Comments on: What Makes a Special Setting Special?

By: LinnieGayl

LinnieGayl — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 00:44:37 +0000

Mary, I would definitely be interested in Middle East settings that are non-sheik and also non-suspense. I think there’s a lot that could be done there.

By: Mary McFarland

Mary McFarland — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 19:54:03 +0000

I’ve oversampled the “bland” settings you speak of and long for some romance and multicultural fire from the exotic Middle East. Not the “sheik” stuff, but a unique new twist on the setting. Jerusalem, for example, is the birth of the “passion” so to speak. And what about Tel Aviv?

By: LeeB.

LeeB. — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 03:37:11 +0000

I love books set all over the world too. Gives me ideas for future trips.

By: Laura Vivanco

Laura Vivanco — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 22:29:45 +0000

There are quite often Greek settings in Harlequin Presents. In another line, Nina Harrington's My Greek Island Fling is presumably set where it's title suggests it's set. I recently came across a Harlequin Historical set in India: Forbidden Jewel of India by Louise Allen (out this month or the next) and also in India, but this time contemporary India, in the Romance line, is Shoma Narayanan's Monsoon Wedding Fever (she's Mills & Boon/Harlequin's first Indian author).

By: HJ

HJ — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:34:12 +0000

I just checked your Greek settings post, and I see that one commentator mentioned MM Kaye’s Death in Cyprus. She wrote a whole series of books called Death in …, which are romantic suspense/mysteries, and each of them is set somewhere exotic (I want to visit the Andaman Islands because of her). She was a military wife, and each book is set somewhere she lived while her husband was posted there.

Like Mary Stewart, she was writing in the 1950s, so the places have changed. But the books capture that period and the wonderful locations perfectly.

By: LynnAAR

LynnAAR — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:04:19 +0000

Yes – I have noticed fewer and fewer books with non-UK/USA settings. In series romance, I can still find plenty of Australian settings and I enjoy some of the authors who write there, but otherwise, it is hard to find a variety of settings. I loved travelling the world in books when I was in high school/college. Sometimes I miss that.

And, since I love historicals, I also pay attention to time periods when I look at settings. I love anything where the author gives readers a real sense of being in a particular time and place, but I especially love it when that time is something under-utilized (i.e. not the Regency).

By: Linniegayl

Linniegayl — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:37:16 +0000

Julia, I love that idea of the author showin what’s special.

By: Julia Gabriel

Julia Gabriel — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:10:14 +0000

I want an author to show me what’s special about a place, whether it’s Paris, London or a small town or village. I like it when I get the sense that an author is sharing what he or she loves about a particular city or town.

By: Maggie AAR

Maggie AAR — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:10:00 +0000

I can’t think of any good exotic locales in romance either. The inspirational market does a wonderful job of offering historical variety but exotic locales seem to be something that is missing. I’ve read a few suspense books recently set in various locations but the location on those has been a bit cardboard. I miss authors like MM Kaye and Mary Stewart who wrote the most beautiful scenery.

By: farmwifetwo

farmwifetwo — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 13:29:00 +0000

One of the reason’s I enjoy foreign mysteries is the writers live in those places. The place, time, culture, is the lure. Sorry, NA (Can or US and even many UK) books are bland in that aspect.

Not only am I interested in the locale but I want proof that the author has lived there, not just visited for a couple of days and spent some time at the tourist info booth or on google. The difference is very obvious once you’ve read books written by those that have lived in those places.

I can’t add to your romance list… but if you want to start a mystery one… I have a list you can have.