I’m a romance reader and writer, so I should have a stack of books I’ve read and enjoyed that feature Valentine’s Day. Yet I can’t think of a single title.
I suspect there are two reasons why.
First is that Valentine’s Day isn’t the big deal in New Zealand that it is in the US. Well, it wasn’t when I was a child. I remember reading US books as a child and teenager where Valentine’s Day was a big thing, where children made Valentine’s Day cards in school for all the children in their class.
That was completely foreign—perhaps because 14 February is only two weeks after the start of the new school year, and teachers want to teach while the children are still fresh and keen to learn. There will be plenty of time for crafts later in the year, when everyone is tired.
Later, the reason became the commercialisation of Valentine’s Day even here in New Zealand. It places unnecessary pressure on singles and couples. And it places unnecessary emphasis on a single day, which isn’t enough. Love and marriage are for a lifetime, not a day.
My absolute favourite real-life setting is Hobbiton, which has the curious distinction of being a made-up setting (in 
And one final favourite setting is Aberystwyth, Wales, the main setting for A Song Unheard by Roseanna M White. Why Aberystwyth? Because it’s where I was born, and it’s a unique setting. I haven’t spent much time in the city, as I left Wales and emigrated to New Zealand as a pre-schooler. So I enjoyed seeing it through the eyes of Roseanna M White’s fictional characters.
