This week’s Top Ten tuesday (brought to us by The Broke and the Bookish) sparks a discussion on the books we love which are set OUTSIDE the U.S.
And since I LOVE to travel, I’m pretty excited about this topic. I grew up hearing about the places my Dad had been stationed in the Navy, so I always knew I wanted to travel. But many of the books I read through the years have gotten me really excited about travel, because many of them are set in these beautiful, fantastic locales!
Title: The Highlander series
Author: Karen Moning
Setting: Scotland (The Highlands)
This is one of the first adult romance series I ever read. I think I found the one book at my public library when I was 13 or 14. Its a time-travel historical romance series. Some books take place more in the past, and others take place more in the present.
Title: The Fever series
Author: Karen Moning
Setting: Dublin, Ireland
This is one of my favorite series, partly because it takes place in my beloved Ireland. It is a paranormal suspense/mystery with erotic threads. Very dark, very original, very cool! Plus it includes fantastic descriptions of Dublin and Ireland. I remember listening to these audiobooks on my flight over to Ireland when I lived there for study abroad.
Title: Ink (Paper Gods series)
Author: Amanda Sun
Setting: Japan
This is a YA series that reminds me vaguely of Twilight (normal self conscious girl meets mysterious, paranormal, beautiful boy) but with a fantastically better setting. The descriptions of Japan and Japanese culture are beautiful and intriguing. I really enjoyed this one, largely because of the setting.
Title: The Scribe (The Irin Chronicles)
Author: Elizabeth Hunter
Setting: Turkey, Vienna, Hungary, Norway, and other
The Irin chronicles is a new find for me (this week) from Elizabeth Hunter and it is fantastic. Paranormal Romantic Suspense is it’s best label. The coolest part of the first book is its setting, which is mostly in Istanbul, Turkey. It includes sumptuous and fascinating descriptions of Turkey, which I adored. I highly recommend this author to lovers of great world-building! The other books in the series traverse across Asia and Europe, so we get to visit a lot of different places!
Title: The Elemental Mysteries, Elemental World, & Elemental Legacies
Author: Elizabeth Hunter
Setting: Ireland, London, France, Italy, Greece, Republic of Georgia, Northern Asia, China, and others
Elizabeth Hunter writes a couple different series within the Elemental worlds, and each of them have plots that often sprawl across Europe and Asia. I believe future stories are planned to take place in Africa and Ethiopia. One of my favorite things about this author is that she is not afraid to bring her characters out of the U.S. Very diverse settings throughout the books. And they are really great Paranormal Romantic Suspense/Mysteries.
Title: Aisling Grey series, Dark Ones, & Dragons series
Author: Katie Macalister
Settings: Paris, Romania, all of Europe
I haven’t read Katie’s books in a couple years. These are some of the first adult Romances I began reading in my teens. They are funny, silly paranormal romances. Very light and easy reads. They also sprawl all across Europe with different settings, which I enjoyed.
Title: The Night Prince series
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Setting: Romania, U.S.
I love Jeaniene Frost’s works. I especially love the Night Prince series which is an offshoot of the original Night Huntress series. This is a darker paranormal romance that features Vlad (yep, its THAT Vlad) and its so, so good. It has flawed hero and heroine, which I always enjoy. Plus it takes place in Romania, so you cannot beat that!
Title: The Rephaim series
Author: Paula Weston
Setting: Australia
I love this series! It’s marketed as YA but I’m not sure why since almost none of the characters are actually teenagers. Maybe I could see it being a New Adult book. Either way I really enjoyed it, partly because it takes place largely in Australia! And its written by an Australian author so its pretty authentic I would imagine. I’d categorize this as paranormal suspense with romance. And the hero is quite yummy. The mystery surrounding the heroine’s past (and her relationship with the others) kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the 4 books. I think this is a really strong series that is strangely underrated. It reminds me a bit of Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone series.
a reader's whimsy 