A WRITER OF romantic fiction who grew up in Bussage has become a bestseller overnight.

Lisa Hill became a bestseller in the Amazon UK Sports Fiction chart within 24 hours of the release of her debut novel Meet Me At Number Five.

Set in Cheltenham and the Cotswolds, the novel focuses on the lives of the horserace training family, the Cavendishes, and tackles some serious issues including infertility, single-parenting and cancer, wrapped up in light hearted romance.

Multi award winning publishers Choc Lit, which specialises in women’s fiction, published the novel after Lisa won its national Search for a Star competition in 2016.

“I am overwhelmed with the praise the novel has received,” said Lisa, who attended Bussage Primary School.

“Within one week it had reached Bestseller Status on Amazon UK, received over 30 five star reviews and readers are likening me to Katie Fforde, Sophie Kinsella and Jilly Cooper. It’s far exceeded my expectations, everyone keeps telling me they just couldn’t put it down.”

Other reviewers have likened Lisa to Dick Francis and one reviewer felt she was ‘like Jilly Cooper but on a lighter scale’.

Meet Me At Number Five was released last month and is available on Amazon, iBooks and the Choc Lit website.

Now living in Brockworth, Lisa is married to Matt and has three sons.

She counts Jilly Cooper and Katie Fforde among her literary inspirations.

Lisa describes her style as ‘contemporary romance with a light-hearted tone’. “What interests me most is people, their interactions, emotions and relationships,” she said.

“ It’s probably why my career to date has been based in property - I must confesses that I’m naturally curious.” When she’s not busy writing or helping Matt run his electrical business, Lisa enjoys running with her gun dog Sparky and is currently training for the Stroud Half-Marathon She is a graduate of the Romantic Novelists’ Association New Writers’ Scheme.

The blurb on the book is: “What if finding happiness was a race against time?

“Grace Cavendish knows a thing or two about horses – but what she doesn’t know is that her husband, top horse racing trainer Charlie Carrisbrook, is having a literal ‘roll in the hay’ right under her nose.

“When the painful truth is revealed Grace has no choice but to move in with her highly-strung grandmother Clara and cousin Hennie; a single mum who has renounced men (at least that’s what she says!) “Determined to start again, Grace takes a job at the local restaurant, Number Five. And whilst serving up coffee and cake is a far cry from the stables, she enjoys it – especially as she gets to work alongside the rather scrumptious Sam Whittaker.

“But the past is racing to catch up with Grace.

“Can her life still be a romp to victory or will a devastating secret stop her dead in her tracks?”