Books like That Man Simon by Anne Weale

Farthing Green was a very small, very peaceful English village, and Jenny Shannon was a very nice, ordinary English girl who was only too happy to live there. Life was quiet and contented, and her only problem – if it could be called a problem – was what was going to happen about her quiet, steady friendship with James Langdon. Village gossip had them linked together, of course – but James seemed to be in no hurry to suggest marriage, and Jenny wasn’t at all sure that she would want it if he did. And so they might all have jogged along indefinitely, had the forceful Simon Gilchrist not moved into Farthing Green – right next door to Jenny, in fact – and a feud broke out between the two of them that looked like turning everybody’s life upside down! Jenny's quiet, steady friendship with James Langdon is put to the test as they are thrust into a world of village gossip, misunderstandings, and the clash of two feuding families. As the story unfolds, Jenny is forced to confront her true feelings for James and the unexpected challenges that come her way.

First publish date: 1971