Erika Marks | The Perils of Writer Crushes

Confession time, friends: I am admitting to my first grown-up literary crush. I know! What has taken me so long, right?!

For all of us who read romantic novels, we know the risks. There's a very good chance we will fall head-over-heels for the leading man. That is, after all, the idea, isn't it?

But for those of us who write romances, it can be a slippery slope. Falling headlong for your hero can be a tricky business. Like your leading lady, you can't always let passion lead. Before you hand over your heart, you want to be sure he's everything he seems.

But let's face it: when it comes to romance, clarity can be over-rated. Don't get me wrong: I loved all the leading men of my first two novels--and there were many of them. They were good men, deeply attractive, desirable men. I wanted them to find love and be loved. I knew they were catches and keepers, even if my leading women remained stubborn to the simple facts for far too long. But then came The Guest House and, more specifically, Cooper Moss.

Oh, Cooper.

Friends, let me tell you--I was a goner from the get-go. For starters, he's younger. (Disclaimer to follow) Now having married an amazing man who happens to be five years younger than I am, I will admit to a bias toward the appeal of younger men. There is something inherently sexy about being wooed by a younger man, and when I began to write the love story between Lexi and Cooper, I suspected my leading lady Lexi would be hopelessly smitten. After all, Cooper had been in love with her for a long time--all the while that she was engaged to his older brother, Hudson. But it is only years later, after Hudson had broken Lexi's heart, and she and Cooper unexpectedly reunite at the Moss family's sprawling summer cottage by the sea, that Cooper finally has a chance to make his mark.

And make his mark, he does.

He's confident, he's romantic (he's a writer, for Goodness' sake!) and he knows what makes Lexi tick.

Apparently, he knows what makes this writer tick too.

Or is that just a case of the tail wagging the dog?

Might be.

All I know, dear readers, is that I hope you'll find Cooper as irresistible as I--I mean, Lexi did.

Here's a bit more about my summer love story by the sea, The Guest House. I hope you'll stop by the comment section and share with me your latest literary crush! 


THE GUEST HOUSE

For generations, the natives of Harrisport have watched wealthy summer families descend on their Cape Cod town, inhabiting the massive cottages along the town's best stretches of beachfront. But when rich Southerner Tucker Moss breaks the heart of local girl Edie Wright in the summer of 1966, an enduring war starts between the two families that lasts for generations....Edie's youngest child, Lexi, should know better than to fall in love with a Moss, but at eighteen, she falls hard for Tucker's son, Hudson--only to find herself jilted when Hudson breaks off their engagement.

Eleven years later, Lexi returns home after two years away studying architectural photography, just in time for yet another summer on the Cape. When Hudson's younger brother, Cooper, arrives unexpectedly to sell the seaside estate after the death of his father and hires Lexi to photograph it, an unlikely attraction forms, and Lexi finds herself torn once again between passion and family loyalty. Then renovations at the Moss guest house reveal a forty-six-year-old declaration of love carved into a piece of framing--and a startling truth that will force two women and the men who love them to confront the treacherous waters of their pasts.

Bio: A native New Englander who was raised in Maine, Erika Marks has worked as an illustrator, an art director, a cake decorator, and a carpenter. This is her third novel.