The Rec League: Travel Romances

The Rec League - heart shaped chocolate resting on the edge of a very old bookThis Rec League comes from us! Or more particularly, Sarah! We’re looking for travel romances, romances that take place while traveling or on vacation, or just far from “home.”

Sarah: Rosalind James’ Escape to New Zealand series ( A ). The conflict is low low low angst but the virtual travel to New Zealand was really fun for me.

Amanda: Roman Crazy ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) is something I’d consider a travel romance. Heroine goes to Italy for the summer following her divorce.

Sarah: Yes, a very good example. Nonfiction, Paris Letters ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) too.

I’ve read Paris Letters twice I think.

Elyse: Against All Odds ( A | BN | K | G | AB )

NB: We really want recommendations from books you’re read and enjoyed. Knowing a book has that element is great, but knowing a book has that element and that you enjoyed it or know someone who did is better!

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  1. The Other Kate says:

    Most of Mary Stewart’s books involve travel to exotic places. The Moonspinners, This Rough Magic, and Airs Above the Ground all stand out for their evocative descriptions.

  2. I have a copy of CANTERBURY SISTERS by Kim Wright sitting on my desk because I loved revisiting my favorite passages. More women’s fiction than romance, but I loved it, especially the pilgrimage aspect. I also recently devoured RELEASE by Dylan Allen – the heroine travels from Miami to Ghana and England, so it definitely qualifies as a travel romance. So good! And such great settings.

  3. Jeannette says:

    An old Jayne Ann Krentz, Twist of Fate, is one of my favorite travel romances. The heroine goes off to an island to close out her aunts estate and rents a jeep with fringe, much to the hero’s dismay. Actually quite a few of JAK’s books deal with islands including: A Coral Kiss (a writer and a spy who makes birdcages go cave diving); the Pirate, and Silver Linings (what happens when the guy you meet on vacation comes home with you). I think I’m going to be doing some re-reading this evening.

  4. Shalan says:

    Wanderlust by Lauren Blakely. I listened to it on Audible. Travel is a big rheme. Also the audio reading was great.

  5. FoodieNinja says:

    Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark story about Cade and Holly (the name is escaping me, I think it’s #5 in the series) is a fun paranormal road trip romance.

    Shannon Stacey’s Twice Upon a Roadtrip is a contemporary, and novella-length, I think.

    Patricia Gaffney’s Crooked Hearts is a historical about two con artists who happen to bump into each other while traveling by stagecoach. Shenanigans ensue.

  6. LauraL says:

    Worth the Fall by Claudia Conner immediately comes to mind. The hero is a Navy SEAL “forced” to go on vacation and the heroine is a widow who is on vacation with her kids. Lots of angst, lots of humor, and a keeper I’ve read lots of times.

  7. Ellen Hanaki says:

    FINDING FRASER, it’s a fan of the Outlander books going in search of her own Jamie Fraser. Super cute and fun.

    PARIS IN LOVE, Eloisa James, it’s how she met her husband.

  8. Crystal says:

    The third one in Nora Roberts’s Born trilogy, Born In Sin, reads a bit like a travel romance. It basically involves a young American woman that travels to Ireland to meet the two sisters that she didn’t know she had, and also their hot neighbor/best friend (that would be the love interest). She then gets to experience Ireland in terms of the pubs and Irish scenery and one of the sisters runs an Irish B&B, so you get that atmosphere, too.

  9. Nita says:

    One of my favorite books I read last year was a road trip romance – Going Nowhere Fast by Kati Wilde.

  10. Judy W. says:

    If you like historicals.

    Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase is an excellent historical that takes place in Egypt instead of London.

    Veils of Silk by Mary Jo Putney also takes place in an exotic locale.

    Moonraker’s Bride by Madeleine Brent is one of the original exotics I read and fell in love with. Oldy but goody.

