A romantic novel written by Farnhill woman Kelly Harte has been snapped up by a major transatlantic publisher.

HMB is the company behind the massively-successful Mills and Boon, Harlequin and Silhouette romances.

Kelly's book Guilty Feet is being published in the UK and USA as part of HMB's new "chick lit" imprint Red Dress Ink.

The fictional genre - sparked by books such as Bridget Jones's Diary - is one of the most popular in Britain, and is taking off in America.

The light-hearted books follow the love, home and work lives of city girls in their 20s or 30s. Guilty Feet is the second novel to be written by 53-year-old Kelly, who lives in Main Street, Farnhill.

The first book Taking Possession - published by HarperCollins - was written as part of a creative writing degree course Kelly took in her late 40s.

Guilty Feet will be on sale on April 10, and the follow-up Spitting Feathers will be published by HMB next year.

Guilty Feet takes its title from George Michael's song Careless Whisper and is aimed at anyone who ever wished they could be someone else for a while.