Hi, I’m Selina Kray, and this is the latest stop on my blog tour for In Wild Lemon Groves, my new contemporary M/M romance set in Amalfi, Italy. A big thanks to the kind folks at Love Bytes for hosting me!
As one of my favorite authors, Cat Sebastian, tweeted just the other day, it’s vital to a book’s success that you surround your main characters with friends, relatives, co-workers, etc. Families they’re born with and ones they find for themselves. Most of the fun of contemporary novels are these interactions. The “should they or shouldn’t they” debates over the worthiness of a love interest. The drama that family chaos and tragedy inspires. The opportunity to show a different side of your MC, since we are not the same people amongst friends that we are at work or with a lover.
In contemporary romance, the supporting characters often make or break a novel. Something has to replace the mystery, paranormal threat, or history-related obstacle to drive the plot, and that something is the personal circumstances both MCs find themselves in. Even when a novel revolves around a mental or physical condition, what kind of support system and/or lack thereof your MC has reflects how they are going to overcome the problem. Lone wolf characters are common, but it’s unrealistic (and way less entertaining) to have both protagonists going it alone. Not-so secret secret: secondary characters are often the most fun to write.
My point-of-view protagonist in In Wild Lemon Groves, Seb, is traveling on his own, trying to get his groove back three years after the death of his husband. Though he starts the trip off alone, I knew he couldn’t stay that way. I took inspiration from my real-life vacation to Amalfi and had Seb befriend three single ladies staying in the same villa apartments. They ended up taking on a life of their own, always there to give Seb love advice, a shoulder to cry on, and buckets of free espresso. Not to mention their communal love affair with gin and tonics.
Neither In Wild Lemon Groves or Seb would be the same without Kath, Ceri, and Maya. They are the life of the party, and you are most definitely invited.
A telltale knock on a quiet winter night is a sound no husband wants to hear.
Sébastien Osaki has spent the past three years surviving the loss of his beloved Henry. When Seb lands in Amalfi, Italy, for their would-have-been tenth-anniversary trip, he’s haunted by the memory of the man he loved. Following Henry’s notebook leads him to some breathtaking coastal views but also right back to his despair. Seb’s there to get his groove back, not let the past wrong-foot him at every turn.
Enter Andrea Sorrentino, chauffeur, part-time pet whisperer, a Bernini statue in a soccer tee and tight shorts. From the moment Andrea picks Seb up from the airport, he knows just how to soothe Seb’s case of the sulks. But Seb isn’t sure he’s ready for Mr. Right Now, let alone a potential Mr. Right, in a part of the world where all roads lead back to Henry.
Can sun, sea, and eating your weight in pasta mend a tragedy-stricken heart? Will wine-soaked Amalfi nights and long walks through lemon groves work their magic on Seb’s wounded soul? Or will he slink back into the shell of his grief once his grand Italian adventure is over?
February 8 – The Novel Approach
February 9 – Booklove
February 10 – Gay Book Reviews
February 12 – MM Good Book Reviews
February 13 – Hearts On Fire Reviews, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words
February 14 – My Fiction Nook
February 16 – Love Bytes Reviews
February 17 – Open Mind For A Different View
February 19 – Mirrigold: Mutterings & Musings, Sarandipity Book Reviews
Selina Kray is the nom de plume of an author and English editor. Professionally she has covered all the artsy-fartsy bases, having worked in a bookstore, at a cinema, in children’s television, and in television distribution, up to her latest incarnation as a subtitle editor and grammar nerd (though she may have always been a grammar nerd). A self-proclaimed geek and pop culture junkie who sometimes manages to pry herself away from the review sites and gossip blogs to write fiction of her own, she is a voracious consumer of art with both a capital and lowercase A.
Selina’s aim is to write genre-spanning romances with intricate plots, complex characters, and lots of heart. Whether she has achieved this goal is for you, gentle readers, to decide. At present she is hard at work on future novels at home in Montreal, Quebec, with her wee corgi serving as both foot warmer and in-house critic.
If you’re interested in receiving Selina’s newsletter and being the first to know when new books are released, plus getting sneak peeks at upcoming novels, please sign up at her website: www.selinakray.net
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Thank you so much for hosting! You’re a star!
I saw this on another blog and immediately knew it was a book I’d want to read!