  11. JayneH says:

    Concur with Nina Bocci & Alice Clayton’s “Roman Crazy” Collaboration Set in Rome
    Karina Halle has a few of these.
    Her “Love In English” Duology has an Canadian on a working holiday in Spain.
    “Where Sea Mets Sky” brother of heroine in Love in English follows one night stand to New Zealand
    “Racing the Sun” Backpacking student ends up in Capri Nannying to earn money to get home.

    RS Grey’s “A Place in the Sun” set in Positano Italy

    Penelope Ward’s “Cocky Bastard” Broken Down Card leads to roadtrip romance.

    Stylo Fantome’s “My Time in the Affair” set in Italy. Definitely check the blurb before reading as I know “cheating” can be an issue for some people.

    Christi Barth’s “Cruising for Love” Second Chance Romance set on a Cruise ship.

    Pepper Winters “Unseen Messages” Music star ends up ship(plane)wrecked on a tropical island with fellow passengers. In that vein Tracey Garvis Graves “On the Island” Age gap romance.

    Jay Crownover – “Retreat” Girlfriends head to a dude ranch for bonding time.

    Rebecca Yarros – The Renegades Series: Study abroad on a Cruise Ship with Extreme Sports atheletes filming a documentary as they go. Modern Crazy Sauce.

  12. Nicole Pinto says:

    Try reading “A Star to Steer Her By.” Beth Anne Miller is the author. It’s set upon a ship sailing at sea for a seamester. It’s the full package- romance , adventure and travel! I really loved it.

  13. Kate says:

    Ruthie Knox’s Ride with Me is about a cross-country cycling trip.

  14. Dee says:

    Juliet by Anne Fortier, the heroine, Julie, travels to Siena, Italy to see if she really is the descendant of Shakespeare’s Juliet and if the rumoured treasure connected to the family is real. Makes me want to go to Siena every time I read it.

  15. DonnaMarie says:

    I’ll second Ride With Me it was a lot of fun.

    I’d rec Juliana Grey’s Affairs By Moonlight trilogy. Late 18th century. Three English ladies travel to Italy and happen across three English gentlemen. Since the Duke of Olympia is involved, there’s no happenstance about it. The first one, A Lady Never Lies is my favorite as the H is building a race car.

    @Jeanette, thanks, I now have a hankering to go spelunking under the bed for my old JAK stash.

  16. MollyO says:

    Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton. Dual time line- in present day heroine travels to Havana to fulfill grandmothers last wish and spread her ashes. Beautiful descriptions of Cuba in both past and present.

    A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by McKenzie Lee. YA historical with bisexual hero, his best friend and sister going on Grand Tour of Europe. Great characters and adventure story.

  17. Heather S says:

    If you like contemporary categories, I remember a lot of the Harlequin KISS line having travel as part of the plot.

  18. CJ says:

    “His Road Home” by Anna Richland. Bought it because of all the recs from this site. Not my usual genre but I am so glad I read it!

  19. LauraL says:

    I second Moonraker’s Bride, His Road Home, and Ride With Me.

    Rake Most Likely to Thrill by Bronwyn Scott takes place during a horse race in Siena where a rake is visiting Tuscany for the Paolo horse race. It is part of a series of Regency rakes who tour Europe and fall in love.

  20. DFlores says:

    Trust the Focus by Megan Erickson takes place during a post-college graduation road trip in an RV across America, friends to lovers.

  21. Rebecca says:

    Mists of the Serengeti, by Leylah Attar. Wanderlust by Daisy Prescott. Both involve travel to Africa.

  22. DonnaMarie says:

    Sorry, I meant late 1800s not 18th century!! Building a race car in the 1790s would have made Finn way ahead of his time.

  23. Darlynne says:

    @The Other Kate: I agree completely with your recommendation of Mary Stewart. There is something so evocative about her stories, almost as if you feel the hush of everything else falling away when you start.

    Some of Elizabeth Cadell’s books involved travel as well. Can I remember specific titles? Of course not. Wait, CANARY YELLOW, that’s one.

