It’s the Fourth of July – Independence Day in the United States! Let’s celebrate with the best romance novels set in all fifty states!
When I started tagging, I had this really stupid idea to tag by U.S. states. As with cities, I tried to limit myself to books where the state is an important part of the setting, and I’ve stopped tagging books below a B or so. This is still a ludicrous project and I’m not sure I’ll keep up with it (let me know in the comments if you have an opinion!)
THAT BEING SAID – let’s get something fun out of my mad scheme. For the Fourth, here are DIKs set in all fifty states! I’ve tried to collect a range of genres and mix iconic DIKs which exemplify the state with surprise DIKs you may not have heard about in a while – or ever!
And if you would like to see them all in one place on Amazon, we’ve made a special list for you! You can see it here.
How do you feel about these picks? Have a better book for your (or a favorite) state? Are there books which represent a state which I haven’t tagged? Let me know in the comments!
~ Caroline Russomanno
Visit our DIKs around the USA storefront here!
I'm a history geek and educator, and I've lived in five different countries in North America, Asia, and Europe. In addition to the usual subgenres, I'm partial to YA, Sci-fi/Fantasy, and graphic novels. I love to cook.
This is an impressive undertaking! (And I’ve read 8 of them)
Interesting that the book chosen for NY has a photo of palm trees (evidently the H/h go on a trip to the Dominican Republic) on the cover. The book I’d choose for NY is Kate Clayborn’s Love Lettering. New York is almost a character in the book. Meg has a bad case of creative block, and Reid misses his home. During much of the book they explore NY together, and Meg points out the literal lettering that is so central to her work and her life. Reid comes to appreciate the often overlooked beauty of the city, the small things that we don’t see when rushing to the subway or maneuvering through crowds, focused on the destination rather than the journey. I very much enjoyed this book, both he human romance and the love letter to NY.
I agree about Love Lettering really capturing the feel of New York.
New York was one of the states where I tried to find something maybe less classically/iconically famous – Love Lettering is so well known. Another one was Ohio, where Jennifer Crusie and Welcome to Temptation are almost certainly the most famous Ohio-set romances, and Montana, where I didn’t go with Nora Roberts’s Montana Sky.
The original cover of the Herrera book (now the audiobook cover) is much more New York!
My state – Wisconsin- doesn’t get a lot of love in romance novels. There are a few mysteries set here but love stories, not very often that I’m aware of. Which was why I was super excited about Kristine Grayson’s Thoroughly Kissed. It’s set in Madison, which I live next to, and revolves around a professor at the UW. I have plenty of friends who either went there or work there, so it was kinda neat to see it in a book.
A Texas trilogy!
They fell in love in Hero’s Quilt, Christmas Quilt brought them closer, and now there is a wedding! The series is complete!
Hero’s Quilt: amzn.to/3AY4PQ3
Christmas Quilt: amzn.to/3r2wMET
Wedding Quilt: amzn.to/3J4cEYx
@evernightpub #GayRomance #mmromance
Well, for North Carolina there are an embarrassment of riches. Every book in Virginia Kantra’s Dare Island series is superb and gets the feel of coastal North Carolina down perfectly. And, of course, most of Gabaldon’s later books in her Outlander series are set in my state.
Emily Henry’s Book Lovers, Bethany C. Morrow’s So Many Beginnings as well as Kantra’s Little Women remakes are set here. Most of Lauren Layne’s Someone Like You is set in Charlotte, our biggest metropolis. We’ve given high marks to most of Sarah Addison Allen who sets most of her work in and around Asheville, NC. The same can be said of many of Nicholas Sparks’ best sellers including The Notebook. The biggest best seller in years, Where the Crawdads Sing, is also set in the North Carolina lowlands. Sarah Dressen, who lives just a mile from me, also sets her lovely YA stories here.
The best book I’ve read that encapsulates all that is this state is Michael Malone’s Handling Sin. It’s funny, moving, big hearted beyond belief, and tries to, with acumen and grace, make sense of the South’s complicated past and present.