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Saturday, June 09, 2018

Come visit a tropical paradise! - Kandy Shepherd

One thing I love about the Harlequin Romance series line I write for—apart from the lovely emotion and the happy-ever-after ending!—is the fact that these books often spirit me away to an aspirational and sometimes exotic destination.

As an author, we are often told to write what we know. I find it difficult to actually bring a place to life if I haven’t actually been there. Fortunately, I have travelled a bit and stayed at the destinations where my books are set. 


 My July release Best Man and the Runaway Bride is set on the beautiful small island of Nusa Lembongan in Indonesia, off the east coast of the much larger and better known island of Bali. I was fortunate enough to visit Lembongan last year and actually wrote some of the story while I was on location.

This month I thought I’d share with you some of the events in the novel, that actually happened to me on the the trip.

We stayed on a beautiful resort similar to the fictional Big Blue resort in the book. Our lumbung was right on the sea and it was absolutely heavenly! (With mod cons like our own bathroom and airconditioning.)

The lumbung where we stayed

View from our room - bliss to wake up to

 There’s a pivotal scene in the book where the hero Max and heroine Nikki dine at a restaurant with their feet in the sand and witness one of the awesome sunsets the area is famous for. We did that too!

This is the meal that inspired Nikki and Max's in the book - love that Indonesian food!

 Nikki and Max go snorkelling on the reef surrounding the island, in a small traditional fishing boat known as a jukung. We bravely set out and snorkelled and it was an utterly wonderful experience.

This little boat transported us to a beautiful reef where we snorkelled and saw the most beautiful fish and coral

Just remembering the experience is making me want to go back there as soon as I can—or perhaps to another wonderful destination that will inspire a story! And of course I'm hoping while my readers are flicking through the pages of my book, I'll transport them for a few hours to an exotic, tropical island!

Is there a “dream destination” you’ve always wanted to visit? Do you have a favorite setting for a romance novel?

Please leave a comment, I’d love to hear from you! If you want to be in the draw to win a signed paperback copy of Best Man and the Runaway Bride, also include your email address.

Kandy Shepherd’s Best Man and the Runaway Bride is a July 2018 release from Harlequin Romance in North America; Mills & Boon True Love in the UK; and Mills & Boon Forever Romance in Australia and New Zealand. 



Kandy Shepherd is a multi-published, award-winning author of contemporary romance and women’s fiction. She lives on a small farm in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, with her family and a menagerie of four-legged friends.

Visit Kandy at her website


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9 comments:

Mary Preston said...

Hi, no absolutely favourite setting, but having just read about Luxembourg I'd love to visit. It just sounds and looks picture-card perfect.


marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Kandy Shepherd said...

I've never been to Luxembourg, Mary, I'd like to visit there too!

Susan F. said...

My husband and I currently live in Germany and I am loving the opportunity to travel over here. It's been an adjustment to realize just how close we are to so many other countries. So far, my favorite trips have been Scotland and Prague.

My email is scoutmomskf@gmail.com

Kandy Shepherd said...

How wonderful, Susan, to be living in Germany and have such good access to Europe! I envy you! I've been to Scotland, which I loved. Prague is still on the wish list!

Laney4 said...

My body won't allow me to travel too far/too long away, so I enjoy travelling to Italy in my books instead. Sounds so romantic....
seytype at Hotmail dot com

dstoutholcomb said...

I'd love to visit Italy--I had a chance in college, but I couldn't afford to quit my job which paid for my tuition.

denise

Kandy Shepherd said...

Laney, I sometimes the best travelling we do is through the pages of books! When I travel, I often want to go to places I've read about.

Kandy Shepherd said...

Denise, I haven't been to Italy for many years. It was wonderful, especially Florence. I hope you get to go there!

Kandy Shepherd said...

The winner of the draw for a copy of BEST MAN AND THE RUNAWAY BRIDE is Susan F.

Thank you for all your comments!