  24. booklovingirl says:

    Susanna Kearsley writes books that are very travel descriptive. I loved Firebird which made me long to go to St. Petersburg and also A Desperate Fortune which is set mostly in France and very descriptive of both present day and 18th (?) century France — and has a heroine on the spectrum which was totally awesome, btw.

  25. Leigh Kramer says:

    I recently read Victoria Alexander’s The Lady Travelers Guide To Scoundrels & Other Gentlemen and it was so much fun! Crisp writing with a lovely sense of humor. The heroine is worried her cousin went abroad and was taken advantage by a scam. So off she goes to France to find her cousin with the man who she mistakenly believes is behind it all. I adored India’s character arc and how she evolved as the novel progressed. She was so sure of herself and her opinions but comes to realize how this comes across to others and chooses to learn from the experience. And I loved how Derek tried to look out for his aunt, while trying to take care of India and help her find her cousin. Watching them fall for each other, even as much as they first resisted it, was pure delight!

  26. Cat says:

    Some Road Trip Romance:

    Managed by Kristen Callihan
    The 12 Days of Hipster by Raine O’Tierney
    Signal Boost by Alyssa Cole
    Thirty Things \by Cate Ashwood

    On Vacation Romance

    Playing It Close by Kat Latham
    Wild Orchids by Karen Robards

    Travel Virtually (A great sense of place)

    A Wish Upon Jasmine by Laura Florand (Anything in this series)
    Just My Luck (Escape to New Zealand, #5) by Rosalind James

  27. Emily C says:

    @booklovingirl- I first though of two other Kearsley novels- The Winter Sea and The Rose Garden because both are about heroines far-from-home, in beautiful evocative locations. But The Firebird and A Desperate Fortune fit that description too. To me part of a great “travel” novel is when the character’s personal journey is reflected in the physical journey she’s making. Susanna Kearsley is a master of this and I love her books.

  28. Thanks for mentioning His Road Home! My two paranormals (Immortal Vikings) hit a lot of places too – but more on the run than on vacation.

    If, like me, you zipped through all the Mary Stewart titles after SBTB recommended them a couple months ago, I HIGHLY recommend Above Suspicion by Helen MacInnes – it’s a thriller set in 1939, published in 1941, recently reissued in ebook. Hero and heroine are married Brits in academia who are asked to do a little tiny not dangerous at all assignment while they hike in Europe for what everyone in their circles in England knows will be the very last window before the war. What could go wrong? The story goes from Oxford to Paris to Nuremburg to all sorts of quaint mountain towns in Germany and Austria. It was fabulous and sent me on a classic Helen MacInnes kick. Even got the spouse reading it while he was on a golf trip, because it is so good and so chilling at the same time.

    The ebooks are pretty expensive ($7.99), but it seems like a lot of library systems have them, which was nice to see. (And MacInnes’s next book, Assignment in Brittany, is also excellent but the last three pages left me apoplectic although I cannot share the spoiler).

  29. Kris Bock says:

    My romantic adventure The Dead Man’s Treasure has the lead couple following clues to sites around New Mexico.

  30. Kareni says:

    Some male/male romance that I enjoyed that fit the bill:

    Motel. Pool. by Kim Fielding
    Astounding! by Kim Fielding
    Special Delivery by Heidi Cullinan
    Wanted, A Gentleman by K.J. Charles
    In Front of God and Everyone by Nealy Wagner/republished as Goodbye Paradise by Sarina Bowen

  31. Booklovingirl says:

    @Emily C – oooh, I haven’t read those two yet. I meant to read Winter Sea and got distracted by my TBR…. moving it back to the top, thanks for the rec!

  32. Emily C says:

    @Booklovingirl- you will adore The Winter Sea if you liked The Firebird! There are connections between the two (and also to The Shadowy Horses). The Rose Garden is my sentimental favorite of all her books too, I really loved the little twist at the end and I re-read it when I need a pick me up.

