Hi! I’m Kim Fielding, and I’m so excited about the release of my newest novel, Teddy Spenser Isn’t Looking for Love! This book is set in two places I love, Chicago and Seattle. While navigating work-based drama and a budding relationship that’s shaky at the start, Teddy and Romeo also get to visit some of the fun sites in these cities. My own personal passion for travel—which has of course been stymied this year—was one of the inspirations for this book. And today I thought I’d share some unusual tourist attractions I’ve visited.

Last December we made a family trip to New Orleans, where we learned that in Louisiana, there’s a tradition of lighting bonfires on river levees on Christmas Eve. As if that isn’t cool enough, in the small town of Garyville, a group of residents creates a huge sculpture to burn each year. Last year it was an 80-foot alligator. We joined what turned out to be a festive, welcoming crowd and watched that gator burn.

Do you enjoy a good old-fashioned roadside attraction? For years I’d driven by The Oregon Vortex, and a few years ago we finally stopped there. Weird angles and various topographical quirks make it look like people are changing sizes and objects are rolling uphill. I’m glad we finally paid a visit.

One attraction I’ve visited several times is the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia. People have donated items from failed personal, professional, and political relationships. Each object is displayed with brief stories (in Croatian and English) explaining the significance of it. It’s not a huge museum, but one where you tend to spend time lingering over the displays and thinking about their contexts. There’s also a really nice café there, which I’ve always thought would make a funny place for a first date.

During a visit to Portugal a few years ago, I had the chance to go to the bone chapel in the town of Évora. Inside a large room in the Church of St. Francis, human bones have arranged to cover the walls and posts. The purpose of this was twofold: to free up cemetery space for new construction, and to remind people of their mortality. It’s beautiful in a haunting way. The town itself is also charming and makes a perfect day trip from Lisbon.

The summer after my older daughter graduated high school, she and I did a 10-state, 4500-mile road trip from California to Nebraska, up north through South Dakota, Montana, and Washington, and then back home. We stopped at a bunch of interesting places, including Donner Memorial State Park, Devil’s Tower, and two Stonehenge replicas (one of them made out of old cars). One of the highlights for me was a tour of the old Wyoming State Prison. My day job is criminal justice professor, so it was fascinating to see the old cellblocks. I even got to sit in the old gas chamber. My daughter, however, refused on the grounds that it was probably haunted.

Finally, where else but Las Vegas would you find the Erotic Heritage Museum? My sister-in-law and I went there to see a show called Puppetry of the Penis (it was hilarious) while my husband and brother hung out at the bar next door (because they are wimps and no fun). Afterward, we toured the museum, which is actually really interesting. So much so that we didn’t realize they were closing and we got locked inside.

Teddy and Romeo don’t visit any of these places, but they do have some adventures of their own. What’s your favorite quirky attraction?

Some people search their whole lives to find love. He just wants to avoid it.

Teddy Spenser spends his days selling design ideas to higher-ups, living or dying on each new pitch. Stodgy engineer types like Romeo Blue, his nemesis—if you can call someone who barely talks to you a nemesis—are a necessary evil. A cute necessary evil.

Working together is bad enough, but when their boss puts them both on a new high-stakes project, “working together” suddenly means:

• sitting uncomfortably close on the same plane,
• staying in the same hotel room—with only one bed—and
• spending every waking minute together.

Turns out Mr. Starched Shirt has some hidden depths, and it’s getting harder to ignore the spark Teddy feels with every brush of their hands, with every knowing look. He might not have been looking for this connection with Romeo, but will he ever be ready to let him go?

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Release Date: December 29th

Carina Adores is home to highly romantic contemporary love stories featuring beloved romance tropes, where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.

A new Carina Adores title is available each month in trade paperback, ebook and audiobook formats.

• Just Like That by Cole McCade (available now!)
• Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters (available now!)
• Better Than People by Roan Parrish (available now!)
• The Secret Ingredient by KD Fisher (available now!)
• Just Like This by Cole McCade (available now!)
• The Beautiful Things Shoppe by Philip William Stover (coming January 26, 2021)
• Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish (coming February 23, 2021)
• Knit, Purl, a Baby and a Girl by Hettie Bell (coming March 30, 2021)

Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.

Kim’s novel Brute was the 2013 Rainbow Award Winner for Best Gay Fantasy and tied for fourth place for Best Gay Novel.

After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her husband, her two daughters, and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.

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Genre: Contemporary Genre: Romance Orientation: Gay Pairing: M/M Publisher: Carina Press Tag: Enemies to Lovers Tag: Forced Proximity Tag: Guest Post Tag: Office Romance Tag: Only One Bed Tag: PoC Carina Adores Kim Fielding Teddy Spenser Isn't Looking For Love