posted on March 8, 2021 by Alexia Adams

Jetting Around the World in the Pages of a Book

I grew up in a very small town in central Canada where it was winter for nine months of the year. And not Hallmark-movie-winter with delicate snow falling while characters sip hot drinks wrapped only in a thick sweater and a jaunty scarf. This was eyeballs-freeze-in-thirty-seconds winter. I don’t think I would have survived if not for my love of reading. Through the pages of the books I devoured at a pace that outstripped my hot chocolate consumption, I jetted around the world. I danced in ballrooms in Regency London. I paddled dug-out canoes through the Amazon rainforest. I strolled the sun-warmed sandy beaches of tropical islands at sunset. I spent my allowance on batteries for my flashlight so I could read under the covers long after my lights were supposed to be out.

As soon as I finished high school, I left behind small town life and turned eighteen in Central America. My nineteenth birthday was spent in New Zealand. For the next eight years I visited the places I’d read about during those long winter nights. I explored new destinations and reveled in cultures I’d first discovered in the often-turned pages of National Geographic. I managed to fly around the world twice before my travel wings were clipped by the arrival of four babies and a husband who owned a small business and couldn’t just take off whenever the mood to travel gripped me.

Now, firmly rooted in the life of a suburban housewife, making endless school lunches while main-lining coffee, I once again turn to books to allow me to explore the world beyond my budget. I have managed a few trips in the past two decades. One of the best was when I went to the Philippines with my oldest daughter, who was then only eleven, for a friend’s wedding. While there, we climbed what remains of Mount Pinatubo. We jumped into the ocean through the partially collapsed roof of a cave housing a thousand bats. We traveled by local bus and jeepney to north central Luzon and walked on the 2,000-year-old rice terraces in the Banaue and Hapao area. We drank sodas out of plastic bags and ate rice for every meal. We had an unforgettable adventure.

The experiences of that trip refreshed my travel-starved soul. So when I was looking for a heroine to inspire my next story, I thought back to the people I had met in the rice terraces. They still lived much the same way their ancestors had: growing rice in terraced paddies, living in family villages, pounding and winnowing by hand. I wondered how a young woman who’d grown up in that environment would cope with life in a big city. After ten years away would she still long for the simplicity of her childhood or would she embrace the challenges of life abroad? How would she cope when her new life began to erode the memories of her previous one?

I explored each of these questions through the heroine in my new release Over Her Wed Body. Corazon Dela Cruz left her village high in the Cordillera mountains at the age of sixteen to earn money to send back to her impoverished family. After ten years she finds herself in Canada, nursing an elderly stroke patient Chester Samuelson. When Chester offers her $25,000 to fake an engagement to him so his over-protective son will return to his career in Dubai, Cora at first refuses. But the money is desperately needed by her family to get medical treatment for her beloved grandmother. Not only that, but it would allow Cora to return for the first time in a decade to see the family she’s sacrificed so much for. However, Beckett Samuelson has watched his father marry three too many times for him to believe in true love. So when his father announces an engagement to the nurse he’s only known for a few months, who also happens to be more than forty years his junior, Beckett knows he has to step in. But the more he gets to know the prospective bride, the more he realizes she’d be the perfect next Mrs. Samuelson—if he was the intended groom. But can he risk his father’s health and happiness to gamble on love for himself?

Over Her Wed Body is a light-hearted contemporary romance with quirky characters and laugh-out-loud scenes set in beautiful Vancouver, Canada and, of course, the rice terraces of northern Luzon in the Philippines. Come join me on this virtual adventure with a guaranteed happy-ever-after.

Where’s the most interesting place and/or time you’ve traveled through the pages of a book? Comment below for a chance to win an ebook copy of my previous release Thailand with the Tycoon.

Alexia Adams

Alexia Adams

A former world wanderer, Alexia writes contemporary romance stories that reflect her love of exotic destinations and diverse characters and cultures. She currently lives near Vancouver, Canada with her husband and four children and dreams of a world without housework. As a flight risk mom, romance is her escape and she can often be found with her nose in a book, pretending she's somewhere else. Check out her website at alexia-adams.com and sign up for her monthly newsletter to discover your next escape.

https://alexia-adams.com/

8 thoughts on “Jetting Around the World in the Pages of a Book”

  1. bn100 says:

    rainforest

    1. Alexia says:

      The rainforest is an amazing destination.

  2. Crystal says:

    My most interesting trip through the pages of a book is Hillcrest.,
    Most interesting time period is when your marriage was prearranged before you were born.
    Hope I Win

    1. Alexia says:

      Sounds interesting. Prearranged marriages would certainly take the “guesswork” out of a relationship.

  3. Sandii says:

    What a great sounding book. I’ve just snagged my copy. Off to read now.

    1. Alexia says:

      I hope you enjoy it, Sandii. We can all use an escape these days.

  4. GB says:

    I recently read a romantic suspense set in Antarctica. The setting was almost an additional character in and of itself.

    1. Alexia says:

      Hi GB, Antarctica sounds like an incredible destination and even better to explore through a book as you wouldn’t have to worry about frostbite.

      Also, you’re the winner of my giveaway, so if you see this, please contact me through my webiste or FB page to claim your prize.

      Congratulations,
      Alexia

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