5 reasons I love setting my books in Southern California

This month, Surrender to Fire (Book III of the Maison Chronicles) and Exposing Ellen released. Like almost all of my books, they are both set in Southern California--Los Angeles and Orange County, respectively.

Aside from being my hometown, Los Angeles and the surrounding counties are an amazing setting for romance novels.

1. The beaches are an obvious one. Watching the sunset over the Pacific is stunning, especially from the cliffs of Malibu or Laguna Beach. Hello romance!

2. Want your hero and heroine to snuggle up in the snow? Take them to Big Bear or Snow Valley for a weekend. They're both a two-hour drive outside of Los Angeles and having chilly, snowed-in characters makes for all kinds of naughty fun. This is exactly what happened to Gabe and Hope in my Maison Chronicles short story "Merry XXXmas"

3. Movie stars abound in Los Angeles. Heroine's running out for a cup of coffee and bumps into that attractive man? Yep, he's an up-and-coming actor. I'm partial to the crew members who make TV magic, though, like Aimee from Exposing Ellen.

4. There's a diversity of residents. From ethnicity to income to career paths, Los Angeles (like most metropolitan areas) offers heroes and heroines from the sweet Newport Beach librarian (like Exposing Ellen's title character) to the high-powered Beverly Hills attorney to the stars.

5. The freeway systems makes it easy to access even more distant locations. Traffic aside, it's easy to zip south from Los Angeles to Orange County to San Diego, or east to the mountain cities and Palm Springs. Vegas is only a few hours away! This accessibility means you can send your characters on an overnight or long weekend to a completely new place. Cam and Damien overnight in San Diego to visit a new club in Surrender to Fire.

Since I do have new releases to celebrate, I'm doing a giveaway through the end of the month. You can enter through the actions below! Two winners will receive, respectively, a $50 Amazon gift card an a $30 Stockroom (another Los Angeles treasure) gift card.
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