Last Updated on June 2, 2021 by Natalie
Whether you love to travel or not, reading about faraway places is a great way to travel without leaving your house. The best writers can transport us and make us feel like we can see and even smell these wonderful places. Below are romance novels set abroad and they will help you quench your wanderlust. Or whet your appetite for your own romantic adventure abroad!
Table of Contents
Romance Novels Set Abroad
I love to travel, but being on the move constantly isn’t a sustainable lifestyle for me. So, I read! The novels below transported me to beautiful locations that have catapulted to the top of my “must see” list. I loved every novel on this list and I hope you will, too!
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Wanderlust Ignited
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Finding Fraser
by kc dyer
Emma Sheridan is heading towards a milestone birthday. She has also never had a man live up to her perfect ideal: Jamie Fraser from Outlander. Does it matter that he’s fictional? After being fired, Emma ends up embarking on a journey to Scotland, hoping to find HER Jamie Fraser. She also decides to blog about this journey.
If you didn’t want to visit Scotland before this, you’ll definitely want to afterwards. I know it’s a fictional story, but it is so much like a travel memoir. Emma also has so many travel mishaps, she reminds me of Lauren Juliff, author of the travel memoir How Not to Travel the World (which is an excellent story that should be widely read, too).
It’s an excellent piece of writing, an excellent and fun story, and I would happily read a sequel to this book. It is a romance, but it’s another one that is so well done and reads more like a love letter to Scotland, history, and of course, Outlander, than as a romance between people. It reminds me a lot of the movie Under the Tuscan Sun (because though it’s my favorite, I’ve committed the sin of not having read the memoir yet!)
Anyway, I loved this book. And dang it, now I desperately want to visit Scotland!
Read more romances that are more than “just a romance!”
I See London
by Chanel Cleeton
Maggie. Samir. Hugh. Fleur. And oh so much more. This is the college abroad novel I never knew that I needed.
Maggie Carpenter flies to London to start her first semester of college at the International School. First, she meets Samir, the University playboy. Next, she discovers that her roommate is the Ice Queen Fleur Marceaux. Nevermind that they are an item and Samir saw Maggie naked. Oops. What a way to start her University life.
But London is a good color on Maggie and she blossoms. Hell, she’s even dating Hugh, a totally posh older guy. From the incredible highs to the crappiest lows, she learns she can get through a lot during her first year of Uni.
Easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. This entire series of romance novels set abroad are absolutely worth reading in order.
London Falling
by Chanel Cleeton
Such a good book. What a sentence – it doesn’t tell you anything at all about the book, does it? I really enjoyed the second installment in the International School series. Again, it takes place mostly in London. Here, we get to see how Maggie and Samir go with their relationship (is there even a relationship??)
We learn that Samir is expected to return to Lebanon after graduation and marry the girl that his parents chose for him and carry on with the family business (politics, in this case).
Maggie is in her sophomore year at university. She has plans, too.
I really loved being immersed in this world at the International School, with Maggie, Fleur, Mya, Samir, George, Max, and everyone else we meet. It ignited such a longing to go back and do my college years over (but maybe abroad because I had really wanted to and didn’t) and maybe have a much better experience. Instead, I can read this series over and over at my leisure. Because I really wouldn’t change my current place in life for anything.
French Kissed
by Chanel Cleeton
This is the third book in the International School series and it is just as well written and interesting as the others. This is where we get to know Fleur Marceaux much better. I also highly recommend that this series is read in order – otherwise, you might hate Fleur. Because she’s gorgeous and knows it. However, after knowing so much about her from previous books, we know she’s far from perfect. And though her life has been easy financially, there are major parts that still suck.
Fleur is being blackmailed, trying to not flunk a class that would lead to her not graduating this year, and figure out her place in the world. As well as fighting the sparks she has with Max, her ex’s best friend. If we didn’t know Fleur so well already, we probably wouldn’t like her. Maybe we would miss her underlying vulnerability.
