This Rec Leagues comes from our wonderful comments section on the site. Big thank you to Cerulean for the suggestion:
The Amy Andrews “Playing by Her Rules” is very good, as is the next book in the series (focusing on a different couple): Playing it Cool. I actually like the second book better, but both are great. I really like reading books set outside the US and Georgian/Victorian England. I’ve enjoyed books from authors from/books set in New Zealand and Australia in the last few years. Hmm, maybe that’s a good question for a list of book recs in the future?
Amanda: Whoooo, boy. Sarah has a lot of recs for this one!
Sarah: OK, among a few that I like:
Sarah Mayberry has a few set in Oz, as does Karina Bliss.
What the Librarian Did ( A | K | G ), and the Rock Solid series, starting with Rise, are set in New Zealand.
Another is the Escape to New Zealand series by Rosalind James. The first one, Just This Once ( A ), is light on conflict, but is also a fairy-tale sort of romance with a lot of really interesting detail to the point where I felt that New Zealand was a character.
Escape to New Zealand is a 10 book series now – wowser.
Also set in Australia – The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion.
There’s also By the Currawang’s Call ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), but I haven’t finished it. That’s historical Outback
Sarah Mayberry books I’d recommend include Her Best Friend ( A | BN | K | G | AB ), and One Good Reason — and I think My Best Worst Mistake is set in Oz, too.
All of Melina Marchetta is set in Oz, I’m 99% sure… and my brain is working really, really hard to recall a specific book…
American heroine, some kind of personal secret, something of a bad boy hero who is Australian and a surfer (obvs). DAMMIT. The cover was yellow and gold and had a compass on it.
MY BRAIN HAS COME THROUGH
Upside Down by Lia Riley! ( A | K | G | AB )
Oh – Helene Young if you like romantic suspense. And Rachael Johns writes contemporary romance set in Oz, too.
Bronwyn Parry for more romantic suspense, too.
Amanda, didn’t you like Lick by Kylie Scott?
Amanda: Elyse was the one who read Scott’s rockstar romance and liked it. I read Dirty and enjoyed it all right, though I don’t think it’s set in Oceania.
Sarah: When Harriet Came Home by Coleen Kwan. I think most if not all of Kwan’s books are set in Oz.
Amanda: I also recommend checking out Escape, which is Harlequin’s Australian publishing arm.
Plus, Nalini Singh has a contemporary romance series set in New Zealand. The first book is Rock Addiction ( A | BN | K | AB ), though I preferred the second book, Rock Hard, better. It has a tiny, mousy heroine and an “intimidating” rugby-playing hero.
Which Oceania-set books would you recommend?
I mean, they’re set in outer space, but the authors of the Illuminae series, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, are both Australian. The Illuminae series (Illuminae, Gemina, and Obsidio, which comes out in February and I will be chewing on everything in sight until it is in my eyeballs) is epistolary science fiction, and both of the first two books had a solid central romance in addition to the space zombies, space man-eating worms, insane homicidal AIs, and evil space government conspiracies. They are, frankly, amazing.
Eve Dangerfield. She’s Australian but I think a couple of her books are set in New Zealand too. I might be wrong. Love Act your Age and Open Hearts. Funny and sexy reads
Definitely anything by Karina Bliss, a sensational writer. I love all her books but particularly her SAS heroes and Rise . You will not be disappointed.
If you are interested in m/m – Renae Kaye is an auto buy for me and I love her books in audio – mostly set in Australia (Perth area) but also one set in NZ. Also Sean Kennedy has a great m/m book about a Rugby player. Toni Griffiin writes paranormal (shifters)
I really enjoyed Rosalind James New Zealand Rugby series. I wish she would write another one!!
Has anyone mentioned Ainslie Paton yet? She has a distinctively Australian voice and isn’t afraid to go hard with the Aussie slang! Grease Monkey Jive and its shorter sequel Desk Jockey Jam are set in Sydney and the heroes are both pretty immersed in the beachside surf culture. (Desk Jockey Jam features a roller derby heroine who is truly awesome.)
