A COUNTRY house near Stourbridge has been chosen as one of the settings in a new romantic novel which is being released this month.

Blakelands Country House, a popular wedding venue based in Halfpenny Green, will feature in Black Country author Keren Hughes’ fifth novel ‘My Best Friend’s Fiancé’.

Keren, who lives near West Bromwich, said she had visited Blakelands on several occasions and when trying to imagine where the couple in the book would get married, she instantly thought of Blakelands.

She said: “I first visited Blakelands around 10 years ago and fell in love with it straight away.

“I stayed in the Ebony and Ivory room and when I was thinking of a place where my characters could go for their first romantic getaway, I straight away thought of Blakelands.

“Without giving too much away, there is a wedding scene later in the book, and as Blakelands is such a stunning wedding venue, I couldn’t think of anywhere better for them to tie the knot.”

The book, which is set to be released on Tuesday (May 30), tells the story of a woman named Kara, who is in love with Reid. The only problem is, Reid is engaged to her best friend Zoey.

The problem is made worse by the fact that Kara and Zoey share a house and once they are married, Reid will live there too.

The book can be pre-ordered now on Amazon, while Keren will be holding a competition to win one of the Blakelands Bears on her Facebook page ‘Author Keren Hughes’ on Tuesday.