When I decided to set my gothic romance series in Charleston, SC, it was with sort of a vague, romantic  notion.  Driving through the area, on our north-to-south migration from Ohio to Florida migration, we’d driven through the area countless times, and I’d fallen in love with the salt flats, and the beauty of it all.

We’d vacationed in the Outer Banks, stayed in Beaufort area a few times, and driven down all along the coast, even staying in Savannah for a weekend.  But we’d never actually visited Charleston.  So we made plans to stay there for a few days, check out the city, and the surrounding area where I’d set my book, and Logan and Ian’s story began.

Walking the city gave me a great feel for the pace, the size, the history and the culture of it.  I loved the grandness of the homes, and the expanse of the water, the way the old mixed seamlessly with the new, and the effort made to preserve the history.

We stayed at the Belmond, located on Meeting Street, right downtown.  Great location which later became a setting for a couple of chapters in book 2.

St. Michael’s graveyard, where my ancestor, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (signer of the US Constitution) is buried.

The lone of old mansions that face the Battery on Charleston Harbor.

Model for Nathan De Forest’s house in book 2, (2 Meeting Street Inn, B&B)

Cobblestone streets

The Angel Oak- estimated to be 1500 years old, it predates Charleston by at least  1,100 years.