Wednesday, June 11, 2014

From Here to Timbuktu by Jean C. Gordon

I like to read historical (in particular) romances set in unusual places. Some old time favorites that that come to mind: The Prince of Midnight by Laura Kinsale, Mary Jo Putney’s Silk and Secrets and Veils of Silk, and Dragonfire by Patricia Potter. I also like just about any historical romance set in Eastern Europe, where my grandparents emigrated from. But I have a problem. After the early 2000s, unusual setting became scarce—in print historical romances, at least. Almost all historical romances seemed to be set in the British Isles—not that I don’t also love Scottish historicals and some books set in the Regency Period. Even early American and westerns seemed to have disappeared. The publishing powers had decreed that Regency England was all historical readers wanted to read.

What’s a reading fan of unusual places to do? I went to the Classic and Cozy authors to see what they had written with unusual settings. Here’s what I found.

From Gina Ardito
The Bonds of Matri-money, Bali.
Mistletoe and Magic, Poland
Eternally Yours and In Your Dreams, in the Hereafter
www.ginaardito.com

From Zelda Benjamin
Chocolate & Sensibility—a novella set in the tropical rainforest on an island off Ecuador, www.zeldabenjamin.com



From Beate Boeker
A New Life, Florence, Italy, http://amzn.to/13tFD2S
Mischief in Italy—A romantic comedy set in Lake Garda, Italy,
http://amzn.to/11pkT4W
It's Raining Men—Four cousins inherit a magic umbrella in Paris—and have to take it to their homes in California, Edinburgh (Scotland), Florence (Italy), and Paris (France), http://amzn.to/1j1ae95

From Sheila Claydon
Cabin Fever, on a cruise ship, www.sheilaclaydon.com 











From Jean C. GordonHis Lady Viking, Scotland, but in the 10th century with a Viking heroine, http://amzn.to/1iceFiy


From Victoria M. JohnsonThe Doctor's Dilemma, a small village in Mexico, http://amzn.to/1kNwJFp




If you like Hawaii, from Annette Mahon
The Matchmaker Quilt Series:
Book 1: Dolphin Dreams
Book 2: Holiday Dreams
The Secret Romance Series:
The Secret Correspondence
The Secret Wish
The Secret Beau
The Secret Santa
The Secret Wedding
The Secret Admirer

The Pink Plumeria Quilt Shop Books:
Chase Your Dream
Above the Rainbow

Stand alone titles:
Just Friends
Maui Rose
Lei of Love

Mystery:
St. Rose Goes Hawaiian
www.annettemahon.com



From Fran McKnabb
On the Crest of a Wave, a fort on an island in the Gulf of Mexico during the U.S. Civil War,
www.amazon.com/On-Crest-Wave-Fran-Mcnabb/dp/0803499965
From Loretta C. RogersLady Adel's Captain, during the 1854 Sapoy Rebellion in India
www.lorettacrogersbooks.com/




If you like Australia, from Elisabeth Rose
Mango Kisses, the north coast of NSW Australia and Sydney
Outback Hero, outback
Instant Family, Canberra
Stuck, Sydney and a small rural town
The Right Chord
Coming Home
The Tangled Web
Love On the North Shore Line, all three in Sydney
The Wedding Party, Narooma, a beachside holiday town on the NSW south coast
www.elisabethrose.com.au

7 comments:

  1. Hi Jean--
    Thank you for posting so many books for me to check out. I love books set in unusual places and you've identified quite a few that sound very interesting. I, too, am a fan of Laura Kinsale's Prince of Midnight and look forward to reading more books with different locales.
    Victoria M. Johnson--

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  2. My TBR list just grew by a giant leap. I, too, love unusual settings and some of these are in places unknown to me. Thanks.

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  3. Great post. I loved touring the world with you guys - LOL Nice to see so many covers too. I know I added o few to my list also

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  4. Well, that's just like a big ol' vacation in a book. (Several books to be more accurate.) Those sound wonderful!

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  5. The post is like an adventure for the arm chair traveler. Thanks for including me.

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  6. We're off to Italy next week so I've topped up my Kindle with Beate's Florence stories! It's fun to go to a place you've read about in a novel and see the sights the characters saw.

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  7. We're off to Italy next week so I've topped up my Kindle with Beate's Florence stories! It's fun to go to a place you've read about in a novel and see the sights the characters saw.

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