It’s a wonderful end to the series. I actually loved every book so much. Oh and yes, this is a steamy series.
The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight
by Jennifer E. Smith
Hadley Sullivan is a 17 year old girl embarking on a solo trip to London for her father’s wedding. She misses her flight by 4 minutes (isn’t that just airport life, though?). Of course, because of all the things that conspired to make her late, she meets Oliver, a British guy who is in college in the US. Oliver is also on his way home to London and now they are on the same flight. And the same row! The book takes place in a roughly 24 hour time frame, though we do discover much about Hadley and Oliver during their long flight to England.
Even though Hadley is acting in a way that might seem like a spoiled brat on the outside, we are given the resources to understand why she’s upset and doesn’t want to go to the wedding. She doesn’t want to meet her future stepmom. In fact, my anger at her family lasted longer than hers.
It’s a beautiful story of young love with a lot of character growth in a short time. I kind of miss Hadley now that I’ve finished the book. I want to see where her life goes from here. It’s a lovely, clean little romance that will appeal to many.
Just One Year
by Penelope Ward
Teagan Carroll isn’t really looking forward to having an exchange student spend an entire year living in her family’s house, but Bo Cheng was moving in anyway. On top of that, her sophomore year of college was off to a rough start, beginning with an episode in a bathroom with an infuriating British dude. It was a men’s bathroom, but still. She’d had a bathroom emergency.
Due to Bo Cheng’s unfortunate cat allergy, he is switched at the last minute with a different student. Teagan meets the new student and you guessed it, it’s the British guy. Caleb Yates.
An incredible story unfolds from here. Teagan keeps to herself in the beginning, trying to be the opposite of her mother who abandoned her as a baby. She doesn’t get close to her stepmother, who was her nanny in those early years. And she mostly ignores her little sister. Though Caleb annoyed me on their second interaction, it was a really important part of the book. After that, he settles in to being this amazingly hot, perfectly sensitive guy.
I almost gave up in the middle, because I was sure a trope was coming that would annoy me. However, the first half was so good that I plunged ahead. I was rewarded with a much better middle and ending than I anticipated. I found myself teary (in a good way) for the last 30% of the book. This book surprised me several times.
From Boston in the US, to exploring the English countryside, it’s a book sure to delight and ignite your wanderlust.
Love & Gelato
by Jenna Evans Welch
This is the first book in the Love & Gelato series. I accidentally read book 2 first! I will recommend reading this series in order, too.
Carolina “Lina” Emerson is off to Italy to meet her father, Howard, for the first time following the death of her mother. She’s given a journal of her mother’s, from her mom’s time in Italy 17 years prior. Lina finally starts reading it, wanting to know why her mom hadn’t told Howard about her existence.
She ends up wandering around Florence, trying to recreate her mother’s life, in a way. Eventually, she discovers that Howard might not be her father after all…
This is such a lovely, clean, grief-and-recovery romance. Though Lina is only 16, she’s wise beyond her years after experiencing the death of her mom. It’s a sad book, yes, but not so crazy awful that you’ll be bawling through it. I’m normally super sensitive about things and I didn’t cry. That doesn’t mean it isn’t moving or wonderful, because it is both of those things.
I absolutely recommend reading this lovely book and read it before reading the second book in the series (reviewed below). You’ll want to go live in Florence with her. I sure do!
Love & Luck
by Jenna Evans Welch
This is a clean romance set in Ireland. Our main character is a 16 year old, heartbroken girl, who ends up on a road trip with her older brother and his friend. A road trip for getting over a heartbreak, a lovely, innocent romance, and of course, seeing Ireland. The writing about Ireland is sublime and I can’t express how much I’d love to visit right now.
This is a great read, especially if you like clean, sweet romances. In fact, the romance is more of a background story and really sneaks up on the reader and Addie, the main character. The big feature of this book is getting over heartbreak on an epic road trip through Ireland. I would’ve loved to read this particular book back in the day when I was heartbroken beyond belief (though, I was already and adult by then). Maybe I’d have done what I dreamed and headed to Europe for an epic and healing trip.