  33. PamG says:

    Kim Harrison’s Pale Demon (Hollows #9) is my favorite road trip story ever. SEP has a couple of travel stories too. In Breathing Room, Dr Isobel Favor flees to Italy to escape multiple disasters where she finds much more than the space suggested by the title. First Lady, on the other hand, is an all-American road trip as well as one of my favorites by this author.

    Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels has some great stories set in a variety of countries. Both the Amelia Peabody and the Vicky Bliss series involve lots of travel. There are also some awesome standalones. Legend in Green Velvet (EP) and The Sea King’s Daughter come immediately to mind.

    Finally I must mention Heyer’s Sylvestre, a Regency road trip extraordinaire.

  34. Annabeth Albert has a couple of m/m romances that probably fit this. In Status Update the main characters start the book on a road trip. One of the heroes gives the other a ride to an event and I believe they’re on the road for a couple of days. In Beta Test the heroes go on a road trip to a video game convention.

    Courtney Milan’s entry in Hamilton’s Battalion involved the heroes traveling together, walking for seceral days.

    One of the books in Tessa Dare’s Spindle Cove series has the hero and heroine traveling together.

  35. Desiree says:

    Definitely second the Elizabeth Peters and Loretta Chase recs. If you are into Victorian historicals I also loved As You Desire and The Other Guy’s Bride by Connie Brockaway and A Lady’s Guide to Improper Behaviour by Susanne Enoch.

    If you like fantasy all three books from Jeffe Kennedy’s Uncharted Realms series are travel based.

    Lots of greats recs here! Hope everyone has fun!

  36. Ruth says:

    Serenity Woods and Tracey Alvarez are two other authors I’ve enjoyed with books set in New Zealand.

    For real escapist fantasy (okay, it can’t be real if it’s fantasy, so FANTASTIC escapist fantasy), Beverly Preston’s “No More Wasted Time,” a good chunk of which takes place in Bora Bora (where a hero who is essentially George Clooney falls madly in love with a middle-aged widow — because that happens! Also swimming with manta rays). Parts of it also take place in Italy and Greece, as do the following books in the series.

  37. Desiree says:

    Actually! I mixed up my titles and it’s Rules of Engagement by Suzanne Enoch that is the travel romance! Oops!!

  38. Kareni says:

    Coming back to add Joanna Bourne’s The Spymaster’s Lady which has a travel component.

  39. Emily C says:

    Omg…I just read A Week to be Wicked by Tessa Dare which fits the bill perfectly. It’s the second book in the Spindle Cove series and driving the whole plot is their week-long journey to Scotland- complete with on-the-road hijinks including lost luggage and “only one bed at the inn.” I can’t believe I forgot about it and I loved it!
    Also, not a book rec, but for a sweet and silly on-the-road movie check out Leap Year. Pretty standard rom com stuff made great because of the two leads, Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. It’s delightful!

  40. Lucy says:

    Ooh, ooh, I have some! 1) Andrés Neuman, Traveler of the Century, has travel, possibly time-travel, a mysterious mythical German city, conversations about desire and romance and feminism, poetry translations, and very, very hot sex. 2) Charlotte Gray‘s eponymous heroine is a plucky Scotswoman who has mental illness and is looking for her place in the world and has great female friendships. Travel comes in as she goes first to London for work and then to France with the SOE. I cry over how much I love the romance every time (not to give away whom she ends up with!)

    Two espionage series might also count for criss-crossing Europe (depending on where “far” is for you.) Helen MacInnes’ books, written during and about WWII/the Cold War are of varying quality but Pray for a Brave Heart is my mom’s favorite, and she’s the connoisseur. I really enjoy the Alan Furst novels, with an interrelated cast of characters (primary in some mentioned/secondary in others, etc.) and a lot of interesting romances with interesting men and women, mostly in their 30s and 40s.

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