White Balance is also good but long and angsty. And she has also written one with a homeless hero – can’t think of the title, sorry! It was in a bundle of her books – maybe Inconsolable? in which the hero is sleeping rough in a cave near Bondi (though it’s never named in the book). I was skeptical too but it really worked for me!
Courting Samira by Amal Award is set in Australia, with an Arab-Australian heroine. It’s funny and a good read.
Courting Samira by Amal Awad is set in Australia, with an Arab-Australian heroine. It’s funny and a good read.
Lucy Walker was an author my mother had many books by. All the ones that I remember were set in Australia.
And Madeline Brent set many romances in foreign countries, though the heroine usually returned to England at some point. I still enjoy “The Golden Urchin. “
I haven’t read it, so I don’t know how accurate it is or how happy the romance in it is, but Elizabeth Goudge’s Green Dolphin Street is set partially in New Zealand. It was also written in the 1940’s, so mileage may vary because of attitudes during the time it was written about the time 100 years previous. I also know it was made into a movie during the same time.
Came here to say the exact same as Raccoonlady. Susan Napier is old school HQN catnip. I spent a year collecting out of print copies before half.com got bought out.
I haven’t got any recommendations to add, but I do want to say that I always wished there were more historicals set in Australia. The early years of European settlement (1788-1810 or so) have lots of romantic potential. In real life there were many cross-class relationships given the shortage of women. Convicts could serve their time and then become rich and respected, as could the black sheep of English gentry families. If there are no fresh plotlines left for historicals then there are at least fresh settings to explore….
A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute. US title: The Legacy. The hero and the heroine meet while they are both prisoners of the Japanese in Malaysia during WW II. After the war they reunite in Australia. I love this book.
Back in the seventies the Kiwi author Mary Scott was a favorite of my mother. I liked Pippa in Paradiese and The White Elephant.
@28 Emma: Most of Marsh’s books are set in England, some with New Zealand-born characters, but a couple of her WWII era books — Colour Scheme, Died in the Wool — take place in NZ.
If you like the ridiculousness of the old school Mills & Boons then Robyn Donald is a good one – she’s one of the first romance writers I began reading in my teens because the local libraries all seemed to buy her.
All the upvotes for the Changeover by Margaret Mahy which remains one of my favourite books. Another YA (written by an Australian but I’m not sure it is based in Oz because it’s post-Apocalyptic) with strong romance elements is the Obernewtyn Chronicles.
Nalini Singh is all good as is Jackie Ashendon.
(I’ll put a plug in for my sister-in-law, Nix Whittaker, but all her romance is fantasy/scifi/steampunk so isn’t based in NZ.)
@Darbi
Agreed on the Jaclyn Moriarty recommendation, I remember enjoying this set.
I think the titles published in North America had some differences.
1. Feeling Sorry for Celia
2. The Year of Secret Assignments / Finding Cassie Crazy
3. Bindy Mackenzie (3 variations)
Historials set in New Zealand:
In the Land of the Long White Cloud saga by Sarah Lark. Looong books. You should read the reviews first before you decide to buy them. Free on Kindle unlimited.
Danielle Hawkins is a New Zealand author – I haven’t read her latest, but would recommend Chocolate Cake For Breakfast very highly – and not just for the title! I love the book so much I have both a physical copy and a Kindle edition. The romance in the book is very matter of fact, but made me swoon anyway.
Neville Shute has other Australia set books as well as the excellent A Town Like Alice: I like The Far Country.
Agree with the recs for Sean Kennedy and Renae Kaye, and adding Laney Cairo.
In historical category books, Paula Marshall’s Hester Waring’s Marriage is excellent and there are a number of spin-offs.
Three books by Danielle Hawkins, all set in NZ: Chocolate Cake for Breakfast, Dinner at Rose’s, The Pretty Delicious Cafe. Two by Livia Day, set in Hobart (Tasmania): A Trifle Dead, Drowned Vanilla (both contain recipes). Margareta Osborn has some lovely rural romances, too.
Susan Napier and Robyn Donald were some of my first categories, reading copies in the stacks at the Christchurch library after school.