This is book 2 in the Love & Gelato series.
Love & Olives
by Jenna Evans Welch
Love & Olives starts with meeting Liz Varanakis. She’s living with her mom in the US when suddenly, she’s told that she’s going to Greece to visit her father. Wouldn’t you be excited to be heading to Santorini? Liz probably would except her father left when she was 8 years old and she hasn’t seen him since. Once she arrives, she discovers that he isn’t even going to be the one who picks her up, instead sending Theo in his place.
Though Liz doesn’t want to become involved in her father’s search for Atlantis, those memories were the best of her youth and she reluctantly participates in a documentary about finding the long lost city.
I’ve always wanted to visit Greece and the islands in particular. If I hadn’t already been in lust with Santorini, I definitely would be after this book. The island is on full display and in it’s brilliant turquoise glory. Liz’s story is moving and I certainly shed some tears as I read along. Don’t miss this awesome third book in the series (standalone companions and they can be read in any order).
Anna and the French Kiss
by Stephanie Perkins
Anna is forced to attend a boarding school in Paris for her senior year of high school. Anna doesn’t want to go, but does try to make the best of an uncomfortable situation. Even though she’s upset to leave Atlanta, her best friend, Bridget, and potential live interest, Toph, she does give Paris a fair shot.
Once in Paris, she falls in with a group of people, including the handsome and charismatic Etiene St. Clair. St. Clair is dating a woman who attends university in Paris, but our lovely heroine falls for him anyway. While this story has similarities to the Chanel Cleeton books mentioned above, this novel doesn’t have any sex scenes. Even though we are dealing with somewhat mature high school students, we see a lot of character growth, strength in adversity (it’s HARD to move to another country when you want to do it), and a wonderful romance thrown in, too.
I really enjoyed this romance and it makes me imagine what it would’ve been like had I had enough gumption to spend a semester or year abroad in college, like I’d wanted. Also, if you liked I See London, London Falling, and French Kissed by Chanel Cleeton, this has a similar vibe, style of writing, and it’s almost like another sequel but without the steaminess.
Paris is Always a Good Idea
by Jenn McKinlay
Chelsea Martin is shocked when her father announces that he’s getting remarried to a woman he’s only known for two weeks. Chelsea is forced to confront an uncomfortable truth about herself: she hasn’t been able to move forward with her life since her mother’s death 7 years prior. Realizing that the last time she remembered being happy and feeling in love was when she was traveling during her gap year. That year, she’d fallen in love with a man in Ireland, a man in France, and finally, a man in Italy.
Chelsea decides to quit her job and find these men to try to remember what being in love felt like. Her plans are thrown a wrench in the form of her coworker and business rival, Jason Knightley. But is there more than meets the eye where Jason is concerned?
This book starts out rough. Chelsea’s father announces that he’s going to marry a woman he’s known only a few weeks – and Chelsea hasn’t even met her yet! Understandably, Chelsea reacts less than favorably, as any normal human being would do for a person they care for. It really irked me that her family gave her a guilt trip for reacting in a completely normal way – a way that shows she cares for the person making the decision.
Thankfully, I kept reading. I was gifted a beautiful story that included a tiny village in Ireland, the beautiful lights of Paris, and the stunning warmth of a vineyard in Tuscany. All the while, we are treated with a heroine who has a good head on her shoulders! We can journey around the world with Chelsea as she tries to rediscover herself.
Wanderlust Managed
Hopefully, these awesome romance novels and series have helped you managed your wanderlust for now. Though, for me, my wanderlust is just as much ignited as it is quenched. Right now, since I’m can’t travel, imagining new places is just as good. A bit of romance thrown in helps, too!
What are your favorite romance novels set abroad? Do you have a suggestion for me to review and add to this list? Feedback from my readers is the best! Please leave a comment.
