I welcome Mila McWarren to the blog today!
I spent a lot of time trying to avoid that in this book while still maintaining enough tension for it to be an engrossing, interesting read. I wanted it to feel inevitable and comfortable and glowing, but something that you got to watch happen, a warm, glorious pleasure that you got to share in just by following along. The goal was to build a romance that didn't have to overcome massive, overwhelming obstacles, but that was still interesting to watch settle into place. Just like, I think, most of the relationships that most of us eventually settle into. Life is hard enough, and I think most of us just want to be happy without running a relationship obstacle course. We want people that fit into our lives, not people who we have to earn.
Blurb:
Right
around the time of our 10th anniversary, I went to see Love Actually with my husband – this was
long enough ago that it was a new theatrical release at the time. By the time
the movie was over, I was pissed – like, actually, really completely pissed
off. I still get pissed off when I think about that movie.
The
reason is because the film advertised itself as being about all kinds of love
stories, but what it left out is what happens when it's easy and it works and
you're so damn happy to keep falling in love with each other. As somebody who
was celebrating 10 years of marriage and who was really very damn happy about
it (it's been 21 years now and I'm still disgustingly happy), I felt cheated
and a little left out – you might remember that the only longterm couple in the
film is not doing particularly well.
I have
always felt like there is a lot of beauty and pleasure in not just the coming
together but the staying together –
the kind of sweet, everyday happiness that that kind of endurance can bring.
The
problem, of course, is that it can make for a REALLY boring story. We like
first times, we like stories about getting together, and the
will-they-won't-they drama is the driving force behind a romance. There needs
to be peril, and threats – the best romances, the ones we know best and that
have set the patterns for the genre, are the ones where our heroes overcome
obstacles both external (geography! Other people! Work!) and internal (fear of
vulnerability and intimacy! Being an immature jackass!) to be together. (Okay,
I admit it: I just described the plot of Pride
and Prejudice.)
I spent a lot of time trying to avoid that in this book while still maintaining enough tension for it to be an engrossing, interesting read. I wanted it to feel inevitable and comfortable and glowing, but something that you got to watch happen, a warm, glorious pleasure that you got to share in just by following along. The goal was to build a romance that didn't have to overcome massive, overwhelming obstacles, but that was still interesting to watch settle into place. Just like, I think, most of the relationships that most of us eventually settle into. Life is hard enough, and I think most of us just want to be happy without running a relationship obstacle course. We want people that fit into our lives, not people who we have to earn.
It is…
okay, honestly? It's really fucking hard to do that! I'm not sure how well I
hit the mark; I'm also not sure how much people want to read that. But I want to read it, and I really, really wanted to write it.
And so
that's how this story is different from the rest. When we read a romance novel,
we all know they're going to end up together – it's the rule of the form. This
story isn't interested in the things that keep people apart. This story is
interested in the things that draw them together, inexorably and inevitably, and
in watching what happens as both of them settle into that and learn to build
something new together.
I hope
you'll give it a try, and I hope you like it!
Thanks
for having me on Book Reviews, Rants and Raves today!
Blurb:
When New
York-based memoirist Aaron Wilkinson gathers with his high school friends to
marry off two of their own, he is forced to spend a week with Nik, the boy who broke
his heart.
As they settle
into the Texas beach house where the nuptials will be performed, Nik quickly
makes his intentions clear: he wants Aaron back. "He's coming hard,
baby," a friend warns, setting the tone for a week of transition where
Aaron and Nik must decide if they are playing for keeps.
Pages or Words: 256 pages
Categories: Contemporary, Gay fiction, M/M Romance, New
Adult, Romance
Excerpt:
Aaron finishes the song and Stephanie snatches the
mic out of his hand, crooks her finger at Nik and launches them into a reprise
of their performance of "Dancing on My Own" from the homecoming
weekend they all spent here at the house back in senior year. Stephanie still
has questionable rhythm and tragic pitch—she loves to sing, which is why they
have a karaoke machine in this house, but it's one thing she will admit she
doesn't have much of a gift for—but there's a reason Nik majored in music at The
University of Texas, and his voice has come a long way.
Somehow, this deliberate throwback to a memory that
was never anything but happy seems different than what Aaron has just done. He
sits on the sofa, flanked by Alex and Jasmine, hating them both a little for
participating in it even while he smiles. Nik dances—how can you not, with this song—but he still watches
Aaron, gives him a little head-tilt during the chorus, and it's charming and
devastating and infuriating.
Jasmine leans to murmur, "Oh, I see how it
is."
"Oh, shut up."
"You
might not be desperate, but I'm not sure about him. He's coming hard,
baby."
Sales Links:
About the
author:
Mila McWarren
grew up in Texas, but has happily made her home on the East Coast for the last
decade. In her day job she works as a social scientist and has spent the last
10 years developing her fiction writing online. She lives with her husband and
their two kids. When she isn't using working, writing, or hanging out with her
family, she likes knitting and watching television, because they go together
like peanut butter and chocolate, two of her other great loves.
Where to find the author:
Twitter:
@milamcwarren
Tumblr:
milamcwarren.tumblr.com
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover
Artist: C.B. Messer
Tour Dates & Stops: July 7 – July 20, 2015
7-Jul
8-Jul
9-Jul
10-Jul
13-Jul
14-Jul
15-Jul
16-Jul
17-Jul
20-Jul
Rafflecopter
Prize: One $25 Interlude Press gift card. Five e-book copies of ‘The Luckiest’
a Rafflecopter giveaway
