Today we are on the blog tour for Kiss Me in Paris and we have a guest post from the authors:
In Defense of Romance: Why it's not just Mommy Porn
Romance novels get a bad rap.
Despite being one of, if not the, most popular and bestselling genre, people still want to label it "Mommy Porn" or "fluff writing." First, what's wrong with women enjoying some titillation with their literature? At least they can honestly say they're reading it for more than just the pictures!
But seriously, there's more to romance than just sex and titillation, though that's also a very fun part of many romance novels, and there's nothing wrong with that at all.
Romance is about relationships. It's about connecting to another person so deeply that you become bound to them forever. It's what nearly all of us want, whether we admit it or not. We want that kind of all encompassing love that will never die.
We want to know that there is at least one other person in the world who will notice if we aren't there. Who will grieve over us when we die. Who will love us until we do.
Writing about that love, about those relationships, brings us all a little closer to the heart of that want, that need that drives us.
As Cade Savage says in Kiss Me in Paris, "Love is the cornerstone of the human experience. To capture the essence of romantic love in story takes real talent and skill."
It was spoken as a compliment to Winter, who was writing her first romance and struggling with the perceptions of those around her.
You always hear stories about how at the end of someone's life, they don't talk about their job or their money or their car, they talk about their family, their spouse and their children. They regret most not spending more time with those they loved.
This is what drives us. That's not to say that our careers, our aspirations and talents, shouldn't be nurtured and aren't important—they absolutely should and are. But we shouldn't ever discount the importance of love, of romance, of building a life with someone we can spend it with.
Here's another beautiful quote from Cade on the important of relationships.
"She listens, eyes wise and kind, arms holding me, holding my pain until it dissipates. She kisses away my tears, just as I had done for her, and I know beyond doubt that she’s the woman I’ll spend my life with. That every memory is made sweeter when she is here to share it. That this is why we all crave love and relationships, connection, because alone we are floating in emptiness, but with another we have someone to carry those memories with us. It makes life more real. It makes us more real." ~Cade Savage, Kiss Me in Paris
Have you ever noticed that the best memories from your life are ones in which you shared those moments with someone you loved?
In romance novels, we as readers have the chance to fall into love again, to live those most cherished memories through the lives of other people.
Furthermore, many romance novels deal with more than just falling in love. They also cover themes of family, personal dreams, overcoming the past, facing the future and so much more.
A romance novel is a novel about life, and the most important relationships in our life. They are about experiences we all have, about family, love, heartbreak, sex, and dreams. Most of us have not been in near death experiences or had to chase a serial killer, but we've likely all loved another person. We have parents, children, husbands and wives, we have things in our pasts we regret and things in our future we aspire to.
A great romance touches on all of this, in one way or another, whether it's contemporary or fantasy or time travel or historical.
I urge you to pick up a good romance and see what happens when you get lost in the world of true love and happily ever afters.
Kiss Me in Paris:
Book Description:
No one knows my secret. Ever since high school, ever since I started living in fear, no one has known the true me. But then I met him, and I couldn't hide anymore.He became my hero, saving me from the villain of my past. He became my friend, his smile a blanket of warmth. And he scared me. Because he, this beautiful man, he might become more. Then he'd see the real me, and I couldn't let that happen.
My name is Winter, and what I desire most I can't have.
Flashes of the night I was drugged rush back to me. His strong arms carrying me through the streets of Paris. The feel of his heart beating as my head rested against his chest. The soft press of his lips against my forehead when he thought I was asleep.
Oh shit. I'm falling for the cowboy. Cade.
But we can't be anything more. He has his own secrets. His own darkness he keeps hidden, like the letter he keeps with him everywhere he goes.
The letter he refuses to open.
***
New Adult Contemporary Romance - 87, 000 words - Standalone in the Kiss Me series.
Travel the world with the Deveaux's as they find love, and trouble, in all the right places
Find it on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18158314-kiss-me-in-paris
Some favorite quotes from Kiss Me in Paris:
• "One star breaks off from the others, shooting across the sky, a
bright light trailing behind it, and I finally understand why people wish on
dying stars. Because something always has to die for life to give birth to
a new dream. "
• "Paris is pregnant with layers of history, colored with the ink of
artists who dared to dream of a world only they could see."
• "It's like I'm giving birth from my mouth." <You'll
understand this when you get to chapter 5. Then you'll pee your pants
laughing.>
• "It's the nature of being human that, in our own blindness, we lash
out and blind others."
• "I think of Winter, of her smile, her eyes, her arms wrapped around
me, and I know where home is. It's wherever she is, and right now she is too
far away. My heart has escaped my body and is walking Paris without me."
• "She opened herself to him, and, in that moment, she opened herself
to the world. Let it hurt her. Let it burn her veins, boil her blood and scorch
her heart. For where there could be pain, there could be pleasure and love. She
would be cold no longer. She would melt the hearts of others, and in turn, they
would melt hers. She would feel the full spectrum of emotions and cry. She
would be human. And she would be happy."
Buy Links
Kiss Me in Paris is currently on sale for Kindle
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1adeUti
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/14egTMF
About the authors:
Kimberly Kinrade was born with ink in her veins and magic in her heart. She writes romance (contemporary and paranormal), fantasy and paranormal stories for all ages and still believes in magic worlds.
She lives with her three little girls who think they're ninja princesses with super powers, and her husband, also known as the sexy Russian Prince, who is the love of her life and writing partner.
Author Links:
Thanks so much for hosting us today! This post was a lot of fun to write. :) ~Karpov Kinrade
ReplyDeleteLove this guest post!
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting Kiss Me In Paris today.
Shaz