State of Romance: Oceans of love stories in Rhode Island
On this day in 1893, the U.S. Navy establishes the rank of chief petty officer (CPO). The USS Missouri, moored in Pearl Harbor, houses the CPO Legacy Center where I recall a quote, "Every officer in the Navy has been trained by a CPO." Forty-six CPOs have been awarded the Medal of Honor, including George Bradley:
For meritorious service under fire on the occasion of the landing of the American naval forces at Vera Cruz in 1914. C.G. Bradley was then attached to the U.S.S. Utah, as a chief gunner's mate, and was in charge of the ammunition party and special details at Vera Cruz.
Bradley is buried in Middletown, Rhode Island, near Naval Station Newport. In honor of CPOs, we visit Rhode Island, the Ocean State.
Rhode Island's windswept landscape is the perfect locale to fall in love with contemporary romance, including Joyce Livingston's Rhode Island Weddings, Erin Duffy's On the Rocks, Marie Force's The Fall, Shelley Noble's Breakwater Bay and Dee Holmes' Coming Home.
New England denizen Luanne Rice sets her own series in Newport, the City by the Sea, with The Geometry of Sisters and The Deep Blue Sea for Beginners.
Brown graduate Miranda Jarrett explores Rhode Island's history in Mariah's Prize and Steal the Stars. The Gilded Age inspires Daisy Goodwin's The American Heiress, Nikki Poppen's Newport Summer and Penelope Williamson's The Passions of Emma.
The Gilded Age also inspires cozy mystery in its glorious mansions with Alyssa Maxwell's Murder at the Breakers, Murder at Marble House and Murder at Beechwood. Mary Kruger ventures to Newport's famous seaside trail with Death on the Cliff Walk: A Gilded Age Mystery.
For contemporary mystery, dive into Anne-Marie Sutton's Murder Stalks a Mansion, Charlotte Elkins' Nasty Breaks, Mary-Ann Tirone Smith's She's Not There and Mary Higgins Clark's Moonlight Becomes You.
Add to the list of romance books set in Rhode Island by using #StateOfRomance on Twitter. Next week we visit South Carolina, the Palmetto State.
Kim Lowe is an Air Force veteran, Air Force spouse and romance book blogger at SOS Aloha. You can reach her at sos.aloha@yahoo.com.