What I Love About a Small Town ~ @AuthorKristina Knight

Some of my favorite books - ever - are set in small towns. From childhood favorites like the Little House books to my friend Liz Flaherty's  Back to McGuffey's or One More Summer. As much as I love La Nora's city-based In Death series, its the books that are set in small towns - like Northern Lights or her Bride Quartet - that keep me coming back for more. I could list more small town authors, but I'm sure you know where I'm going with this. I love a small town romance.

I’ve finished up a 4 book series set in a small Missouri town on a lake...very similar to the town where I grew up. There are dairy farms and orchards around it, the lake type of stuff, and there are five men who grew up together. Each of them left town for a while, but they've all come home, and are finding that even life in a small town can be filled with twists and turns.

I’m getting started on a new 4 book series, also set in a small town, but with a hint of danger and suspense - and I’m super excited about it. 

One thing I started doing differently with my first small-town-series is keeping a series bible going - there are character lists and business lists and some general plotting information. I'm going to include blurbs of the different books when I get to that stage, too.

Setting up my town with the series bible is always one of my favorite parts of putting a series together. Figuring out how the town is laid out, where things were located, how those locations might feed into the plots of the different books...there is always a moment at the beginning where it’s just plain overwhelming, but once the town has its boundaries, I find it's much simpler to write without overthinking the location of the local bar or the grocery store in relation to the heroine’s neighborhood or how the residents would get from downtown to a local nature preserve.

I'm also having fun setting up my pinterest boards and finding hero (and heroine!) inspiration for the new series...I've also found some housing inspiration that is making me consider more real-life home renovations for next spring!

Mostly, though, I'm finding myself falling back in love with small towns and farmers and orchard owners...and all the lovely and cantankerous and (sometimes) obnoxious people who live there...and I can't wait to share the books with you all!

Are you a fan of small town romances or do you prefer big cities and a more jet-set lifestyle? And, in either case, what keeps you invested in the hero and heroine?

Kristina Knight’s sweet romance, Moonlight Match is available now! 

Moonlight Match is part of the Resort to Romance continuity project ~ 10 sweet romances, all set during a week-long matchmaking event in the Bahamas! 

Aster Harrington believes in love but love doesn’t seem to believe in her. She’s hoping Goldie and Ginny, the matchmakers who’ve matched on two generations of Harringtons, can work a little love magic for her…

Some call Ethan Talbot rigid, but he prefers to think of himself as prepared. Unfortunately, when he’s matched with Aster Harrington at Joy Island’s Matchmaking Week, all those carefully prepared plans go out the window. He can get back to finding a suitable wife once he’s home in New York. After all, how much damage can one week in the Bahamas do to his plans?


Kristina Knight is a contemporary romance author, part-time swim-kid wrangler, and full-time ThinMints enthusiast. You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Famous in a Small Town by Kristina Knight

Home is where the heart is. I’ve seen about a million samplers, pillows, cross-stitch pieces, coffee mugs, mousepads…you name it, I’ve probably seen that phrase on it. I’ve always loved that phrase, but not because it brings up memories of the house where I grew up.

Because it brings up memories of my best friend and I cruising around our small town on Friday nights, just looking for something to do.

Because it brings up memories of a road trip taken with some college buddies, in which we got turned around and wound up in Arkansas instead of Oklahoma.

Because it brings up memories of singing Ricky Martin waaaaaaaaaaay off-key (and into the two-way radio unit) with my best friend while we were reporters at a small TV station in Nebraska.

Because it reminds me of RadioMan, and the cottage cheese a friend put in our wine glasses at our wedding (it’s an inside joke).

Of the first time we saw bebe – all tiny and wrinkled and smelling like a hospital and needing a bath.

Home can be a million different things to a million different people, but I think what it holds in common for all of us is a feeling of safety. Of belonging.

For the first seven years of her life, my heroine, Savannah, from Famous in a Small Town, didn’t have those feelings. It took most of her childhood and quite a bit of her new-adult-hood to get to the place where she felt worthy of both of those feelings. The struggles she faced are similar to the struggles faced by foster children all around the world, those adopted by families, and those who age out of the system. In many cases, they are so wounded by what happened before coming home, that they always wonder when home will be ripped away from them.

We’re (as in, me and my family) are doing something special with this release - a portion of the proceeds from the Slippery Rock series will go toward providing Sweet Cases from TogetherWeRise to foster children. Most children going in to foster care have nothing but the clothes on their backs. Sweet Cases are duffel bags given to children coming in to care, and once given, the bags remain with that child, giving them a sense of home and, hopefully, a sense that they aren't alone. Each duffel includes a warm blanket, a teddy bear, hygiene kit, and art supplies.

I’m also hosting a giveaway with lots of fun goodies, including some Mary Kay products, a Philosophy pouch, an autographed copy of my book, First Love Again, and more! You can enter here.

Kristina Knight's latest book, Famous in a Small Town, releases May 1 from Harlequin Superromance; it is the first book in her new Slippery Rock series. 

Lifestyles of the small-town famous 
Forced to leave Nashville after a scandal, Savannah Walters has come home to Slippery Rock, Missouri, with a bruised ego and her singing career in jeopardy. As if that isn't humiliating enough, on her way into town she's rescued by her swoon-worthy childhood crush, Collin Tyler. 

His hands are full running the family orchard and dealing with his delinquent teen sister, so Collin doesn't need to get involved with someone as fiery and unpredictable as Savannah. But the intense attraction between them can't be denied. And when disaster strikes, they'll both be surprised by who's still standing when the dust settles.

Buy Famous in a Small Town: Amazon  B&N

iBooks  KOBO

You can find out more the book and Kristina on her website, and feel free to stalk follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. 

Susan Sands: We Have a Trilogy!

Forever, Alabama is out at long last!! My third in the Alabama trilogy released March 20th.

Forever, Alabama

Ben and Sabine's story was such a labor of love and I've been a little nervous about its reception with readers because of the story's slight change in feel. My books thus far have included mostly women's fiction and romance elements with a goodly dose of humor mixed in. This one began with more a feel of general fiction. Both my hero and heroine had some complex, soul-deep backstory they brought to the table that prevented the lighter coming together as a romantic couple. Their "together" takes a little longer to really take hold, but there's a lot of interesting story that occurs between them before they become an item. So far, the response has been fantastic!

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of fun, family, and small town shenanigans here to keep the lover of small town romance tickled pink. Ben and Sabine have fantastic chemistry. Some books are, by nature, more difficult to write, and don't fit within the genre as perfectly as others.

I attending a wonderful writer's conference over the weekend and sat on several panels. I think the discussions on story, plot, and setting were more helpful to me than to the attendees. Sometimes in hashing things out with other writers, the proverbial light bulb flickers on.

Many many thanks to the Tule Publishing team for all their support and guidance in getting this book baby out into the world! And a huge thanks to Lee Hyat for her help in wrangling this fantastic cover! I greatly respect those who do the things so well that I know would challenge me far beyond my humble writing skills.

I love to connect with my readers! You can find me at the following places:

snsands@gmail.com



Susan Sands