Hi guys, we have debut author Dolce stopping by today with her upcoming release Escapade, we have a great guest post and there’s also a fantastic giveaway so enjoy the post and leave a comment to enter the giveaway! <3 ~Pixie~

Escapade

Dolce

Twenty-nine-year-old Lucas Thompson is at the top of the corporate ladder. But when his lifelong friend and ex-boyfriend invites him to his last-minute destination wedding in the Bahamas, Lucas realizes his corporate success can’t hide his private loneliness. Nor will he be able to escape seeing his family at the wedding—and having to explain, yet again, why he’s rich, handsome… and still single.

Fate and a taxi ride change everything when Lucas meets the charismatic and clever Jack McQueen, who just so happens to be a male escort. Jack’s presence on Lucas’s arm at the wedding keeps questions at bay, but their pretend relationship turns into something more after ten days of sun, sand, and sex. And before the trip is up, both men will discover that what started as a simple escapade in paradise might just lead to their very own happily ever after.

Let’s go on an Escapade!

Hello! My name is Dolce and I’m a fiction writer. I’ve been writing gay romance for around nine years, and I am thrilled, shocked, and honored to publish my first book! My new summer romance novel, Escapade, will be released on Monday April 11, 2016 by Dreamspinner Press. Escapade began in a fiction writing challenge, where a friend prompted me to write a story about someone needing a date for their ex-boyfriend’s wedding, but became much larger than I anticipated. I’m very excited to meet you, and truly hope that you enjoy Escapade!

Escapade was inspired by my own summer reading experiences. When I was younger, I would stock up on the teen romance paperbacks in the library before I went on vacation. There were so many different genres and scenarios, but the pairings were only men with women—no same sex couples. I wanted to write a romantic comedy that featured two men falling in love in an exotic, beautiful location with lots of adventure and fun. It might sound silly, but it’s always been a dream of mine to have my book published and available in an airport bookstore. Maybe someone who feels left out by the standard romance novel pairings on the shelf would pick up my book to read on vacation.

The process of writing Escapade was different from any other story I’ve ever written. It is the first novel-length story that I wrote in full (not posting chapter by chapter online). I wrote it over the course of about five months. I have a strange work schedule and often have big gaps midday. I probably developed a slight hunch from carting my laptop around all the time to write on my breaks, but those little thirty minute bursts here or there really helped when I was trying to meet a personal deadline. I’m a night writer, especially when I’ve had a lot of coffee, but I also wrote Escapade in a variety of cafes. I wonder if people knew what I was writing while I was sitting next to them, eating a chocolate chip scone!

Escapade is meant to be light and something to read at the beach, but also tackles realistic issues people face. Loneliness, the prick of discomfort you feel when you’re single amongst couples—even if you don’t want a relationship, balancing your personal and professional life, and growing into adulthood with your family. The main character, Lucas Thompson, deals with all of those things. The secondary main character, Jack McQueen, does too, though he comes from a completely different place compared to Lucas. My hope is that in reading Escapade, readers see both characters growing together to conquer loneliness with love, laughter, and kindness.

There is a large supporting cast in this story. Some of my favorite parts in books and movies are often not lines said by the main characters, but small scenes with minor characters. If you talk about a book or movie with a friend, and find out you both enjoy the same random, tiny part, it’s like you connect on a deeper level. That definitely was a reason that I wanted to write an ensemble comedy, though the majority of scenes focus solely on the main pairing.

The big family vacation idea was also vaguely inspired by some experiences I’ve had, though I have yet to holiday in a setting as tropical and exclusive as the story’s fictional resort, Flamingo Cove! Even one of the main group events in Escapade was inspired by something I’ve done before, though not on the same fictional, luxurious scale.

I’m a trained musician, love listening to music, and I love film soundtracks. While I wrote Escapade, I listened almost exclusively to music from the eighties. I’ve always loved eighties music, and have incorporated a random eighties tune into a soundtrack here or there, but the soundtrack for Escapade sort of formed itself without my control. Something about that era of popular music just fit with Escapade to me. Fun, sexy, a bit silly—songs that when the DJ throws them on, you know all the words (even if you’re a bit tipsy) and just want to dance.

The first song on the playlist, and the first song I actually thought to include, is Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf, which I felt was a very Lucas song. It is followed by Depeche Mode’s Personal Jesus, which I felt was the Jack McQueen introduction song. I include a suggested playlist at the end of the book, which outlines which tracks I listened to for each scene. I would suggest taking a peek at the playlist and maybe trying to line up the songs with each chapter, as that could help your reading experience. Here is a link to a playlist I made while writing, that includes lots of songs from my process:

https://play.spotify.com/user/dolcepiccante/playlist/1Pq1vipoL6ravQ1iCAd7Ne

So! All this talk about tropical destinations and vacation reading has made me want to go on a holiday. Leave a comment and tell me about where you want to go on vacation—anywhere in the world!—for a chance to win an Escapade eBook. Maybe you can take Escapade on your next trip to the beach!

Thank you very much for having me at MM Good Book Reviews today. Happy reading!

Love,

Dolce

About Dolce

Dolce is a thirty-something New Yorker who loves to write, cook, sing, and laugh. She got her start writing fan fiction and is excited, and a touch frightened, to make the jump to original fiction. She is a big fan of the band Muse, who inspired her to choose a single word for her pen name: DOLCE. Plus, Cher has the one name thing going for her, too. Everyone loves Cher.

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Giveaway!

Win an ecopy of Escapade!