Come with us on a cross-country (and international) trip…by joining our annual roundup of Bethany House book settings. These ones are from books published between July 2015 and June 2016—for past lists, go here and here! So far, by my count, we have 26 states and 12 countries represented from three years of books! (If your home state/country isn’t among them…pitch an idea for a great setting or historical event in the comments.)
Also, in a stunning turn of events, Texas has been dethroned from its two-time streak being the state with the most BHP books and replaced by…New York! (We still love you, Texas. But you can’t hang on to that crown forever.)
Inside the U.S.
California: Beyond the Silence by Tracie Peterson and Kimberly Woodhouse, Someone Like You by Victoria Bylin, Fading Starlight by Kathryn Cushman
Idaho: Fire and Ice by Mary Connealy
Iowa: Like Never Before by Melissa Tagg
Kansas: A Bride at Last by Melissa Jagears
Maryland: Cold Shot by Dani Pettrey
Massachusetts: From This Moment by Elizabeth Camden
Michigan: Undaunted Hope by Jody Hedlund
Missouri: Rising Darkness by Nancy Mehl, At Love’s Bidding by Regina Jennings
Montana: A Treasure Concealed by Tracie Peterson
New York: In Good Company and Playing the Part by Jen Turano, Irish Meadows and A Worthy Heart by Susan Anne Mason, Until the Dawn by Elizabeth Camden, Flirtation Walk by Siri Mitchell
North Dakota: Streams of Mercy by Lauraine Snelling
Pennsylvania: The Photograph and The Atonement by Beverly Lewis, The Midwife’s Choice and The Midwife’s Dilemma by Delia Parr, Amish Sweethearts by Leslie Gould
Texas: Her One and Only by Becky Wade, No Other Will Do by Karen Witemeyer
Washington: Refining Fire and Love Everlasting by Tracie Peterson
West Virginia: The Potter’s Lady by Judith Miller
Other Countries
Egypt: Counted With the Stars by Connilyn Cossette
England: Not by Sight by Kate Breslin, A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter, Chivalrous by Dina Sleiman, The Painter’s Daughter by Julie Klassen, Dressed for Death by Juliana Deering, A Haven on Orchard Lane by Lawana Blackwell, The Reluctant Duchess by Roseanna White
Monaco: The Lost Heiress by Roseanna White (fine, it’s mostly set in England, but I found the Monaco bits at the beginning very interesting)
Israel: Bathsheba, Risen, and Delilah by Angela Hunt, On This Foundation by Lynn Austin
Scotland: The Inheritance by Michael Phillips
Other Realms: The Shock of Night by Patrick W. Carr, King’s Folly by Jill Williamson
These lists are fun – thanks so much for assembling them! This would certainly be a less expensive and hassle-free way to travel. :o)
Agreed, Valerie! There are many places I’ve visited in books that I’ll never have a chance to visit in real life.
What!! No books in Virginia!?!
Ohio, Ohio, wherefore art thou, OHIO?! I could be all over that one!
Would love to see one in Florida. Maybe need to change the setting of my WIP.
I’m from Mississippi, and I’ve written a novella that is set in my home state which could possibly be lengthened into a full-length novel. It placed in the First Impressions Contest.
Magnolia Storms
Maggie Marovich couldn’t save her father from Hurricane Katrina, but once she escaped the Mississippi Gulf Coast, she dedicated her life to being a meteorologist so she can warn others when the monster storms approach. If only they would listen to her and come inland, but both her sister and the ship pilot Maggie loved and left are too stubborn. With a hurricane headed toward her childhood home and her sister injured, Maggie has little choice but to head south into the storm.
The water and the tides flowed through Josh Bergeron’s veins as much as the blood of his ancestors who’d sailed over from France. He can’t imagine not piloting ships. Even for the love of his life, the infuriating Maggie Marovich. He let her walk away after Katrina, and he tried to move on … even married and had a child. Only the woman he chose decided being the wife of a pilot wasn’t for her either. The Gulf of Mexico and his son are the only sure things in his world now, and he plans to keep it that way …
Until Maggie storms back into town.
For a sample of my writing, I’ve just published the first story in another series set in Mississippi. https://www.amazon.com/Leaving-Oxford-Southern-Hearts-Book-ebook/dp/B01DJJKRJM?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0
http://www.janetfergusonauthor.com/
Colorado 1910 – Will wardrobe girl Ella Canaday remain in the shadows of the Canon City silent-movie set or step up to her fears for a second chance at life and love?
Contemporary – Will a handsome cowboy’s affections convince a Kentucky horse breeder to exchange her bluegrass for life on a California cattle ranch?
would love to see my country Australia. Its a unique country with plenty of great stories.
Ok BHP, y’all need some Kentucky books! 🙂
how about the story of a book blogger whose TBR pile collapses and buries her & she falls in love with the hunky guy who pulls her to safety? Who oddly enough looks like Henry Cavill. 🙂
the book blogger would of course live in Kentucky … and may or may not be named Carrie.
Carrie, You crack me up!
Haha!
This is truly an inspired idea, Carrie! 🙂
Amy Green
BHP Fiction Publicist
i thought so 😉 LOL