Please help us welcome author Skylar M. Cates today, on the tour for her new novel, Close to You. Enjoy Skylar’s guest post, and then be sure to click on the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for the chance to win an e-book from her backlist.
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Friends to Lovers: A Timeless Trope
Quick: Name your childhood best friend?
Do you also remember what that person looked like? Said? Ate?
Do you remember why you lost touch or not?
I sure do! I’ve been lucky enough to have several rock-solid friendships at different stages in my life, but there is something particularly strong about my first one.
Perhaps this is why the friends-to lovers trope never loses its popularity. Whether it ever has a sexual component or not, don’t we all “fall in love” with our best friends? In a lifetime of memories, that all important, first friendship often never leaves our consciousness. This is why my excitement soared as I wrote Close to You.
Close to You centers around Tomas and Marc. They have been childhood friends who fell in love and were viciously torn away from one another. It revolves around their past and their present lives. Writing this one was tough, but it was a total high for me too. It’s an emotionally charged story. Ultimately, it’s also an emotionally rewarding one.
Tomas and Marc are best friends who fall in love. That gives their relationship so many layers. For a writer, this makes giving the character-driven story emotional depth pretty easy, and I believe that is also the appeal of the trope.
There is a point in the story where Marc has disappears from Tomas’s life and the raw grief does not leave either of them. The parting shapes each man, until the inevitable reunion is all the more poignant. To prepare for these emotional scenes, I only had to think of my own friendships, those loved and lost.
Tell me about your childhood best friend?
About the Book
TITLE: Close To You
SERIES: Sunshine and Happiness: Book Three
AUTHOR: Skylar M. Cates
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
COVER ARTIST: AngstyG
LENGTH: 248 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 28, 2016
BLURB: It’s hard to recover from a first love. Some people never do.
How hard would you fight to keep your best friend? Marc Lucas and Tomas Santos have been best friends forever, but now their friendship is in a crisis. When they were boys, betrayals ripped their world apart. They thought it was fixed, but some parts remained broken. Ever since he saved him from a humiliation at school, Marc has loved Tomas. The last thing he expects is for Tomas to love him back. To keep his best friend, Marc revisits an abusive past he’s tried to forget.
For Tomas, loving Marc has been anything but easy. His upbringing told him it was wrong, so why did it feel so right? Accepting who he is as an adult, Tomas decides he needs a committed relationship. To his deep sorrow, he can’t seem to find it with Marc.
When the two find themselves alone and in the grip of a hurricane, long-buried feelings emerge. Being “just friends” is no longer an option. They must risk it all on love.
Purchase Links: Dreamspinner Press (ebook) || Dreamspinner Press (Paperback) || Amazon US || Amazon UK || All Romance eBooks || Barnes & Noble
About the Author: Skylar M. Cates loves a good romance. She is quite happy to drink some coffee, curl up with a good book, and not move all day. Most days, however, Skylar is chasing after her husband, her kids, and her giant dog, Wasabi. Skylar dreams about spending her days writing her novels, walking along the beach, and making more time for her good friends. On a shoestring budget, Skylar has traveled all over in her early years. Although, lately, the laundry room is the farthest place she has visited, Skylar still loves to chat with people from all around the globe.
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The Giveaway
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Follow the Tour
:: The Novel Approach :: Prism Book Alliance :: Bayou Book Junkie :: The Purple Rose Tea House ::
:: The Blogger Girls :: MM Book Escape :: Because Two Men Are Better Than One ::
:: Divine Magazine :: Love Bytes Reviews :: Diverse Reader ::
I haven’t read this series yet, but I love the friends to lovers type of books.
Not only have have I not read the series yet, but unfortunately I haven’t read any of Skylar’s books either but I’m looking forward to. Much success to Skylar!
I have read books 1 and 2. In fact, I just finished Lovers, Losers, and You today. I was so sad reading Here for You and I enjoyed having Owen come to meet the men who loved his brother so much. It also made me sad that they never got to meet.
I can’t wait to read Marc and Tomas’s story. I can’t wait to see them be happy, especially Marc. Thank you so much for this giveaway!