Cressida Burton

ALLi Author Member

Location: United Kingdom (the)

Genres: Commercial Fiction, Young Adult (YA), General Fiction, Womens Fiction, Humour, Romance, Children's general

Skills: Reading/Literary Event

Cressida Burton knew she wanted to be a writer when she was seven years old, and has never given up on that dream. She is now — finally — a full-time author.

She writes both dark humour about family life, friendships and relationships for grown-ups — dramedy, if you like — and inspiring junior fiction for pony-mad kids age 8 and above. Although, most of her grown-up fiction also contains a lot of horse and animal content, which can never be a bad thing.

She started riding ponies at age six, learning on a very opinionated scruffy bay Shetland called Olaf. She still loves horses dearly despite being told as a child that ponies were ‘just a phase’. She believes she has hit the deck at least 150 times in her riding career. In her most spectacular fall she demolished a triple bar in a showjumping jump-off. She knows this was her own fault as she should have had more leg on!

Her books are set in what has been given the nickname The Burtonverse by a reader who is also a friend, this being a fictional world made up from the prettiest villages and towns you could possibly imagine.

Cressida lives in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park with her husband, the redoubtable and very shy Mr B, and their big floof of an opinionated orange cat, Bilbo Baggins.

Cressida Burton's books

First Term at Ravensbay

'Well done, Paige!

We’re absolutely thrilled to tell you that you’re the winner of our Ponies! Ponies! Ponies! magazine 25th year anniversary national ‘Pony School’ competition. As you know, first prize is for the magazine to pay your fees in full for the Ravensbay Boarding School and Equestrian Academy...'

...and so, eleven-year-old Paige Buchanan is catapulted from her quiet Edinburgh life, living with her mother and attending the local primary school, into the privileged world of Ravensbay where she will discover a whole new vocabulary: snacks are ‘tuck’, homework is ‘prep’ and the words ‘competition girl’ aren’t meant as a compliment!

Convinced she’ll never fit in, Paige is all set to give up her place at school and return home when she sees a blue roan mare running wild in the fields. It’s love at first sight for Paige, but the mare, Blue Angel, is to be sold as dangerous unless someone can save her.

Suddenly Paige has a reason to stay, but can she face her fears, makes friends and, ultimately, save the pony of her dreams from a terrible fate?

First Term at Ravenbay is the first title in this brand new and modern equestrian boarding school series which will follow Paige and her school-mates from their very first day in year seven, through the school years, term by term. Paige's dorm-mates are remote and prickly Taryn, very much in the shadow of her famous showjumping sister and horribly homesick; misfit swot Anna, sent to school by her wealthy, well-meaning aunt; and Paige's nemesis, pony diva Savannah, whose mother is a school governor and who will do everything in her power to get the 'competition girl', kicked out of the school.

Along the way you'll meet the teachers, prefects, Will the stable lad, and all the ponies! And then there's Blue Angel, a damaged blue roan American Quarter Horse. Paige's determination to save Blue Angel gets her, and her new friends, into trouble, not to mention demerit points for her house, as well as multiple bruises and far too many visits to the headmistress's office. But, in the end, it will all be worth it... won't it?

Hunter Trials at Ravensbay

‘I can’t believe it. Blue Angel hates me! She doesn’t even remember me!’

Paige Buchanan is looking forward to her second term at Ravensbay Boarding School and Equestrian Academy. It'll be fun to catch up with all her friends, especially her BFF Taryn Konstantine, and she's been chosen to compete for Godolphin House in the end of term hunter trials on her second favourite school pony, Paprika. Best of all, she'll be reunited with Blue Angel, the beautiful blue roan American Quarter Horse that she helped to save in her first term.

But when she arrives back at school Blue Angel acts as though Paige is a stranger. How could Blue have forgotten her so easily? Then Paige's feud with her arch-rival, Savannah Rees-Myers, causes her to fall out with her closest friends, causing tensions for everyone on the top floor of Llewellyn Hall.

It's only when a shocking accident out on the cross-country course threatens to prevent Paige from taking part in the hunter trials that she realises she has to make amends with both her friends and her foes if she is to be in with any chance of winning the red rosette...

