Today we give a warm welcome to author Leta Blake visiting Love Bytes to talk about her newest release “Training Complex”.
Leta discusses the product placement in her books.
She also brought a wonderful giveaway to our readers!
Welcome Leta 🙂

Today I’m here to talk about product placement in my books. Product placement isn’t for every book or every character. Sometimes dropping a song title or a product into the scene doesn’t tell us anything about the characters and only serves to date the book. In the case of Matty Marcus, however, I think that a certain amount of product placement does help to shape the character and story in many important ways. With that in mind, I dropped brand names, song titles, and other references throughout Training Complex as a way to demonstrate Matty’s taste, and, in turn, to expand on the kind of person he is.

While there are many references dropped in the book, below are three I’ve chosen to explore today.

1) #GETITRIGHT by Miley Cyrus https://youtu.be/pJydWE4XhpM

One of the opening scenes of the book features Matty getting ready for work while dancing around to this song. Matty is definitely a diva and, as such, has an appreciation for other divas, especially those who push people’s buttons. He’s a pretty big Miley fan, if only because she makes people squirm. This song, with it’s blatantly sexual lyrics, fits the overtly sexual tone of the book, and, especially, the trajectory of Matty’s character. There’s some foreshadowing here.

2) Giuseppe Zanotti gold metallic leather high tops (http://www.forzieri.com/mens-shoes/giuseppe-zanotti/zt860115-008-00)

In another crucial scene, we see Matty wearing the above shoe. Not only is it a very ridiculous shoe, but it is $1,125. To someone into fashion, the way Matty (or Elliot) would be, the brand name would tell them all they needed to know about the individual’s taste and the price. I tried to use brand names when Matty talked about his clothes, but rarely when Rob talked about clothes. They are different men with different value systems, especially on this front.

3) Who Swallowed a Star by Shiro Cosmetics (http://femmefatalecosmetics.com.au/shop/who-swallowed-a-star/)

In another scene, Matty puts on lip gloss and tells his friend that the name of the color is Who Swallowed a Star. Now, this is a pretty layered reference for me. First, I think Matty would wear the color because it’s pretty on almost everyone, and also because I believe he would get the reference to the movie version of Howl’s Moving Castle. For anyone familiar with the character of Howl from the movie or book, you might see that he could easily be Matty’s familiar. He’s vain, he’s dramatic, he’s a drama queen who is into fashion, he’s often selfish, and both immensely talented and a squanderer of that talent. And in the end he loves with all the power of a star.

BONUS: Mad Men.

So far, we’ve talked about Matty. In another important scene, we have Rob watching Mad Men, a show known for exploration of masculinity, of the crisis of male identity, and of power dynamics in relationships. We also have Rob admit that while most people love Don Draper, he has a hard-on for early-seasons Pete Campbell. I think that says a lot about Rob’s taste in men! 😀 One thing I always noticed about Pete is that he was an asshole, but he was an honest asshole. I don’t mean that he told the truth all the time, but there was no attempt on his part to disguise the fact that he was selfish.

And, yes, that’s how much thought I give these things! Way too much, I’m sure!

Blurb:

Buckle up – Matty’s back!

Figure skater Matty Marcus didn’t capture Olympic gold, but he won rancher Rob Lovely’s heart.

After Rob sold his ranch and Matty hung up his skates, they started a new life together in New York City. Now Matty has taken on a fresh challenge as a figure skating coach, and Rob’s second career as a physical therapist should be everything he’s dreamed of. But in the brutal heat of their third summer in the city, Rob yearns for the wide-open country, and the intensity of city life awakens Matty’s demons.

Matty asks for increasingly intense BDSM scenes, and his disordered eating and erratic behavior ramp up the stakes. Rob struggles to stay in control, and after a well-intentioned anniversary gift goes awry, he still thinks he can handle the fallout. But the concrete jungle is closing in and his coping skills are unraveling.

Their love is deep, but Rob will have to admit the truth about what he really wants before they both tumble into chaos.

Buy links:

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iTunes

Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.

Leta kindly offers a copy of one of her backlist titles to one Lucky winner

leave a comment to enter!