Romance Settings - Coastal Romance

The Beauty and Drama of the Coast

I have always loved the coast. Sandy beaches that seem to stretch on forever, the gentle ebb and flow of the tide, the rainbows and sea spray formed by breaking waves, and the sheer energy of huge swells. To me, the ocean is a place of mystery, power and romance.

Not surprisingly, many authors have chosen to set their novels by the sea. Others have chosen ocean settings to create particularly poignant scenes. Who can forget the scene by the sea in Little Women in which Beth tells Jo she is glad Jo knows she is going to die, or the powerful oceanic imagery in Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca?

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I’d like to share my thoughts about two special romance novels with coastal settings. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Heron’s Landing Book 1, Honeymoon Harbor by Joann Ross.

Seth Harper’s wife, Zoe, was tragically killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. Torn apart by grief, he hasn’t been able to move past her death. Seth works with his father restoring Victorian buildings in the US Pacific Northwest town of Honeymoon Harbor where he grew up.

Brianna Mannion left Honeymoon Harbor many years ago. She has had a crush on Seth since the first grade, but when he became the boyfriend of her best friend, Zoe, she knew a relationship with him was not to be. Brianna has risen within the hospitality industry to become chief concierge at the Las Vegas Midas Resort Hotel. She enjoys her work, but something is missing. After she encounters one rude, self-entitled guest too many, Brianna decides to quit and return to her home town to run a B&B in an old Victorian house she has always loved.

Joann Ross masterfully uses the harbour and mountain setting of the small town she has created to accentuate the emotional journey of her two protagonists. As Seth kisses Brianna for the first time, Ross writes “He’d felt as if he were standing on the summit of ice-clad Mount Olympus. One false step and he’d fall the nearly eight thousand feet, crashing over rocks down to Honeymoon Harbor’s sea level.” This imagery perfectly captures Seth’s uncertainty as he and Brianna take the first steps towards a loving relationship.

Nineteen Letters by Jodi Perry

I read several popular coastal romance novels to prepare for this blog post, however nothing surpassed my emotional reaction to Nineteen Letters.

Braxton Spencer’s wife, Jemma, was in a major car accident 19 days after they were married. Her injuries caused retrograde amnesia. Jemma now has no memory of her past life, or any of the people in it, including Braxton.

This dual viewpoint novel traces Jemma’s and Braxton’s emotional journeys as he tries to give her back something of her past life, with the hope of rekindling her love for him. Braxton writes Jemma nineteen letters telling her of their past love and times together. Jemma moved next door to Braxton when he was seven years old. They became childhood sweethearts and soulmates. Can he win her love again?

The beach setting of this novel provides a beautiful background of constancy and calm juxtaposed with the strong feelings both characters experience as they journey, once again, towards mutual love. This lovely setting symbolises the beauty of their former lives, and is the location of so many of their shared experiences. To me, the beach provides a symbol of hope that Jemma will fall in love with Braxton again. In his words, “What we had is far too beautiful to be forgotten.”

What is your favourite coastal romance novel? What makes it appeal to you so much?

I love to learn more about the world and the people in it.

I love to laugh with family and friends.

I love to love my one-year-old grandson.