Hunter Trials at Ravensbay is the second instalment in Cressida Burton's Amazon UK bestselling, horsey boarding school book series, The Ravensbay School Stories, enjoyed by pony-mad kids and grown-ups alike!

Bitter Rivals at Ravensbay

'Unless Paige finishes in the top ten of her class in the summer exams, and also places in at least one event at the summer show, the magazine will stop paying her fees and she will have to leave Ravensbay...'

Paige Buchanan arrives back at Ravensbay Boarding School and Equestrian Academy expecting to have a full term of summer fun: barbecues, beach rides and training for the showjumping class at the end-of-year summer show on Paprika. She'll also be reunited with Blue Angel, the blue roan American Quarter Horse she's spent the past two terms gentling. Instead, Paige is summoned to the headmistress's office at the start of term and is told that she has to choose between the two ponies. Even worse, the equestrian magazine that pays her scholarship fees is demanding top results in both her academic and equestrian studies or else they will pull their funding. Paige suspects that her best frenemy, Savannah Rees-Myers, is behind all her troubles but she can't prove it and a battle of wills commences between them that affects every girl in Llewellyn Hall.

With reliable Paprika allocated to another girl, Paige must get Blue Angel competition ready by the end of term. With the weeks rushing by, and extra prep and revision for the end-of-year exams to fit in too, Paige finds herself racing against time. Because the pressure is well and truly on and, if Paige can't find a way to succeed, her first year at Ravensbay will also be her last!

Bitter Rivals at Ravensbay is the third instalment in Cressida Burton's Amazon UK bestselling, horsey boarding school book series, The Ravensbay School Stories, enjoyed by pony-mad kids and grown-ups alike!

White Horses at Ravensbay

'We’ve been split up. All four of us from Puffins are in separate dorms!’

It's autumn term, and a brand new academic year at Ravensbay Boarding School and Equestrian Academy for girls has just begun! Paige Buchanan and her friends - Taryn, Lindsay, Savannah and Anna - are moving up into year eight, and into Ferguson Hall under the stern eye of their new housemistress, Miss Dunster. Paige has finally put all her worries about her future at Ravensbay behind her, believing that school life is finally going to be calm and peaceful. Unbeknownst to her, changes lie ahead in the classroom, in their boarding hall and even in the equestrian centre, all of which will turn Paige's life upside down. In addition, the arrival of two new girls upsets the relationships between Paige and all her friends.

Teal MacMahon is a genuine rodeo queen from Texas, who becomes consumed by her desire to ride Blue Angel, the blue roan American Quarter Horse that Paige rides exclusively. At the same time Irish prankster Victoria Lynch has the entire year in fits of laughter with her daring tricks and exploits. Then, when Teal takes her obsession with Blue Angel too far, and when one of Victoria's tricks goes horribly wrong, the entire year is divided... leaving Paige feeling betrayed and isolated. Will the year eight girls be able to work out their differences before the end of term?

White Horses at Ravensbay is the fourth instalment in Cressida Burton's Amazon UK bestselling, horsey boarding school book series, The Ravensbay School Stories, enjoyed by pony-mad kids and grown-ups alike!

Snowed In at Ravensbay (A Ravensbay Short Story)

‘It’s been blizzarding all night. The entire headland has been cut off. I’m afraid we’re all snowed in until further notice.’

It's the Christmas holidays at last, and Paige Buchanan just can't wait to accompany her best friend, Taryn Konstantine, back to her luxurious family home, The Paddocks, for several days of festive fun. There'll be delicious food to eat, animals to play with, and even ponies to ride... it's going to be just perfect. Except that an unexpected snowstorm arrives on the very last day of term, cutting off the Ravensbay headland, and any girls still at school find themselves snowed in. Suddenly all their Christmas plans are ruined!

Then, as the school struggles to cope with power cuts, Paige and Taryn find themselves back in their year seven dorm, Puffins, with an old friend. Believing that all they can do to amuse themselves is to watch Christmas films and eat chocolate whilst they wait the storm out, the girls find instead that they are required to help in some very unexpected activities, including a rescue mission across the bitter, snow-clad moors that, if they don't succeed, could result in a terrible tragedy.

Snowed In at Ravensbay is a very special short story, set immediately after White Horses at Ravensbay and during the Christmas holidays, and is available exclusively for Kindle download and on Kindle Unlimited.

