Move Over, All-American Girl. The British Heroine Has Arrived in American Small-Town Romance.

In this blog post, I write about why I don't think there are enough British heroines in small-town romances. I find a lot of US-based small-town romances include US-born heroines. Sometimes, the heroine grew up in the town, and regardless of whether she has lived there all her life or just come back for a visit, she already knows how everything works. But with British heroines, we get to see what happens when you drop someone into that world who doesn’t know the rules at all. That's what my lakeside romance novel, The Cherry Blossom Boathouse, explores!

There is a very specific heroine type that American small-town romance does brilliantly. You know the one. She’s either the hometown girl who never really left or the big-city woman returning to reconnect with her roots, usually carrying emotional baggage and excellent knitwear or jeans. She already knows everyone in town, everyone knows her business, and at least one elderly neighbour has opinions about whether she’s eating enough.

She’s usually always American and I love her dearly.

But I also think small-town romance needs more British heroines because, once you drop a British woman into an American small town, I feel like the novel has a bit of a different vibe.

So why do we need more British heroines in US-based romance novels? 

The small-town details a British romance heroine can’t ignore 

For a start, a British heroine will notice things the locals have stopped seeing. She walks into the general store like she’s entered a film set. She finds town festivals genuinely fascinating. She cannot believe people bring casseroles around when you’re having a tough time.

To the people who’ve lived there forever, those things are normal. To her, they’re extraordinary (okay, I know some parts of the UK, you'll have people doing this but it feels so rare now!).

And because she’s seeing the town with fresh eyes, we readers do too.

How a British heroine uses humour to dodge feelings in a small-town romance

And then there’s the humour. 

British women like me tend to respond to emotional overwhelm with dry commentary and low-level mortification. It’s practically cultural instinct. Which means when a new found friend or the owner of an all American small town café asks: “How are you settling in?”

a British heroine is unlikely to say: “Oh, everyone’s been so welcoming.”

The response from Sophie, my heroine Brit in The Cherry Blossom Boathouse, is actually:

“Let’s see. I’ve nearly drowned, been rescued by the grumpiest man in America, and apparently become the star of the town’s rumour mill. All before noon. Honestly, though? It’s rather refreshing after London. There, you could probably set yourself on fire on the tube and everyone would just politely pretend not to notice.” 

She’s overwhelmed and very aware she’s become a local spectacle. American romance heroines often wear their emotions more openly, which absolutely works. But British heroines tend to circle around feelings instead. They deflect and minimise. And if they’re like me, they tend to make jokes just when sincerity would probably be healthier.

And yet deep down, she’s also moved by how much these people care.

It's that push-pull dynamic that can feel incredibly satisfying in romance because the emotional payoff takes longer to crack open.

There’s also the question of rules.

The traditional small-town heroine usually understands the social codes already. She knows who’s related to who, which diner booth belongs to which retired fisherman and how seriously everyone takes the annual town festival.

A British heroine doesn’t always know these things, which means she might break unspoken rules without meaning to. She might ask inappropriate questions, or she accidentally insults local traditions (that dry British humour, remember!) Sophie in The Cherry Blossom Boathouse for example treats the town’s deeply beloved cherry blossom blessing ceremony with the cautious scepticism of someone who suspects they may have wandered into a very wholesome cult.

I reckon that friction gives a small-town romance something a bit different.

That 'opposites attracts' dynamic in small-town romance

Speaking of friction(wriggles eyebrows suggestively), that contrast creates a completely different emotional texture to the romance, too. Especially when you put her opposite the classic gruff American hero who communicates primarily through prolonged eye contact, repairing things silently and saying “you should eat something” in a voice that betrays the affection he is trying hard to keep inside. Take this passage from the book:

Luke grunted, but his mind was already replaying the way she’d squared up to him in the café, all fire and British indignation. The memory of that spark in her brown eyes, the slight catch in her accent when she’d gotten angry – it had hit him hard, made him want to push her buttons just to see what else that pretty exterior was hiding. He took another swig of beer, trying to cool down thoughts that had no business heating up.

So where can you find British heroines in small-town romances? 

Obviously, I have to mention my own Solace Springs series. Brit Sophie arrives in Solace Springs, a small lakeside town in the Pacific Northwest, falls into the lake within ten minutes and immediately starts arguing with the grumpy local boat captain about paint colours. Before long, she somehow ends up turning a derelict boathouse into the community bookshop the town didn’t know it needed. So if you’ve never read a British heroine in a small American town before, this is your invitation.

The Cherry Blossom Boathouse is out in the UK on 16 May and the US on 24 May.