Emma (Classic Book By You)

As Jane Austen states in the opening few words, Emma Woodhouse is handsome, clever and rich. The trouble is…she knows it. Her neighbour Mr Knightley does his best to stop her from making an idiot of herself, but it just doesn’t occur to Emma that she could ever be wrong. Emma believes that her new friend Harriet, who is of questionable birth, would be the perfect match for the very respectable vicar, and she is also delighted to hear the rumours that the girl she hates is interested in her best friend’s husband. Mr Knightley thinks a good dose of falling in love would sort Emma out. It looks like he’s about to get his wish.

Sense & Sensibility (Classic Book By You)

Things are bad enough for Mrs Dashwood and her daughters when Mr Dashwood suddenly drops dead, but their situation doesn’t exactly improve when their daughter in law talks their brother out of giving them enough money to live on. Marianne likes a bit of drama and tragedy to spice up her life, but her elder sister Elinor can see they’re in deep dog poo. Then some random cousin offers them a home out of nowhere, separating Elinor from the guy she fancies and throwing Marianne into the path of a guy she should probably stay well away from.

Pride & Prejudice (Classic Book By You)

When the rich, single Mr Bingley arrives in the neighbourhood, Mrs Bennet is determined to get at least one of her five daughters married off. She becomes even more hopeful when Bingley’s even richer friend Mr Darcy shows up, but whilst Mr Bingley and Jane Bennet do seem to be instantly smitten, Mr Darcy makes a bad first impression on Elizabeth when she overhears him saying she’s not exactly hot. Throw in a couple of tarty younger sisters and some lush young officers, and this classic book isn’t nearly as boring and inaccessible as you might think.

Hot Blooded (Same Sex Romance By You, M/M)

Aaron is a university professor who spends a lot of his time in the library. Chris is a vampire who also spends a lot of time in the library. A meeting between them seems inevitable, even before that bookshelf nearly crashes down on Aaron’s head, and Chris demands a kiss as a reward for saving him. Soon, the two men are crazy about each other (yes, this is a gay story, look away now if you’re prejudiced), but for some reason Aaron doesn’t understand, this sexy, mysterious stranger keeps holding back.

Wedding Favors (Romance By You)

Jade and Gareth are getting married (lucky Jade!) and Sophie has agreed to make the favours as a favour (genius title for a very funny book). Gareth’s friend Kenneth, a 911 operator and general doormat (but such a cute one), is housesitting for Gareth. Sophie does her best to deny the instant attraction between her and Kenneth, but even her shopping trolley can’t resist him.

Tropical Treasure (Romance By You)

Sophie’s first meeting with Gareth takes place in the bedroom.

Not like that. They fight over who’s going to sleep in the best room, but as soon as one of them actually wins the argument, Jade walks in and tells them she was here first. But Sophie and Gareth have sized each other up and decided they like what they see. And considering they’re spending the next few weeks on a tropical island without many clothes on, it’s fair to assume they’re going to see quite a lot of each other.

Love's Next Door (Romance By You)

Sophie returns to her old home after a year away and decides to welcome herself home by playing a little prank on her best friend and childhood sweetheart, Gareth. She isn’t the least bit attracted to him now, of course she isn’t, though she absolutely can’t stand that tart he’s sleeping with, but she still enjoys embarrassing him half to death and generally making life difficult for him. As for Gareth, the feeling is absolutely mutual.

Click for Love (Romance By You)

Sophie is sacked after accidentally sending a text intended for her new boyfriend to everyone in the company (personally, I think anyone sending a text as cringe making as that deserves to be shot, so she gets off quite lightly). But the company’s decision backfires on them just slightly when the talented Emma also leaves. Emma decides this is the perfect opportunity to pursue their dream of setting up their own fashion line, while Sophie decides this is the perfect opportunity to get Emma interested in one of her favourite hobbies: online dating.

Black Lace (Teen Book By You)

Kenneth is a Shadow Ward who chases after lost souls who haven’t died properly and tries to help them find peace. His latest assignment leads him to Sophie, a vampire who doesn’t suck blood, but still has quite a high mortality rate where her victims are concerned. Sophie needs Kenneth to keep her alive, and as he’s so adorably soft hearted, he can’t really say no, especially once he realises she’s just as much a victim as he is (the fact he thinks she’s gorgeous probably also helps).

First Bite (Teen Book By You)

Sophie is in the library researching for a school paper, when a really hot vampire called Kenneth appears out of nowhere and stops a bookshelf from falling on her head. Kenneth likes Sophie, but he feels that vampires’ getting involved with humans is a big no-no, even when they’re as intelligent and in love with books as he is. Sophie really likes Kenneth, but it’s hard work pretending she hasn’t noticed he doesn’t always breathe.

Prom & Prejudice (Teen Book By You)

Sophie and Gareth used to be best friends, but things went a bit sour after Gareth’s other best friend Avril pushed Sophie into the brambles and Gareth refused to believe it wasn’t an accident. Now, Gareth thinks it’s hilarious to play practical jokes on Sophie, while Sophie probably does get some secret enjoyment out of genuine accidents involving her locker door and Gareth’s head.

The Enchanted Castle (Kids Book By You)

It’s the school holidays, and Mummy wants to take Sophie and Emma on an adventure. Sophie and Emma view the idea with deep suspicion. They’ve been on Mummy’s ‘adventures’ before. It’s true that the hotel they’re staying in used to be a castle, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be fun – what if it smells?

The Book of Dragons (Kids Book By You)

This book features four short stories from E. Nesbit’s collection of short stories, The Last of the Dragons.

Daddy has decided Sophie and Jade are old enough to set off fireworks in the garden, so perhaps it’s not so very wrong of them to assume they’re also big enough to go all the way to the North Pole.

Bunking off school also seems perfectly acceptable when Sophie and Jade decide to find out once and for all why the mountain is so noisy.

When the world is overtaken by dragons of increasing size, Sophie and Jade have to sneak out during the hours of daylight in order to save the country.

Finally, Sophie and Jade go off to perform a traditional rite of passage…but it all seems such a shame when there’s only one dragon left.

Book By You Books

I spent most of my childhood reading books and wishing I was the main character. Real life is all right as far as it goes, but a book can take you into a whole different world.

So imagine how excited I was when I realised it was possible for me to star in my own books.

Book By You is a wonderful personalised book site that allows you to star in both original novels and existing works. You can personalise children's books, teen books, adult romances, mysteries and classic novels including Pride & Prejudice, The Secret Garden and The Phantom of the Opera.

You get to do all the fun things the main character does, and real life friends can play the roles of your friends in the books. Your romantic hero could be your real-life partner or the guy(s) of your dreams, whether he's that gorgeous guy you go to school with, or that hot guy who stars in your favourite film.

Even your cat or dog can make an appearance - and if, like me, you don't have any pets, you can always name them after some playful friend or toddler, the results are hilarious.

Depending on the book you order, there are also opportunities to change the book so it features your home town, your school or your favourite restaurant.

For the classic novels, I've mostly used the names of the original characters, as that will make more sense to the people who know them already. For the original novels, I've used the character names I've selected - it's very confusing and clunky writing 'the heroine's friend's boyfriend' all the time, especially as there are books when the heroine has more than one friend. I'll try really hard to make it clear which are personalised characters and which ones aren't.

These books give me so much happiness and laughter,which is why I thought I'd blog about them and share my enjoyment of them with other people. Maybe I'll get the chance to talk to other fans of personalised books. Maybe I'll inspire more people to buy them and help them discover the delights of starring in your own novel. (Maybe one day, I'll even have the courage to submit some of the personalised books I've written for myself. )