Imagine two scenarios...
Your heroine is walking home alone at night after putting in some forced overtime at a hated desk job.
It is dark, windy.
The streetlights flicker, casting strange shadows upon the pavement.
She feels herself being followed, looks behind her, sees nothing but picks up her pace, her navy blue heels click clicking against the concrete sidewalk.
And Your heroine is walking home alone at night after putting in some forced overtime as Snow White at some spoiled rich kid's birthday party.
It is dark, windy.
The mouse shaped streetlights flicker, making distorted Mickey Mouse shadows dance upon the cobblestones.
She feels herself being followed, looks behind her, sees nothing but picks up her pace, her red sparkle shoes click clicking against the cheery yellow sidewalk.
Quite a different feel to each, isn't there? What was the only difference? Location.
The first, based in New York City, sets up the reader for a dark, paranormal romance.
The second, set in a Disney environment, makes the reader expect a lighter romance, perhaps even a comedy.
Location is very important, as important as your hero and heroine.
It sets expectations and mood.
A different setting can completely change a novel.
The easiest location to write is your hometown.
You know the sights, sounds, and smells (yes, smells, every town smells different) of that location.
The most challenging is the place you've never visited.
It requires extension research if you wish to capture the location's true personality.
Thanks to the internet, that research is easier.
You can take virtual tours and email locals (contacting someone from the Mayor's office or the local tourism board is a great place to start).
I don't like to overload readers with the location's unique characteristics.
Many readers use their own experiences as a base so a sprinkling of local flavor is enough.
The location also shouldn't steal the show from the romance.
It is there to help the romance plot along, not hinder it.