A warm welcome to author Cari Z. joining us today to talk about her new release Handle With Care.
Thanks for dropping by, Cari!
I have a soft spot for a road trip romance.
My characters travel a lot on my books. A lot. Maybe this is a side effect of enjoying a lot of travel myself, maybe it’s because moving people around is a convenient way to move a plot along sometimes, maybe I just enjoy the whimsical fun—and monotonous trials—of getting from Point A to Point B.
I’ve written road trip romances before, but they’ve always been intricately tied into my worldbuilding. I wrote a post-apocalyptic road trip that let me introduce my purple, people-eating zombies in an organic way. I wrote a paranormal road trip that let me look in on fortune tellers, medicine men, and sacred spirits along the path. Hell, I wrote a science fiction road trip that ended with my hero dragging his slowly-acidifying self across a vast, bioluminescent forest in an effort to get home. Fun times!
The road trip in Handle With Care is different, though. This is a contemporary novel, set in the now, and there are no special powers or ravenous zombies or murderous plants to contend with. It’s just Aaron and Tyler traveling from Tennessee to Kansas, short and sweet. So how do I make it into something interesting without throwing a bomb into the middle of the road? How do any of us tolerate road trips?
Step One: pick your fellow travelers carefully. Trying to get around in an enclosed space with someone you’re lukewarm about is a recipe for disaster. You’ll end up frosty as hell to each other or so hot under the collar you might as well be on fire.
Step Two: snacks. Snacks you both like. Snacks are a compromise, just like choosing the radio station or playlist. If you can handle their snacks, you’re more likely to handle your traveling companion well.
Step Three: seeing the sights along the way. Or not! Some people value efficiency more than anything else, and will straight-shot a journey from Denver to Chicago if it means saving a day of road time. Other people want to stop and visit the country’s biggest ball of twine, or marvel at the local petting zoo’s miraculous two-headed chicken. (I’m the second kind of road tripper, myself.)
Step Four: games. I know if I’m the one driving, and my road trip buddy decides to play the Slug Bug game out of the blue and starts punching my arm, I will lose it. If I’m not driving, it’s a different story. Know thy friends, know what they like to do, do not cross their boundaries.
In Handle With Care, Aaron and Tyler have never been on a road trip together, but they know each other well enough to work any kinks out along the way—including playing Tyler’s lewd-but-fun RV game (hint: it requires using the word “anal” a lot). What could have been a boring part of the book turned into a playful, exploratory one—at least, I think so. Read up and let me know if it worked 😀
Also, share your road trip games with me!
Blurb:
A fragile heart needs extra care.
Burned-out social worker Aaron McCoy is on vacation for the first time in years–boss’s orders. Road-tripping to his brother’s wedding with his best friend, Tyler, seems a fun way to spend the mandatory two-week leave, and they set out for Kansas–and a difficult homecoming.
Aaron’s mother was a drug addict, and his adorable younger brother was quickly adopted, while Aaron spent his childhood in foster care. As Aaron mends fences, Tyler hopes to show him that this time, he won’t be left behind to face his problems alone.
Aaron’s opening up to how right it feels to be with Tyler and to the possibility of taking the leap from friends to lovers. But along with the wedding celebration comes a painful reminder of the past. Aaron’s heart is still breakable. Can he put it in Tyler’s hands?
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Cari Z. is a Colorado girl who loves snow and sunshine. She has a wonderful relationship with her husband, a complex relationship with the characters in her head and a sadomasochistic relationship with her exercise routine. She hopes that you enjoy reading what she’s put out there as much as she enjoyed writing it in the first place.
Social media:
Twitter: @author_cariz