Hi there!
Welcome back to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.
Today, we're shining the book spotlight on a title currently touring with Rachel's Random Resources. It's a rom-com where opposites certainly attract, but can the feelings they bring be sustained? That, my friends, is the million dollar question, and on that note, I'm going to get to the introductions because AFTER that, you get to indulge in a special GUEST POST from the author, herself! Ready, set, READ ALL ABOUT IT...
Caper Crush
by
Kathy Strobos
About the book...
A feel-good, opposites-attract, slow burn romantic comedy
Somebody stole my painting! The one I need for the career-defining Vertex Art Exhibit. This upcoming art show is my chance to finally be recognized as an artist—after ten years of waitressing and being asked if I still have that “lovely painting hobby.”
I have mere weeks to find my painting or lose my artist dream forever—but it’s going to mean working with William.
William Haruki Matsumura. Good-looking, if you like the Secret Service type. You know, law-abiding, protector of women and children. That’s all fine, but I can never tell what he’s thinking. Which drives me crazy.
He insists on coming along to do “damage control.” As if “accidentally” wandering into certain areas is “breaking and entering.” I may be an emotional artist, but William shouldn’t dismiss my investigative skills yet.
William is definitely my opposite, and, if there’s one takeaway from my parents’ divorce, it’s that opposites might attract, but it doesn’t last. But detecting with William is kind of fun—and fluttery. I definitely can’t trust these feelings, or can I? However this caper ends, I think this may be more than a crush.
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~~~ GUEST POST ~~~
...with Author Kathy Strobos
What inspired you to write Caper Crush?
I wanted to write a book with an emotional action heroine. I tend to tear up quite easily (at people giving up their seat for pregnant women or elderly people), and so I wanted to write a character like that. And I wanted to celebrate that vulnerability as a strength.
But then my favorite trope is opposites attract, so William needed to be more strait-laced. And maybe appear less emotional on first impression.
Because my protagonist was going to be an emotional action heroine, I needed action in my plot, so that inspired the mystery plot. Plus, I like old films like THE THIN MAN, SOME LIKE IT HOT, BRINGING UP BABY, and so I wanted to give it a caper feeling. Watching romantic comedies and Korean dramas have been a huge solace to me during the pandemic, and Korean dramas tend to have both romance and action plots, so I think that definitely influenced my writing as well.
I also love modern art. When I was in high school, I used to meet my best friends at the MoMA, and we’d walk around and chat. Then in my twenties, I joined a social group at the MoMA and we’d meet up to visit art galleries. (That’s why I set my newsletter magnet at the MoMA. I made up a scavenger hunt party at the MoMA—in costume as your favorite art piece). I also was on the board of the Dumbo arts center in Dumbo , Brooklyn, and I used to give tours of artists’ studios in Dumbo to raise money for the dumbo arts center. So I decided to make her an artist.
At my son’s public elementary school, a parent band performs at our annual school fundraiser, and I’ve always been impressed by the mom singers, so that’s why I added Miranda’s talent as a singer. I, unfortunately, have absolutely no talent for singing.
Because I want to celebrate diversity (given current world and NYC events), I made William Japanese-American. I worked at Sony as a lawyer for many years before I left to pursue my dream of writing romcoms, and I do miss visiting Japan and interacting with colleagues from around the world.
Once I started writing Caper Crush, I just had so much fun. It really made me so happy to write and to read, so I hope you enjoy it as well.
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About the author...
Kathy Strobos is a writer living in New York City with her husband and two children, amid a growing collection of books, toys and dollhouses. She grew up in New York City and graduated from Stuyvesant High School, Harvard-Radcliffe University magna cum laude, and Columbia Law School. She spent two semesters abroad at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. She previously worked as a lawyer. She left law to pursue her dream of writing fiction full-time and getting in shape. She is the author of Partner Pursuit, Is This for Real?, A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts, and Caper Crush. She is still working on getting in shape.
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Special thanks to Rachel at Rachel's Random Resources for the chance to bring this tour to you and to the author for the guest post. (THANKS!) For more information on this title, the author, this promotion, or those on the horizon, feel free to click through the links provided above. This title is available now, so click on over to your favorite online retailer to snag your copy today and be sure to check out the rest of the tour for more bookish fun!
Until next time, remember...if it looks good, READ IT!
