This month’s #RomanceClass Take Three Project will take you away to places you’ve never been, or have been, but want to go back to–through Filipino-authored romances! In this post, five authors share their favorite places, as seen in #romanceclass books. I have provided links to the books as well, in case any of them piques your interest.
Ready? Jet set? GO!
Jay’s Take Three
Book Title/Author: Chasing Mindy / Carla de Guzman
Location: Paris
Why I like to visit: All the lights and all the bread, seriously. Carla’s books are like mini vacations around the globe and the Paris where Chasing Mindy took me is one I would really love to see.
Book Title/Author: When Sparks Fly / Ines Bautista-Yao
Location: Silay, Bacolod
Why I like to visit: Ancestral houses and chicken inasal. The way Ines wrote about Silay in this book is just full of love and awe. How can I not want to go? Also I mentioned the chicken inasal already, right? Right.
Book Title/Author: Bucket List to Love / C.P. Santi
Location: Japan
Why you like to visit: I will take any excuse to keep going back to this country, and CP Santi’s side of Tokyo is something I need to see for myself, from the University of Tokyo grounds to the dessert buffet and all the stops of Aya’s bucket list. Better if with a Ryo of my own, just putting it out there.
Jay E. Tria is the author of The Playlist Series, Majesty, and You Out of Nowhere.
Ben’s Take Three
Book Title/Author: Cover [Story] Girl / Chris Mariano
Location: Boracay
Why I like to visit: First reason is I’ve never been. I’ve heard lots of wonderful stories of this beautiful beach and I would like to be able to experience it firsthand. It won’t be the same Boracay anymore (bec of a lot of ~things) but I’m happy Chris was able to creates something like a snapshot of the Boracay she loved and how Gio and Min Hee’s story flourished in that Boracay.
Book Title/Author: Sweeter by the Second (from Maybe This Time: Stories of Love & Second Chances) / C. P. Santi
Location: Jimenez, Misamis Occidental
Why I like to visit: C.P. Santi’s vivid descriptions of Jimenez are enough to make me want to pack my bags and live there for a long while! Haha! This was the first time I’ve heard about the place in such a heartfelt way, you could really tell the author’s love for it even in just a short story. It also reminded me so much of my father’s hometown in the neighboring Gingoog City, and made me miss the summers we’d have family vacations there.
Book Title/Author: All’s Fair in Blog and War / Chrissie Peria
Location: Macau
Why I like to visit: The premise of this book is a romance that starts at a sponsored trip for travel writers and ugh, I want to do all the things Five did in Macau (including falling in love, of course!) I love the parts where the touristy and non-touristy things are shown bec it adds to the experience of having really lived in Macau even for just a few days.
Bonus book: Carla De Guzman’s short ‘Up All Night’ has lovely scenes in Macau, too! *I know I’m supposed to rec only three but I couldn’t help it! LOL! It’s still three locations so I didn’t overdo it so much, right?
H. Bentham is the author of The Other Story, from the Start Here anthology.
Stella’s Take Three
Book Title/Author: Chasing Mindy / Carla de Guzman
Location: Paris
Why I like to visit: If I had my way, this whole entire list would be filled with Carla’s books (especially Midnights in Bali, Marry Me Charlotte B! and even The Queen’s Game) but if I had to pick one I’d go with The City of Lights. I love how this book does away with the touristy glamour of Paris in favor of simpler pleasures: quaint bookstores, convenience-store burgers, free breakfast buffets.
Book Title/Author: Bucket List to Love / C.P. Santi
Location: Tokyo
Why I like to visit: Another author I admire a lot for her attention to detail is C. P. Santi, whose books have a tendency to immerse you in the environment where the action takes place. I just read Bucket List recently, and like Chasing Mindy I fell in love with the portrayal of Tokyo from the graduate student’s point of view—cafés (again with the food), temples, modern architecture.
Book Title/Author: All’s Fair in Blog and War / Chrissie Peria
Location: Macau
Why I like to visit: Tandem bungee jumping, egg tarts, nighttime walks at church facades—you’ll want to do everything that the bloggers in this book end up doing (and eating) during their press junket in Macau. Just make sure that you trust the people that you travel with while you’re there!
Stella Torres is the author of Save the Cake and Crushingly Close.
Angel’s Take Three
Book Title/Author: Chasing Mindy / Carla de Guzman
Location: Paris, France
Why I like to visit: I enjoyed roaming around Paris with Mindy and Javier. It’s the perfect setting for romance and adventure! I also loved how Carla described places like Monet’s Garden and the Sainte-Chapelle. It definitely made me want to go there.
Book Title/Author: Promdi Heart: Hometown Love Stories / Georgette S. Gonzales, Agay Llanera, Chris Mariano, C.P. Santi, Jay E. Tria, and Ines Bautista-Yao
Location: Various Philippine provinces
Why I like to visit: I loved how this book showcased different Philippine provinces. I particularly enjoyed Ines’s story, “Letters About A Boy”—it made me want to visit Silay and go horseback riding (preferably with a cute, hazel-eyed Negrense!).
Book Title/Author: Bucket List to Love / C.P. Santi
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Why I like to visit: Japan is one of my favorite countries of all time so I was thrilled to pick up this book! It was fun reading about how Aya visited different places, learned about the language and culture, ate a lot of food, and of course, fell in love with Ryo. <3
Angel C. Aquino is the author of Love at First Run.
Brij’s Take Three
Book Title/Author: The Queen’s Game / Carla de Guzman and The Future Chosen / Mina V. Esguerra
Location: Cincamarre / Isla
Why I like to visit: The real world sucks balls sometimes, what with the daily barrage of bad news. Somebody take me to near-utopian states Cincamarre or Isla, where I don’t have to worry about food or health care. Everyone is so nice (except the person who shot our home girl Lourdes) and everything is so orderly (except Felipe and Nina in the fields, hehehe, but that’s a good kind of mess). I bet I can walk in the middle of the night around Cincamarre or Isla, and not have to worry for my life.
Book Title/Author: What Kind of Day / Mina V. Esguerra
Location: See This Manila Tour
Why I like to visit: Where in Manila are these pit stops? Show me! I promise I won’t gatecrash the waitlist, and make a proper reservation. I want that Grade A food, a leisurely stroll in an art museum, and meeting Calinda (who sounds like such a boss). Also, also, also, I want to see with my own eyes how Naya navigates Manila traffic and manages to arrive at each pit stop en punto.
Book Title/Author: If The Dress Fits / Carla de Guzman
Location: Aguas family gatherings
Why I like to visit: This family serves good food with a side of family drama, and I’m here for it. Tsokolate (bet your last hundred pesos they make it de batirol) and ensaymada and cheese hopias. I mean, come on, what’s a girl gotta do to get an invite to an Aguas family brunch or dinner? Let me know.
Brij Bautista is the author of Don’t Tell My Mother and
Lemon Drop Friday, from the Start Here anthology.
That’s it for August’s Take Three! Many thanks to the readers and authors who responded to this month’s prompt. <3 Are you looking forward to more? I think next month’s Take Three will be really fun.
Stay tuned!
