Guest Post & Giveaway: Daisy Harris featuring Pride & Politics

The Republican National Convention is in full swing, and while I vote in every election I'm not really into politics....because frankly I don't care which party you belong to, Washington gets virtually nothing done.  

However, there is one thing that Washington does have going for it, the hotels!  And I'm not talking your run of the mill Holiday Inn....no we are talking the five star hotels with beds that are legendary for their comfort, to die for room service, and bars that not only have signature drinks, but also attract the kind of billionaires that have become so popular in romances recently (*cough* fifty shades of gray, bared to you & because you are mine *cough*)

My guest, author Daisy Harris, is here today to share with us how luxury hotels and politics play a part in her new erotic M/M romance, Pride and Politics, as well as a bit about the book.  Enjoy!

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Thanks for having me at Seductive Musings, guys! Today I’m going to talk about 5-star hotels and my latest release, Men of Holsum College 6: Pride and Politics.

In Pride and Politics, my heroes Hunter and Steve spend a lot of time in hotels. Hunter Ford’s uncle is running for Vice President. And he has decided that having Hunter along on the campaign trail will make him appear more gay-friendly. However, Hunter wants nothing more than to make his uncle look bad. So, Chase Ford hires Steve as an “image consultant”, and Steve has the unfortunate job of trying to force Hunter to make like a good boy.

But though Steve struggles to keep the sexy hellion under control, he never struggles with the amenities at their hotels. Each and every campaign stop features a 5-star hotel with impeccable service, in-room dining, televisions in every room (including the bathroom), and, of course, chocolates on the pillow.

My challenge as a writer was to come up these imaginary palaces. Although my family travels a fair bit, we rarely (never?) stay at hotels. Our family owns a little travel trailer and we take that for our local weekends away. And oftentimes when we fly somewhere, we end up camping.

But since I’ve started writing, I’ve had the opportunity to attend writers’ conferences. And those always take place at large hotels. They may not be 5-star, but I’ve seen the inside of a few fancier places.

And, yanno, had drinks at hotel bars…

So, I combined my experiences with my imagination, and what I’ve seen on travel shows, and voilà! We have my Fairway Excelsior where Hunter and Steve stay in Virginia (modeled after the hotel that hosted the 2011 RT Booklover’s Convention.) The Grand Weathervane Seafairer where my boys stay in Florida (modeled after the 2011 RWA conference’s overflow hotel, combined with a place I stayed in Miami back in the mid 1990s.)

Not every hotel in Pride and Politics was modeled directly after a real place. The hotel my characters stay at in Chicago had a steampunk feel. But most involved some aspects of places I’ve stayed for romance conferences. Have you ever been to RWA or RT? If you read Pride and Politics, maybe you’ll recognize something from your room!

In closing…

I’m heading off to go camping tomorrow, and while I fall asleep with my family in our little 16ft camper, I’ll pretend I’m at one of the hotels in my imagination. I’ll call it the Great Bayside St. James, and it shall serve champagne upon arrival. There, I’ll be waited on hand and foot, pampered with spa treatments…

Of course, I shall also be a lithe, twenty-one year old twink. ☺

Unfortunately, I’ll wake up to the scent of my dog sleeping on my face and the sound of my kids clamoring out of their bunks. I’ll dust myself off and, bleary-eyed, microwave water for my morning tea.

At least I’ll have a power and electrical hook-up. Ah, the luxury!

Aloof and arrogant, Holsum College junior Hunter Ford has enjoyed all the perks of being from one of America's most prominent families. Hunter can have anything he wants—except time away from his family's political spotlight and the image consultant hired to keep him there.

Steve Camden’s job is simple—make Hunter toe the line for the duration of his uncle’s vice-presidential campaign. This is the break Steve's been waiting for and a chance to provide a better life for his deaf sister. But he didn't count on an attraction to the broken scion—one that rearranges everything Steve thought he knew about himself.

As Steve melts Hunter's icy exterior, the heat between them threatens more than just their hearts. Then a ghost from Hunter’s past shows up on the campaign, challenging Hunter’s stability, and straining Steve’s ability to defend and protect the man he’s growing to love.

Enjoy this special excerpt in the flipbook below:

advisory:  this is not work appropriate :)

or read it in a google document here.

Congratulations Daisy on your newest addition to the Men of Holsum College series!  Seductive reviewer Andrea has been a fan of this series and has reviewed many of them for Seductive Musings (Player and the Prude, Townie and the Twink, College Boys  & Pride and Politics--posted today).

If you'd like to learn more about Daisy Harris and the books that she writes you can find her at her website www.thedaisyharris.com, Twitter, Goodreads, & Holsum College Tumbler (which has some very explicit content & is definitely not work safe!)

To celebrate the release of Pride and Politics, the sixth book in her Men of Holsum College series, author Daisy Harris would like to giveaway a digital copy of a backlist book from this series to one lucky Musings follower.  Enter to win using the Rafflecopter form below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Seductive Musings is an Amazon affiliate and receives a very small referral fee for purchases made via the links on the blog and through the Seductive Musings Amazon Store. Read the full disclosure here.