For those of us who love historical romances, there´s almost always a certain time or place that gets our attention and we then have to buy any book with that setting or time period. For me, it´s Scotland or the Viking age. For a friend, it´s Revolutionary Era America. For another friend, it´s anything set in Wales. Another loves knights in shining armor, preferably from the time of King Arthur. We all have our preferences, but which one if your very favorite? And why?

In a recent discussion online, some authors speculated that part of it is familiarity--with the time and place. One idea is that many of our ancestors come form some of these places and that may be one reason we are attracted to a particular place in our reading. Perhaps a place you have visited, or would like to visit one day.

How did you get hooked on your personal favorite time or place? I found seeral Viking time travels written by the same author that I loved, and that sent me searching for more Viking books. As for the Scotland fetish, I stumbled onto that quite accidentally in just the past few years. Something about a man in a kilt with a brogue, and a bagpipe soundtrack playing in the background...

This week I got a review copy of
September Moon by Candice Proctor (Ballantine). This book is set about as far away from me as it could get--Australia, in the mid-1800´s. Amanda Davenport is about as far from her beloved English home as she can get, too, and she´s miserably unhappy about it. Unfortunately, the only way she can get home is to take a position as governess on the run of Patrick O´Reilly, in the outback. Much against her will, she gradually finds herself falling for both the man and the land, not to mention his three children, two of whom are less than charming initially. The change of heart is not instantaneous for Amanda, and no less difficult for Patrick, whose first English wife left him many years prior because she hated the place. In Ms. Proctor´s prose, I felt almost as if I were there, seeing the wilderness of Australia long ago, feeling the heat and seeing the people. She does a beautiful job bringing the history and place alive. Of our five arrows from Cupid´s quiver, I´m giving this one four. Now I´ve got to go out and find Ms. Proctor´s previous two novels and devour them, too.

How do you feel about historicals? Which time period is your favorite? Which country? Send me an email or post to the forum and let me know your opinion on this subject.