This is YA, not romance, but how can I not add: Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randal Abdel-fattah. It’s about a sixteen year old girl who decides to wear a hijab full time. I enjoyed it.
I love Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty – anything by Liane. She writes Aussie contemporary women’s fiction.
If you’re not afraid of an adultery story, Love at First Flight by Tess Woods is fabulous – love story more than romance though.
If you like the sound of an Aussie military, swing dancing, sweet romance, then check out my novel, Don’t Mean a Thing.
Not A Book, but a fabulous TV show from NZ: The Almighty Johnsons, available on Netflix. About reincarnated Norse Gods, and Odin looking for his Frigg.
Virginia Taylor has a set of Historical romances set in Australia, Starling, Ella, Charlotte, and Wenna. All have good reviews.
A few things I haven’t seen anyone else rec:
– Summer Skin by Kirsty Eager – a NA romance between uni students set in Brisbane, Australia
– Close to the Wind & Fool’s Gold by Zana Bell – historical romances set in late 1800s NZ
– Danielle Hawkins’ chick-lit/romances set in rural NZ, particularly Chocolate Cake for Breakfast, which, like the Rosalind James series already recc’ed, has an All Black hero.
– The Horseman by Charlotte Nash – contemporary Australian romance, set in rural Victoria
As someone raised in both Australia and New Zealand with dual citizenship, I have a bit of a complicated relationship with books set in Aus/NZ. Sometimes they are clearly meant for external/US audiences, and contain an element of exoticisation or fetishisation that makes me uncomfortable, or prevents me from enjoying the story. So, while my recs are authors and books I haven’t seen mentioned, they’re also ones that I hope would work both for Kiwis and Aussies looking for some locally-set romance, and readers from further afield 🙂
Ahhhh, just saw all the Danielle Hawkins recommendations right above my comment – Sorry, team! But, clearly, she’s worth reading!
This is SO awesome! Thank you all SO much for the recs. I find it hilarious because I am *right now* re-reading The Changeover for the umpteenth time, as my childhood books were recently unpacked after 4 years in storage. Yes, Sorenson Carlise was one of my first book boyfriends (along with Calvin O’Keefe from A Wrinke in Time). Plus, I have the new Nalini Singh book set in NZ, Cherish Hard, next up in my TBR pile.
I realized I’m totally unfamiliar with any romance book set in Australia, so these recs are especially great.
PS: All of this also makes me want to re-watch the movie “The Man from Snowy River”, which I only recently discovered was originally a poem.
Based on your recs, I’ve just purchased Just This Once (Escape to NZ), Upside Down by Lia Riley, and put several more on my wishlist. I have several of the others, including some from Karina Bliss, and all of Nalini Singh’s books, plus the Elle Pierson’s Artistic Licsense. Funny – I remember reading that book and thinking it sounded *just* like Lucy Parker’s books. Funny that it’s really her!
For historical try Yvonne Kalman’s Greenstone Land series and Barbara Ewing The Trepass. A modern gothic would be Rachael King’s Magpie Hall. Natalie Anderson and Jackie Ashenden for modern romance.
I enjoyed the first in the Shadowfae chronicles by Erica Hayes. Paranormal romance set in Melbourne. Think author is Aussie as well.
Also, think it might be By the Currawong’s Call rather than Currawang (although that did make me snicker)
The first book in Alyssa J. Montgomery’s Royal Affairs series is partly set in Australia. (The Defiant Princess). She’s an Aussie author published by Escape Publishing. If you haven’t read her Royal Affairs series, do yourself a favour and check them out. Unlike some series, the reads keep getting better. Just finished the ARC for book 3, The Formidable King and it was incredibly riveting.
SO many good books!! So little time! My additions to the TBR piles are Michelle Holman (NZ) & Susan Duncan (Australian). Michelle has a very quirky sense of humour – she hasn’t written anything in a while (I hope she’s OK!). My favourite of hers is “Divine” – the heroine’s husband becomes a woman & the heroine becomes a sex line dominatrix whose clientele seems to mainly live at the local nursing home (a possible career when I retire!!). Susan writes about small island life in the northern beaches of Sydney.