A RYEDALE novelist has won a top accolade in a romantic book competition.

Jane Lovering, who lives in Kirkbymoorside, received the RNA (Romantic Novelists’ Association) Rose Award in London. Her win, for Christmas at the Little Village School, means she has now won both the RNA’s Rose Award for shorter length fiction and the main Romantic Novel of the Year award, which she won with her debut, Don’t Stop the Music, in 2012.

Jane said: “I loved writing and researching this book. Huge thanks to the National Centre for Birds of Prey at Duncombe Park for their help with the owls, to the National Trust and of course to my ever supportive workmates.”

Lyn Vernham, managing director of Choc Lit, Jane’s publisher, said: “We are incredibly proud of her. Winning the double is pretty much unheard of.

“It’s wonderful to see her receiving such recognition. She deserves to win award after award and to have her books flying off shelves in every bookstore in the country and beyond. Jane is an extraordinary talent.”

Jane’s paperback of her latest novel, Little Teashop of Horrors, is also released this week, which available in paperback from book shops and online retailers.