Image: Pixabay
According to AAA, they estimate four out of ten Americans will travel for a family vacation this summer. Although we don’t have a specific vacation this year as opposed to our Branson destination last year, we’ve certainly added miles on our vehicles visiting family and enjoying summer outings.
I started thinking as the Arduini family descended on Rochester, NY for a golf tournament in memory of my father-in-law, not only have we traveled through different parts of the country, we also have loved ones living in various areas of the country. Wisconsin, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, and across Upstate New York, both sides of our marriage tend to reside on the eastern or mid-west regions.
Thinking about those areas, I realized my favorite romance settings come from those very places. Perhaps I can picture myself on a Wisconsin farm or in DC traffic or by the Atlantic waters because I relate to those areas. Because I joke I’m a “Yankee’s Yankee,” meaning I am so obviously from the north with my fast talking splashed with “you guys” versus the beautiful drawl of a southern person’s “y’all,” I’m drawn to books I know come from regions I know and have history with. Pennyslvania. Vermont. Maine. Again, Upstate New York.
Sadly, the furthest west I’ve been is Missouri, and I’ve only traveled the east coast. Although I did visit Texas, I went straight from the airport to the hotel, a city in itself that I never left until it was time to return to the airport. When I read about places like San Antonio or Phoenix, I can’t quite relate or fact-check because I’ve never been. The Pacific and romances in California, or Washington? That is foreign material to me, and reading those romances almost feel like I’m learning a different culture.
Reading CCR book gives an opportunity to travel to places we might not otherwise have the chance. I loved Susan May Warren’s Montana Rescue series because the vast land was new for me. In fact, the entire Love Finds You line was fun because the setting became a character as much as the people. One of my favorite series came from Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer because it was in New England. As I’ve read from other reviewers, the Cape Light books made readers feel like they were inside Kinkade’s paintings. I could smell the shore waters and feel a chill from the coastal breeze.
The Cape Light series featured New England in a way that engaged readers’ senses. Image: Pixabay
As an author, I’ve been very intentional about setting. For my CCR work, I decided to use Upstate NY settings to highlight the beautiful areas I feel are neglected in fiction and romance. My Surrendering Time series is centered around the Adirondack Mountains, 1 million acres of lakes, forest, and the kindest people you could meet. My new series, Surrendering Opinions, focuses on the Finger Lakes region, where I grew up and lived for over thirty years. Anchored, the first and my current WIP, is in the Corning/Elmira area, my hometown. My latest release, a standalone novella, Match Made in Heaven, showcases Keuka Lake and the beautiful village of Hammondsport. My hope is someone from across the country, or like many of you, across the pond, would read my work and decide they want to travel there because the location sounds so appealing.
How about you? What are favorite CCR titles that feature places you know well, or wish you could visit? For our international readers, are you intrigued by American settings? For any one, is there one American region you enjoy as a setting more than another? if you want some guidance when choosing your next inspy romance, Fiction Finder is a free service where you can search for topics or even locations and receive titles. Most, if not all of us at IR, should have our books in the Fiction Finder database.
I’d love to read your comments and choose a random winner to receive your choice of Entrusted (Adirondack Mountains,) or Match Made in Heaven (Finger Lakes.) US winner can choose print or eBook. International winner automatically receives eBook.
Julie Arduini loves to encourage readers to surrender the good, the bad, and ---maybe one day---the chocolate. She’s the author of ENTRUSTED: Surrendering the Present, as well as ENTANGLED: Surrendering the Past. The last book in the series, ENGAGED: Surrendering the Future, is coming soon. She also shares her story in the infertility devotional, A WALK IN THE VALLEY. She also blogs every other Wednesday for Christians Read. She resides in Ohio with her husband, two children, and chocolate stash. Learn more by visiting her at http://juliearduini.com.
I love to both armchair travel and visit places I know well! Some.if.my favorites have been A Tuscan Legacy series which takes you all over the world! I enjoy books about the coast if Georgia because I have been there many times, and anything Upstate NY as well!
Hi Julie, we also do a lot of travelling over summer to visit family- a great way to see more of Australia:) I thoroughly enjoy travelling through books, it is a great way to learn more about similarities and differences between countries- and even places within the same country. I think because so many TV shows/movies are set in America, there is a sense of familiarity when reading books set there. I love reading books set in more rural parts because they feature less in TV/movies so are less familiar- if that makes sense!! It is also reading books set in Australia that are written by non-Australian authors and reading how they interpret/view Australia:)
Blessings:)
I love both arm chair travel and real travel. I’ve been as far as Idaho and Arizona to the west, live in Nebraska so that covers north, Been to many states on the east coast and as far as texas south. Each states I visit is a new adventure.
