Romantic Settings - Rural Romance

By Sharon Bryant

Which Setting and Why?

Setting is an integral part of any quality romance novel. It can serve to highlight themes of the story, or emphasise a character’s feelings. Sometimes a setting can evoke introspection, or trigger a character’s memory from the past. It can even play a role in the developing romance.

Rural Romance

Rural romance has a diverse range of settings including small towns, farms, and the arid landscapes of the outback. As a subgenre, it offers great breadth of opportunity to authors, and a diverse range of vicarious experiences to its readership.

Two of my favourite romance novels are described below. I hope you enjoy reading them.

Maggie's Run by Kelly Hunter

Maggie’s Run by Kelly Hunter is part of the Outback Brides series. Maggie Walker inherited run-down Wirra Station in rural Victoria when Carmel, the lady who raised her, dies. Maggie’s parents were tragically killed in a car fire when she was a child. She was saved from the flames by twelve-year-old Max O’Conner. He was unable to save her parents. She has never forgiven him. Carmel had her own demons to deal with, and brought Maggie up without love or kindness. Max has loved Maggie for many years, and is keen to reach out to her. He hopes for more than friendship.

Kelly Hunter uses setting masterfully to convey character’s feelings and elucidate relationships. “There was café coffee happening in Carmel Walker’s spartan kitchen and Maggie took perverse pleasure in knowing Carmel would have called it a frivolous indulgence.”

This is a fabulous novel. I felt for Maggie and Max, and was so excited when they reached their happy ending.

On the Right Track by Penelope Janu

I was introduced to Penelope Janu's novels at her author talk at Anna’s Shop Around the Corner in Cronulla. I have been a keen fan of her books ever since. Penelope is highly intelligent, insightful, pragmatic and funny, and she brings these qualities to her writing.

On the Right Track is the story of Golden Sanders, a rural-based speech pathologist. Independent, feisty and determined, Golden has a damaged relationship with her family, and a physical injury to her leg. Her deceased father and grandfather are believed to have been involved with proceeds of crime. Tor Amundson, a confident and clever man with a touch of arrogance is sent to investigate. Golden loved her grandfather dearly, and wants to ignore Tor. However, her stepfather who has a financial hold over the rural property she loves, pressures her to assist him.

Like Kelly Hunter, Penelope Janu is gifted in the use of setting to convey a characters’ feelings, and awaken their memories. About halfway through the novel, Tor actively probes Golden’s knowledge of people linked to his investigation. The following lines in Golden’s viewpoint come immediately beforehand.

“I stop on the highest patch of ground where the roots of the tree are exposed, and rest my bag against the trunk. It’s smooth and cream, except for the uneven narrow lines that mark it.”

This description triggers memories for Golden, serves as a metaphor for her feelings about her injured leg, her reaction to Tor’s probing, and the risk she takes in furthering their relationship.

This novel is a joy to read. It's a real page-turner.

Do you have a favourite rural romance novel? Did the setting contribute to your enjoyment of the book?

I love to love: Family time

I love to laugh: With friends

I love to learn: More about the craft of writing

Small Towns Part Two

by Kerrie Paterson

What Makes Small Towns so Special?

As well as the physical aspect of the small town, it’s also the people that make it unique. The sense of community, the two-degrees of separation between everyone, the pulling together in a crisis – all of which make small towns such fun to write. Everyone knowing everyone else’s business can be both a blessing and a curse!

Creating Characters in a Small Town Setting

I sometimes use pinterest for the visual representation of my characters. I usually have an idea in my head of what they look like, and then spend countless hours searching Google to find someone who matches. Away from the physical side, I have to admit I’m an eavesdropper and love to people-watch, so I get ideas for mannerisms and patterns of speech from observing. I’m also a sucker for human-interest stories and will often read something and tuck the idea away in the back of my mind.

I’m a big fan of the beta hero and I think small towns are where he comes into his own. He’s not the rich, arrogant, city millionaire; he’s more often than not someone who works with their hands, or has their own small business. Community and family means a lot to him. *sigh* To me, that’s very sexy!

Every small town has their local character and I like to populate my towns with a few memorable secondary characters. I think that helps the town seem more real and can add lighter elements to lift the story.

Elsie's Place

My latest book, Elsie's Place, was published in 2017. Here is the blurb. I hope you enjoy reading it.

