Guest post by Darlene Panzera Author of The Cupcake Diaries

Romancing the Readers welcomes Darlene Panzera. We thank her for taking the time to visit with us. I hope you'll take a minute to read her post. Thanks Darlene! Happy reading!

Love and Local Landmarks

Thank you for having me here today! I am very excited to share with you my new series - THE CUPCAKE DIARIES: Sweet on You, Recipe for Love, and Taste of Romance. I write sweet, fun-loving romance and in these 3 short, light-hearted novellas Andi, her sister, Kim, and their friend Rachel follow their dream to open a cupcake shop and find true love!

In all three of these novellas I have included as much local history, events, and local landmarks as I can to draw the reader into the story and make them feel as if they are there with the characters. Astoria is about 4 hours away from where I live in the Northwest, but I have taken several trips down there to talk to people, take photos, and...taste cupcakes! Yum!

Last time I visited, I took my family on the Astoria Riverfront Trolley featured in Book 2 - Recipe for Love. In the story Rachel, Andi, and Kim scramble to find enough change in their purses for the one dollar fare and climb aboard the antique 40 passenger trolley named "Old 300" to search for Rachel's heart-throb, Mike Palmer. They figure spotting him from the trolley is easier than running the 3 mile track along the Columbia River.

When they don't see him they get off and search on foot. When the trolley comes back past they need to step into one of the square wooden railed deck cut-outs so they do not get run over. Built in 1913, the trolley celebrates 100 years in Astoria and remains a key traditional landmark. Does Rachel ever catch up with the one she loves? You'll have to read ' Recipe for Love' to find out!

From the first time I rode the antique trolley with its fine wooden bench seats and volunteer conductors dressed in traditional attire spouting the local history of the area, I knew I had to have Andi, Rachel, and Kim ride the trolley in a key pivotal scene. I thought to myself, "What fun!"

Have you ever been on a trolley? What historical landmarks do find most interesting in your town? I look forward to your comments and hope you enjoy reading the series!