Carolyn Miller – Romantic Destination – Part 1 of 1

Shannon here: Carolyn Miller takes us on a tour of Muskoka Island, the setting for her latest Contemporary Romance. Comment or answer the question to enter reader’s pick of a digital copy of any one of Carolyn’s Original Six books. And bear with her on answering comments since her time zone is way different in Australia. Deadline: Aug 13th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Carolyn:

Muskoka Blue is my most recent release, and is based on a place I was lucky enough to visit with my husband a number of years ago. As an LM Montgomery fan, I’d long wanted to see Prince Edward Island, Canada where Anne of Green Gables is set. As part of our road trip (which saw us take a mammoth drive from Boston to PEI to Quebec, Montreal, Toronto and Niagara Falls) we also visited Muskoka, the gorgeous lake-strewn area two hours north of Toronto, which is where LM Montgomery set another of her books, The Blue Castle.

Muskoka IS beautiful (as my pics below attest) and I loved setting a story here that I figured would be perfect for someone wanting to escape the tragedy of her past and find hope and healing. I’ve always found that there is a soothing peace near water, and these lakes with their majestic trees and tiny islands and wildlife brought a sense of peace to me, like I hope these descriptions evoke in readers.

Lake Muskoka is one of the largest lakes in Ontario, and has long been a playground for the rich and famous, with everyone from Carrie Underwood’s husband, Mike Fisher, to Justin Bieber owning or renting houses around here. I figured it’d make the perfect place for a hockey star to hang out during the summer, and I’m not ashamed to say I based the house of my hero, Dan Walton, on the summer ‘cottage’ once owned by Mike Fisher. (There’s an MTV clip which shows his house – hello!)

Because my heroine, Sarah Maguire, just wants to be left alone, it takes a while for her to let down her walls with the friendly handsome man from next door—especially as she’s happy to read. But as she’s a Jane Austen and Anne fan too (like this author – imagine that!), she eventually manages to visit the local museum devoted to all things LM Montgomery.

Bala’s Museum

My husband and I also visited Bala’s Museum, where a number of first editions, LM Montgomery possessions and film memorabilia are housed in a charming building that the author and her family visited in the 1920s. It’s definitely worth a visit, especially for any  ‘kindred spirits’ out there. I enjoyed including some scenes of places we’d seen in Muskoka Blue, including the museum, and referencing other places we also saw on this trip, such as Niagara Falls and the CN tower. (You can see plenty more pics I took from this trip – and the other places that score a mention in the other books from the Original Six series at my website.

In fact, I enjoyed setting the book in this gorgeous area so much I decided to write a series based on the Muskoka area, so following Muskoka Blue, I’ll have another contemporary romance (but without any hockey heroes in it!) based in this area. Muskoka Shores is about an events coordinator who works at one of the many huge resorts that fill this area, and proved to be a fun way I could incorporate other places we visited in Muskoka, such as the cranberry farm and Chili at the Church, which takes place at Bala’s Cranberry Festival. Following that I have a Christmas story (Muskoka Christmas) about an author returning to her small town roots as she cares for her grandmother – and just so happens to meet a handsome doctor on leave from his work in Africa. If people enjoy this small town series I might continue, especially as I’ve introduced a number of single ladies looking for love in this gorgeous part of the world.

I love to travel, and I feel blessed to have seen some amazing parts of the world – and feel even more blessed to have the chance to showcase some of these places in my books.

Question for Readers: So how about you? Do you enjoy travel? Any places you’d like to see woven into a story? Let’s talk!

About Carolyn: Carolyn Miller lives in the beautiful Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, with her husband and four children. Together with her husband she has pastored a church for ten years, and worked as a public high school English teacher.

A longtime lover of romance, especially that of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and LM Montgomery, Carolyn loves drawing readers into fictional worlds that show the truth of God’s grace in our lives. Her contemporary romance series includes the Original Six hockey romance series, and the Independence Islands series, and her historical series include the Regency Brides and Regency Wallflowers series. Learn more & connect:

Carolyn’s Website         Carolyn’s Facebook          Carolyn’s Pinterest        Carolyn’s Bookbub

Carolyn’s Twitter          Carolyn’s Instagram         Carolyn’s Goodreads

About the book – Muskoka Blue:

An ice princess with a broken heart. A pro hockey player with a secret.

For Sarah Maguire, spending the summer at Lake Muskoka was supposed to be about finding the courage to put back the pieces of her shattered life—not falling in love with the charming yet unsophisticated hockey player from next door.

Daniel Walton may have been praying for Miss Right to appear, but Sarah’s ice princess act just cries Miss Wrong. Dan’s summer plans hadn’t included befriending a redhead with a sassy tongue and cute accent, but as Muskoka works its magic he soon discovers that underneath the frost and prickles is the funny, feisty, loving woman he’s waited all his life to meet.

As their friendship deepens, Sarah comes to appreciate Dan’s patience and kindness yet struggles to let go of the past and embrace the future, while Dan, only too conscious of the personal history he wants to forget, questions the wisdom of pursuing a girl whose heart may never be wholly his – who may soon return to live on the opposite side of the world.

Will past regrets lead to further heartbreak? Or can Sarah and Dan learn to leave the past in the past and embrace God’s promises for the future?

Muskoka Blue is the sixth book in the Original Six, a sweet and swoony, slightly sporty, Christian hockey romance series from bestselling author Carolyn Miller.

Interested in Carolyn’s books? Get your copy/copies now!

Muskoka Blue              Carolyn’s Amazon Page

Come back on Aug 5th for Betty Thomason Owens!