Hi Julie! I have been fortunate to travel coast to coast and put by feet in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The Midwest is my home and the Smoky Mountains (Tennessee) is a favorite vacation spot. I enjoy Jackie Castles Madison Creek series set in my state of Michigan. Also enjoyed the Tuscan Legacy series which let me travel the world. Best wishes.
I also loved the Montana Rescue series. We flew into Bozeman and drove down to Yellowstone on one of our vacations. Montana was so beautiful. It even rivalled my beloved Kentucky. However, I was well aware we were there during the summer. I’m not sure I’d want to live there in the winter. I’ve never been to New England but would have liked to visit there. Books set there are of special interest. Also, England, Ireland and Scotland tend to draw me there.
Thanks for the heads up on Fiction Finder. I’ll check it out.
I love stories connected to our national parks but then on the opposite end of the spectrum Washington DC holds a special place for me too.
Paula,
I enjoyed the Tuscan Legacy series as well. I’ll have to check out Georgia coast. That would be a great setting. Thanks for stopping by!
Wemble, I agree, I llove the rural settings as well. I hope non-Australian authors are accurate. Thanks for chiming in!
Kim,
I’d love to read about those places as I’ve never been to Idaho, Arizona or Nebraska. I love how reading can let us experience travel. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Renate, I want to visit the Smoky Mountains, that’s on my list. I’ve enjoyed books set in Michigan as well. So glad you stopped by!
Sherri,
I agree, Montana sounds wonderful for summer visiting. Upstate NY winters were enough for me. Ireland is another place I’d love to visit. I’m so glad you’re going to check out Fiction Finder. It’s a wonderful resource.
Merdedith,
I’d love to read about our parks as well. DC is a great place when I read suspense. I can’t remember if I’ve read romance there yet. I’m glad you stopped by!
Paula,
I enjoyed the Tuscan Legacy series as well. I’ll have to check out Georgia coast. That would be a great setting. Thanks for stopping by!
Jan Thompson has the best series set in Savanah!
I enjoy different settings. It’s a chance to travel without leaving my chair. I’ve been to all fifty states, and I’ve lived in eleven of them. I’ve also done a lot of foreign travel, so taking a trip by a book is fun because I love to travel and see new things. My plan is to write books that are set in all of the places I’ve lived. So far I have Washington State, Florida, Ohio, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Texas, South Dakota, Montana, and Georgia. I still have to write stories set in Illinois and Arizona. Right now I’m working on a book in which my characters travel to Germany, Belgium, and The Netherlands.
I love reading so that I can visit places I’ve never been, but feel like I have!! And, I like reading books set where I have been, as it feels like visiting with a friend. I loved the Montana Rescue series, and I really enjoy the Hope Harbor series by Irene Hannon, and the Chapel Cove Series by Autumn MacArthur, Alexa Verde and Marion Ueckerrmann!! Also, the Deep Haven series by Susan May Warren. I feel like I have friends all over!!
I would be more familiar with Cali, Oregon, and Washington lol
That is why I love to read the stories, which allow me to travel around US while staying in the comfort of my home :) Thank you for the post!
Merrillee, That’s awesome that you’ve been able to travel so much. What a blessing you can use your experiences as an author, as well. I know I’ve benefited as a reader!
Trudy,
They say a great setting becomes a character, and I believe that! Those are all great series demonstrating that. I completely understand when readers say they met new friends in fiction. Thanks for stopping by!
Natalya, We’re opposites, LOL! Those are places I’d love to visit, but I’ve never been. Like you said, books give us the opportunity to feel like we have. I’m glad you were able to read my post today!
I loved Liz Johnson series with The Red Door Inn etc so I could travel to Prince Edward Island.
I love traveling in a comfortable chair setting I have been to The Great Smoky Mountains and I loved it there so many great Authors and Great books to read! And I can read the books and travel to so many places without leavening my home!
I live in the South and love to read about places like Charleston, Savannah, and Nashville.
I live in the midwest and love to read stories set in New England, the Carolinas or Washington coast. My family is from New England so we drove there every summer.
I’ve read two books that were set in my area and it was fun to pick out what actually exists and which settings the author created.
I like settings of places I have lived or visited. Mackinac Island, St. Louis, Gettysburg, Lookout Mountain Tennessee. I love history, so tell me something about the place.
That sounds fantastic, Lucy!
The Smoky Mountains are definitely on my bucket list!
Those are perfect southern settings, Dianna!
New England is a beautiful part of our country to read about.
Jessica, that’s so fun! I remember speaking at a library where my story was set and they actually thought there was a village nearby because it sounded so real. I just based it off their village and re named it!
That’s a great point about the history. I try to drop little unique tidbits about my settings.