If You Like Rosamunde Pilcher...

Rosamunde Pilcher's early novels were written in the classic romance tradition. Later works, such as The Shell Seekers, feature an appealing woman protagonist facing her own mortality and the complexities of family relationships. Most of these titles can be characterized as "Gentle Reads" or "Clean Reads."

Bacher, June Masters -- The author calls herself an inspirational writer, saying that she prefers to write about love - the love of God, country, family, other people.

Baldwin, Faith -- Ms. Baldwin began writing during the Great Depression intending to help people escape from reality through romance novels. Stories often center around a female character's choices between career and marriage.

Binchy, Maeve -- Circle of Friends (1991), The Glass Lake (1988). Most often set in rural Ireland, these novels center around family life and intimate friendships.

Cadell, Elizabeth -- The Empty Nest (1986). Ms. Cadell's English characters meet life's obstacles with practicality and a sense of humor, often finding romance along the way.

Chaikin, Linda -- Frequently published in series, Ms. Chaikin's novels follow female characters as they pursue their heart's desires in work and love in historical settings.

Davis-Goff, Annabel -- The Dower House (1997). In lush prose, the story of Molly, an orphaned Irish woman, comes of age in post-war England.

Fforde, Katie -- Stately Pursuits (1998). Hetty agrees to house-sit her uncle's mansion in a rural English village where she is welcomed by humorous villagers and her uncle's bitter heir, Conner.

Goudge, Elizabeth -- Green Dolphin Street (1944). Based on a true story, Ms. Goudge's male relative wrote a marriage proposal to his childhood sweetheart, but it reached her older sister instead.

Heyer, Georgette -- Many of Ms. Heyer's more than sixty novels are set in Regency England and contain witty and vivid descriptions of costumes and settings.

Hill, Grace Livingston -- According to the Pattern (1903), Matched Pearls (1933). Prolific and popular, Ms. Hill wrote religious romances filled with adventure, conflict and domesticity.

Hill, Ruth -- The daughter of Grace Livingston Hill continued the inspirational romance tradition.

Hucker, Hazel -- Trials of Friendship (1988). Five English women in mid-life learn to rely on friendship to help them weather turbulent relationships and the outcome of life's decisions.

Karon, Jan -- The Mitford Series: At Home in Mitford (1994), A Light in the Window (1995), These High, Green Hills (1996), Out to Canaan (1997), A New Song (1999). The series follows the adventures and foibles of an Episcopal priest's friends in Mitford, NC.

Michaels, Barbara -- Smoke and Mirrors is the best of her many romantic suspense novels, while Wings of the Falcon best represents her historical romances.

Peart, Jane -- Brides of Montclair Series and American Quilt Series

Peck, Richard -- London Holiday (1998). Three middle-aged American women take a trip to London that changes their lives.

Plain, Belva -- Famous for the contemporary family saga.

Price, Eugenia -- A pioneer in radio soap opera in the 1940s, Ms. Price later turned to writing historical romance novels set in the American South.

Sparks, Nicholas -- Message in a Bottle (1998). A love story featuring a rugged but sensitive seafaring fellow; his wise, aged father; and a single mother who works as a researcher for a newspaper.

Stevenson, D.E. -- Vittoria Cottage (1949).

Stewart, Mary -- The Rose Cottage (1997). A war widow returns to the idyllic English countryside and the tiny thatched dwelling of her childhood, Rose Cottage, where she must retrieve some valuable papers hidden in a secret safe. However, the mysterious documents have been stolen.

Summers, Essie -- A New Zealand journalist and author of many novels as well as Harlequin romances.

Veryan, Patricia -- Well-researched, deftly plotted Regency and Georgian romances featuring believable characters and situations.

Walsh, Jill Paton -- The Serpentine Cave (1997). After her artist mother dies, a daughter's search for her own past and the identity of her father takes her to a remote Cornwall fishing village. There she discovers her identity and her mother's art are irrevocably tied to a 1939 lifeboat disaster.

Wesley, Mary -- Jumping the Queue (1983). A middle-aged English widow on the brink of suicide reevaluates her life after a chance encounter with a fugitive also contemplating suicide.

Woodhouse, Sarah -- Enchanted Ground (1993). The trials and tribulations of three women devoted to their country manor home despite dwindling resources, growing debts, and the passage of time.