{"id":7652,"date":"2011-11-14T07:09:35","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T12:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theseasonforromance.com\/wordpress\/?p=7652"},"modified":"2011-11-14T07:09:35","modified_gmt":"2011-11-14T12:09:35","slug":"why-australias-the-sexiest-country-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/14\/why-australias-the-sexiest-country-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Australia\u2019s the sexiest country in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Katrina Latham<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"My first introduction to the romance genre was through Harlequin Presents novels, so not only did I learn a whole lot about what boys and girls do when they like each other, but I also got to explore new countries for only a few dollars a month.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s how I realized Australia\u2019s the sexiest country in the world.<\/p>\n

Lots of the novels were set in London and Australia\u2014places where they called their friends \u201cmate\u201d and lived in flats (which for years I pictured as apartments with lower ceilings).<\/p>\n

Both places sounded amazing, but Australia kicked London\u2019s ass on several levels. First, the London novels often took place in offices (*yawn* I\u2019d seen 9 to 5 <\/em>with Dolly Parton\u2014offices looked like dreadfully boring places to fall in love). The heroes seemed uptight and the heroines wore stockings.<\/p>\n


\nNot the grown-up life I wanted to have.<\/p>\n

Australians, on the other time, chased each other through the Outback. They frolicked in the surf. They occasionally encountered animals so bizarre that only funny-sounding words could describe them: kookaburra, wombat, kangaroo.<\/p>\n

Okay, maybe there weren\u2019t wombats and kookaburras. I do recall some storylines with kangaroos, though.<\/p>\n

And the clothes on the covers! I remember reading a novel in my uncle\u2019s living room when I was about thirteen. He stared at the cover for a while before asking me, \u201cWhy is the man dressed from head to toe in khaki but the woman\u2019s only wearing a bikini?\u201d<\/p>\n

Giving him my best grown-ups-are-sooo-dumb eye roll, I schooled him. \u201cBecause that\u2019s what they wear in Australia, Uncle Rick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duh.<\/p>\n

Even though Australia has been at the top of my travel wish list for two decades, I\u2019ve only been there through Harlequin. This month I\u2019ll be taking another trip there, courtesy of one of my favorite Harlequin authors: Sarah Mayberry<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n

No, she\u2019s not sending me a round-trip ticket. (You\u2019re not, right, Sarah?)<\/p>\n

Assuming she\u2019s not, she\u2019s done something nearly as good. She\u2019s written another book for me to read. I\u2019ve heard great things about All They Need<\/a>, but there are only two things I really needed to know before putting it on my wish list: it\u2019s by Sarah Mayberry<\/strong><\/em> and it\u2019s set in Australia.<\/p>\n

I may read it while wearing my bikini. Because that\u2019s how an Australian would read it.<\/p>\n

What place have you read about that seems magical? Have you been able to visit it in real life? Comment and enter to win a digital copy of Sarah Mayberry’s ALL THEY NEED.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Kat Latham<\/strong>\u00a0has been reading romance for a couple of decades. With degrees in English lit and human rights, she loves stories that reflect the depth, humor and emotion of real life. When she\u2019s not writing contemporary romance novels, she can usually be found blogging or tweeting overly personal information. She loves meeting other readers and writers online, so\u00a0follow her on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0check out her blog<\/a>\u00a0and say hello!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Katrina Latham My first introduction to the romance genre was through Harlequin Presents novels, so not only did I learn a whole lot about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,105,34],"tags":[216,294],"class_list":["post-7652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-giveaways","category-harlequin","category-katrina","tag-contemporary","tag-guest-blog"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Australia\u2019s the sexiest country in the world - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/14\/why-australias-the-sexiest-country-in-the-world\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Australia\u2019s the sexiest country in the world - 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