The only one I can suggest for the Nordic is non-fiction: My Year of Living Danishly. It was good; very interesting if that sort of memoir appeals to you. Oh, I also know of a cozy mystery if you get desperate. :)
For set in Australia that's romance... I'm not sure if you can still find it (might be available as an ebook?) but Dog Handling by Clare Naylor is pure romance/chick-lit and it's set in Sydney. It's light and fluffy but not novella length. I know of a couple of others, but they're cozy mysteries.
My nordic was a vintage gothic romance that was awful, so don't recommend it. For the Down Under, my choices were Kate Morton or Liane Moriarty. Neither write books that are fluffy, exactly, or maybe strictly romance genre, now that I think of it, but they aren't dark or difficult reads, either.
I don't have any suggestions, but I'm going to follow this post to see what kind of recommendations there might be. I, too, would like a more romance-themed book in these two categories.
Instead, I've found some crime thrillers set in some Nordic countries, and the one I'm considering reading is called 'The Ice Princess' by Camilla Lackberg, which is set in Sweden. I've read the first few pages of a sample, but I keep getting distracted, so I don't know if I'm going to continue.
Do you like Rose Tremain's writing? One of the books I'm contemplating for the "Nordic" square is her "Music and Silence," set in 17th century Denmark, at the court of King Christian IV. (Hmm. Then again ... It's a romance, but on second thought, it's probably too long and too dark for what you're looking for!)
I would have considered Babette´s Feast by Isaak Dinesen for this task. It´s a short novella about a french maid, who wins in the lottery and with the money she has won, she cooks a marvelous meal for the inhabitants of this small Norwegian town the story is set in. I have very fond memories of this novella and the movie is absolutely wonderful.
For set in Australia that's romance... I'm not sure if you can still find it (might be available as an ebook?) but Dog Handling by Clare Naylor is pure romance/chick-lit and it's set in Sydney. It's light and fluffy but not novella length. I know of a couple of others, but they're cozy mysteries.
Instead, I've found some crime thrillers set in some Nordic countries, and the one I'm considering reading is called 'The Ice Princess' by Camilla Lackberg, which is set in Sweden. I've read the first few pages of a sample, but I keep getting distracted, so I don't know if I'm going to continue.