A Grand Design style renovation – with a literal skeleton in the closet.

Sixty-year-old widowed school principal Patricia inherits a run-down, historic house in Newcastle, NSW, from Elsie, an old lady she’d befriended.

On leave following a distressing incident at her school, Pat throws herself into restoring the house with the help of new friends – architect Susan, whose longing for a child threatens her marriage, and Lauren, a single mum stubbornly sacrificing her dreams of self-employment for the security of a nine-to-five job. Attraction flares between Pat and Andy, the historic restoration expert she hires.

While menacing phone calls and destructive break-ins threaten to derail the restoration project, a shocking discovery causes repercussions no-one could have foreseen.

Caught between the needs of her mother ravaged by dementia and the demands of her adult children, Pat must learn to put herself first to salvage both her new life and her new love.

I love to love - travelling around this great country of ours. I've recently come back from a month- long road trip with my son and we saw so many amazing places.

I love to laugh - at the latest play I'm stage managing. Much Ado About Nothing is such a funny play and being involved has been so much fun!

I love to learn - what makes people "light up" i.e. what's their passion.

Find Out More About Kerrie

Pinterest - https://au.pinterest.com/kerriepaterson3/

Website - http://kerriepaterson.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kerrie.paterson.3 and https://www.facebook.com/KerriePatersonAuthor/



Kerrie Paterson writes contemporary women's fiction and small town romance—stories about women in their 40s and above who have reached a crossroads in their life. She loves to write about women’s relationships with their friends and family, as well as their romances.

When she’s not writing, she’s a Scout leader, crew for a local drama theatre, taxi driver for her teenage son and keeper of the family knowledge (aka ‘Mum, have you seen my camera / phone / cable etc?’). In her spare time (ha!), she's a yoga student, keen photographer and avid reader.

Kerrie lives in the Hunter Valley, Australia.

Small Towns as Setting

Kerrie Paterson Guest Post

Kerrie Paterson writes contemporary women's fiction and small town romance—stories about women in their 40s and above who have reached a crossroads in their life. She loves to write about women’s relationships with their friends and family, as well as their romances.

When she’s not writing, she’s a Scout leader, crew for a local drama theatre, taxi driver for her teenage son and keeper of the family knowledge (aka ‘Mum, have you seen my camera / phone / cable etc?’). In her spare time (ha!), she's a yoga student, keen photographer and avid reader.

Kerrie lives in the Hunter Valley, Australia.

A Reader's Query

I'd love to read a topic centred around writing romance with a small town setting. I'm curious about how you create your settings and how you make what happens there so believable.

Why Do I Write About Small Towns?

I’m not sure where my love of the small town setting comes from, but possibly it’s due to the fact that the first ten years of my life were spent growing up in a small town outside Cessnock, NSW. I’m not sure of exact figures but I’m guessing it had a population of around 300 at that time. We had the local servo/corner store, one primary school with only a couple of teachers, the pub and not much more! (And we had an outdoor toilet!) Even Cessnock itself was basically a small town in the 70s and 80s. I remember when the first set of traffic lights were installed and the first takeaway chain arrived in the town!

I also spent a fair bit of time on my aunt and uncle’s property growing up, so while I’m a townie, I’ve got some idea of what it’s like to live out of town.

I’m personally drawn to reading books set in small towns, so I guess it seemed natural to me to write books with that setting. I like to make the town and its people as much a part of the story as the hero and heroine.

Hope Creek and Jacaranda Avenue

The towns of Hope Creek and Jacaranda Avenue in Langbrooke in my books are physically both based on small towns near where I live, with some changes to suit my story. If I don’t use buildings that are already in the actual town, I google images until I find something that suits what I have in mind and pin in to my pinterest boards. I also draw a map (very badly!) based on the existing town and add landmarks, streets etc so I don’t forget where I’ve placed something!

I love to laugh at funny animal videos on YouTube.
I love to learn about history, especially how people lived and worked.
I love to love time spent in nature, particularly near water.

So I’d love to know – are you a small town fan or do you prefer the big city? What aspect of the setting appeals to you the most?

To find out more about Kerrie and her writing see
Pinterest - https://au.pinterest.com/kerriepaterson3/

Website - http://kerriepaterson.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kerrie.paterson.3 and https://www.facebook.com/KerriePatersonAuthor/