TRAVEL WITH SERENA -- GUEST TRAVELER, AUTHOR CARIDAD PINEIRO

Today we welcome back NY Times bestselling author Caridad Pineiro to talk about one of her favorite places, the Jersey shore. Caridad is the author of over twenty-six paranormal romance and romantic suspense novels and novellas. Her popular THE CALLING vampire series returns in 2012. THE FIFTH KINGDOM, a romantic suspense, was just released, and THE LOST, the first book in her new SIN HUNTERS paranormal romance series arrives in August. Caridad has also written the foreword for OBSESSED: EROTIC ROMANCE FOR WOMEN edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel which will be available in August 2011.  Her popular THE CALLING vampire series returns in 2012, but vampire lovers will enjoy A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS (October 2011) which includes Caridad's novella, WHEN HERALD ANGELS SING. For more information on Caridad, visit her website.  -- AP

When I created the concept for THE LOST, the first book in my paranormal SIN HUNTERS series, I had no doubt that I wanted to set the book in one of my favorite places:  the Jersey Shore.

I know that by now you’ve probably had a look at the show by that name, but the real Jersey Shore is nothing like that.  It’s one hundred and thirty miles of beaches and towns which each have their unique flavor.

For THE LOST, I chose a stretch of shoreline that runs from the southern town of Sea Girt to the more northern locations of Asbury Park.  In that gap of about ten or so miles, there are several interesting and lovely towns and today I’m going to share some of them with you!

Bradley Beach is a family-friendly area with a non-commercial boardwalk.  That means that you can stroll near the ocean without all the hubbub of rides and shops crowding the beauty of nature.

Here’s a photo of the Bradley Beach Centennial Fountain located along their boardwalk.  You can stroll along here with your family, play a game of mini-golf or maybe bocce. 

Relax and savor the sea air in one of Bradley’s many gazebos or sit and listen to one of the regular free concerts offered at the main gazebo on Fifth Avenue

In THE LOST, the heroine’s family lives in Bradley Beach while she has a nearby condo in lovely Ocean Grove, also known as God’s Little Square Mile.  Ocean Grove was founded in 1869 as a Victorian-era Methodist camp meeting site.  The town is filled with lovely Victorian architecture, a bustling Main Avenue and the unusual tent city in and around the Great Auditorium.

 

For nightlife along this stretch of the Jersey Shore, the place to go is Asbury Park which is undergoing a renaissance.  New stores and restaurants as well as renovations to the Convention Center and Paramount Theatre are making the Asbury Park boardwalk the place to be at night.  Some areas still require repair, but despite that, they are equally interesting.

I love walking through the shell of the Casino building in the early morning and seeing the grandeur of Asbury Park’s past.  I loved this location so much that a pivotal action scene in the second book in the SIN HUNTER series, THE CLAIMED (May 2012) takes place in the bowels of this old building.

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this trip to the Jersey Shore with me and that you’ll take the time to visit some day soon.  All of these towns can be easily reached by car, bus and train and will truly give you a taste of the real Jersey Shore.

Thank you, Caridad! And for those of you unfamiliar with Asbury Park, it's also to home of the Stone Pony where Bruce Springsteen got his start.  Readers, have you ever been to the Jersey shore? Let's hear from you. Post a comment to be entered in the drawing for a free book from our Book Club Friday author this week. -- AP