to-lovers story where he falls first, and there’s a fake engagement too. The series continues with The Way of the Island and The Bay of Knives, and The Lay of the Land.
I also have two YA contemporary novels, This Bud of Love, a Christian romance, and The Castle, where the characters are method-acting an audition for drama school live on reality TV.
More about me
I’m Welsh, so my books are written in British English – hopefully with no incomprehensible slang!
I’m a teacher, so a lot of my personal passion and experience informed the Bell Time series… although I didn’t fall for my co-worker or compete for a promotion (just to clarify!).
I’m a Christian, which is why I write kisses-only, closed door/clean romance. There are some faith elements to my stories which you might spot. You can read more of my thoughts about writing romance as a Christian here.
I’m a planner, an Enneagram Type 3, so I really relate to Michael in the Bell Time series with his “when I’m stressed, I do admin” mantra!
My favourite cosy night in would be watching a period drama with a blanket and a cup of tea, and some top-notch shortbread.
Do we have anything in common? Follow me on social media and sign up to my newsletter so we can keep in touch!
Sophie Toovey 