Simon Hughes launches Welsh romance novel 'Stories for Rainy Days'

By AI, Created 9:06 PM UTC, May 31, 2026, /AGP/ – Welsh author Simon Hughes has released Stories for Rainy Days: A Celyn Falls Bookshop Romance, a contemporary novel now available worldwide on Kindle. The book launches a new Celyn Falls Romance series and centers on a bookshop inheritance, community ties, and second chances in a fictional Welsh town.

Why it matters: - Stories for Rainy Days adds a new Welsh-set romance to the growing market for cosy, character-driven fiction. - The novel leans on emotional warmth, community, and setting rather than high-drama conflict. - The release also starts the Celyn Falls Romance series, giving the book longer-term franchise potential.

What happened: - Author Simon Hughes announced the release of Stories for Rainy Days: A Celyn Falls Bookshop Romance. - The novel is set in the fictional Welsh town of Celyn Falls. - The book is now available worldwide on Kindle through Amazon. - The story follows Clara Wren, who inherits her late great-aunt’s struggling bookshop and travels to Wales planning to sell it and return home. - Clara’s plans shift as she reconnects with the local community and forms new relationships.

The details: - Wren Books, the inherited shop, is described as an old bookshop with leaking ceilings, forgotten memories, loyal customers and a cat named Pickle. - The novel also features Tom Ellis, a local carpenter whose steady presence becomes important to Clara. - The story explores grief, healing, hope, memory, belonging and personal rediscovery. - The setting includes children’s reading clubs, rainy-day window displays, cafés, riverside streets and long-held memories. - Hughes said he wanted the novel to feel warm, hopeful and emotionally honest.

Between the lines: - The book is positioned for readers who want slower-moving romance with a strong sense of place. - Its emphasis on bookshops and small-town connection taps into a familiar comfort-fiction appeal. - Hughes’ mention of North Wales and travel through more than 40 countries suggests the series may draw on varied lived-in detail, even as the story stays grounded in one fictional town. - The inclusion of a series launch signals that Celyn Falls is meant to be a continuing fictional world, not a one-off setting.

What’s next: - Stories for Rainy Days will anchor future books in the Celyn Falls Romance series. - Simon Hughes says the series will continue exploring life, relationships and personal journeys in the town. - Readers interested in future releases can follow the series through the book’s Amazon listing.

The bottom line: - Simon Hughes is betting that a warm Welsh setting, a bookshop at the center of the story and gentle emotional stakes can power both a standalone romance and a series.