Small-town romance loved
Real-life stories and a rural backdrop appeals to readers, says book author
I think people like it because it is actually real life — dealing with things like the death of a child, relationships and the challenges that people face every day. Shirley Wine
Who says romance dead? Not the millions of romance novel fans, and certainly not rural romance novel enthusiasts.
The genre is more popular than ever and Waihi author Shirley Wine has added another book to her bibliography. Wine will be having a A Small Town Heart booksigning session next week.
The book is part of an anthology with two other authors — Tricia is
Stringer’s Queen of the Road and Lisa Ireland’s Honey Hill House.
A Small Town Heart is the second in the Prodigal Sons Series, published by Harpercollins.
Shirley says the series is about love and second chances in a rural setting. It is about a man returning to help the family business but a blast from the past throws his plans into disarray.
“Rural romance is huge genre worldwide. I’ve spent my life on farms.
“We live in Waihi which also has a rural backdrop. I think people like
it because it is actually real life — dealing with things like the death of a child, relationships and the challenges that people face every day. Relationships have to be the most challenging thing that we ever face.”
While her books deal with some serious things they uplifting, she says.
Wine has written 17 novels and says writing comes easy.
She and husband Martin have experienced much grief in their life and writing is her coping mechanism.
Wine prides herself on romance books with an edge. Men like her books as well, she says, as they often contain mystery, murder and some are soft thrillers “on the dark side of romance”. are always
fiction novels