Pony Girl Problems at Ravensbay

'I just can’t wait to see everyone again, Taryn, Will, and Blue Angel of course. I have a feeling it’s going to be my best term yet!'

But will Paige Buchanan’s fifth term at Ravensbay Boarding School and Equestrian Academy live up to her expectations?

At first spring term holds so much promise, with the very first week bringing surprising news and exciting changes for Paige and her friends, and school life does seem to be settling down... finally. There’ll be hacks, dorm fun and school socials to look forward to, plus those all-important annual hunter trials. This time Paige will be competing on Blue Angel, the blue roan American Quarter Horse for whom she has sole responsibility, and she has a lot to prove. If she can bring home the red rosette, she’ll surely be promoted back to alpha riding group. But there’s just one small problem. Things have changed a lot since the previous hunter trials, and this year Paige doesn’t even have a pairs partner...

Then, as term gallops on, it seems that everyone in year eight succumbs to at least one pony girl problem, causing unexpected rifts and discords. Can the girls in Ferguson Hall put their beefs and grievances aside in time for competition day, or will spring term end up a complete wash out?

Pony Girl Problems at Ravensbay is the fifth instalment in Cressida Burton's Amazon UK bestselling, horsey boarding school book series, The Ravensbay School Stories, enjoyed by pony-mad kids and grown-ups alike!

The Starlight Pony

A boy and a horse...

Olly Orange is fed up! He's in trouble with this mother, his school, and his neighbours... and all because of things that weren't even really his fault. Well, most of them, anyway...

Olly's mum is also fed up, and makes the decision to send Olly away to live with his eccentric Aunt Juniper for the summer holidays, where he'll work in her quirky little seaside cafe.

Olly hates the boring coastal village of Baytown at first sight and is determined to be as difficult as possible in the hope that he'll be sent back home. But then, one night, against a dazzling backdrop of glittering stars, he sees the silhouette of a golden pony high up on the cliff top...

To his frustration, no one believes him. Then, the next time the pony appears it's during a ferocious bone-rattling storm...
...and Olly knows he must save it!

Noël: Christmas at Magpie Cottage

Bring your baggage home for the holidays!

It should be the most wonderful time of the year, but for the Binghams of Magpie Cottage it’s not so much deck the halls as deck your relative.

Margaret wants to create the perfect family Christmas.

Bernard wants some peace and quiet so he can enjoy his retirement.

Becca wants her ex-boyfriend to call.

Natalie wants the admiration and respect of her parents and siblings.

Dan wants a drink (or five).

Nick wants to try for a second baby.

And, Evie, well, she doesn’t know what she wants…

Throw in two disagreeable pensioners, an offended vicar, a broken boiler and a stolen turkey and you have the perfect festive farce…but when tragedy strikes everyone is forced to set aside their hopes and fears, exercise some seasonal goodwill and learn far more than just nine lessons.

Join the Binghams for a Christmas you'll never forget, now with exclusive bonus content for this 10th anniversary edition.

Noël: Christmas at Magpie Cottage is the first instalment in The Magpie Cottage Chronicles.

Incapability Brown

No job. No boyfriend. No home. No clue...

Izzy 'Incapability' Brown is having the worst Valentine's Day ever. She's been fired from her job then, because of that, her boyfriend has dumped her and told her to pack her bags and move out of his flat, leaving her with nowhere to go... and all within the space of one hour.

With no other option but to accept a live-in job in North Yorkshire, Izzy finds herself taking care of sensitive eight-year-old Taryn, and wild child teen showjumper Carlotta. Not only is Izzy forced to swap her Blahniks for riding boots, but she also discovers The Paddocks is a house riddled with secrets.

Who is stalking the household?

What's really going on between brash, bossy gardener, Jared, and comely groom, Gemma?

And just what is the mystery surrounding the girls' absent father, MK?

Izzy has no idea that her arrival will trigger a series of events which will finally uncover the truth about The Paddocks and all its inhabitants. Join Izzy in the picture-perfect village of Nether Ousebury for a joyous romp you'll never forget, with exclusive bonus content for this 10th anniversary edition.

Incapability Brown is the first book in The Izzy Brown Stories.

Loading...