Prosecco & Paparazzi Tour
#passportseries
Do you love comedic romantic comedies? You'll love Prosecco and Paparazzi by, Celia Kennedy.
Not only are we featuring her and her book, but she has written a great piece on one of the characters. Check it out! Let us know what you think in the comments section.
Which character am I?
Five women make up a very entertaining and unique clutch of friends in Prosecco & Paparazzi. Since publishing the book, I’ve been asked many times if one of the characters in the book is me. I was inspired by many women, and like many authors, the characters in my book are an amalgamation of many people. Two very important life experiences led me down the path to creating these international heroines.
Years ago I worked in the International Department at Microsoft. The women I met there had just finished college and were in the US to work hard and play hard. In addition to being intelligent people, most possessed a highly tuned flirtatious banter, and were sexy as sin. One of the women, whose name shall remain anonymous, was learning to drive. She took the wrong exit ramp off the freeway, and attempted to back down and re-enter traffic. The guy that rear-ended her (or was she front-ending him) was dazzled by her, and instead of calling the police, he took her to dinner! These scenarios happened all the time!
The second experience was a bit of a reversal. I had always wanted to be a foreign exchange student and finally at the ripe age of twenty eight my dream came true. I was in the middle of studying Landscape Architecture, and decide to participate in a study abroad program. After finishing my program in England, I backpacked through Europe for several months on a shoe-string budget and with a gaggle of women. There was a natural ebb and flow to the journey. We met up with people, entertaining experiences followed, we divided to travel to different places, where more entertaining experiences followed.
One of my personal favorites happened during the summer in Cadiz, Spain. We were stumbling around on a Saturday morning and saw this beautiful man in a small boat not too far off shore. We sat and watched him for quite some time. He waved, we waved back, and let him get to work using all his rippling muscles. As destiny would have it, we walked into his restaurant later that day, hoping to find some free tapas. He immediately recognized my friend (whose quite lovely), and offered us food. His menu was quite expensive, so we order a drink and sat at the bar. A fair amount of time passed, and no one (literally) showed up. He flipped the open sign to Closed and offered to cook us dinner. While we ate mouth-watering food and drank incredible wine, with him, we entertained him with stories of our travels. Just when you thought the story would end – no! In the summer in Spain, flamenco guitarists and dancers gather everywhere to perform and compete. It turned out our new friend, the Gambadoro (our made up word, taken from Matador, meaning prawn killer), was good friends with an incredible flamenco guitarist. So, he called him up, he came down, ate some good food, drank some wine, and gave us a private concert. It was a magical night…
So who are Charlotte, Hillary, Tiziana, Marian, and Kathleen? These women meet at the Oxford, while doing graduate work at the Said School of Business. They’ve made their way in the world of corporate finance and have achieved success. Some more than others. Now in their early to mid-thirties, they can relax a bit and think about the rest of life. To be fair, the rest of life has been on Hillary and Marian’s mind for quite a while.
Hillary Cavendish can trace her family name back to the days of Henry VIII, and much of her family wealth and connections begin there. Hillary brings to bear all her skills and rights of birth to the philanthropy foundation she works for. Steeped in etiquette, Hillary is quintessentially proper, but wants to break free from these confines every now and again. As a member of the quintet, she is the hub, keeping the women informed, connected, and under control.
Marian Connolly is from Dublin, Ireland. Looking for the man of her dreams, she is convinced that all the “good ones” have been exported from Ireland. A brash, wise-cracking woman, Marian’s banter is often the source of aggravation, hilarity, and vulnerable discourse.
Tiziana Caputo, our group’s siren, heavily resembles Sophia Loren. Tiziana jiggles and purrs her way through life. To be fair, she is an intelligent woman who has worked harder than most to prove that it isn’t her curves and cleavage that have opened doors for her. Thankfully, Tiziana doesn’t have a bitter bone in her voluptuous body. Quintessentially herself, she lets the pheromones and poetry flow in abundance.
No village is complete without an aloof, hard to pin down, personality. This is Kathleen Ehlers. Hailing from Seattle, Washington, after college she transplants herself in Paris, working for L’Oreal at the corporate headquarters. A business acquisition lawyer, Kathleen has some serious brains in her very beautiful head. With a flair for fashion and art, Kathleen’s life is complete. The ladies often tease her about chasing Prince Charming, but as you’ll learn in Cognac & Couture, she is aloof for a reason.
Charlotte Young. Our heroine (and the person I’d most like to be). Described in the book, by Hillary, as the North American version of Penelope Cruz. Charlotte is a hard working CFO at a large and expanding Public Relations firm in New York City. Having worked hard at life, to be able to move away from the small town in Maine where she was raised, she is in many respects the quintessential girl next door. Except that her door opens to a fabulous apartment in Manhattan, and her closet is full of designer labels. When anything but average events begin to occur in her life, she is a little out of her depth on how to handle them. Fortunately, she has the support of her friends.
The plot? While on a ski holiday, in the Rhône-Alpes (Chamonix, France) with this vivacious group of women, she meets her favorite celebrity, Des Bannerman, the King of Romantic Comedies. During one of their accidental (or not) encounters, there is a miscommunication which lands Charlotte is hot water.
Can Charlotte’s friends get her close enough, regardless of a restraining order, to Des Bannerman to unravel the mystery? With the help of her new found beau, Irishman Liam Molloy, they get her closer.
In addition to having written Prosecco & Paparazzi, Kathleen’s Undressed and Venus Rising, Celia has written several short stories in seasonal anthologies. She is currently writing books two and three of The Passport Series, Cognac & Couture and Gin Fizz and Grit. In addition to writing, Celia is a mom, wife, friend, and a practicing Landscape Architect. She resides in Redmond, Washington, where she lives a spectacular life. If you’d like to learn more about her, visit www.celiakennedy.weebly.com, follow her on Twitter (@KennedyCelia) on Facebook (Celia Kennedy, Author) or Goodreads. If you want to see the actual locations that she writes about in her books, check her out on www.Pinterest.com.
When fifteen minutes of fame goes horribly wrong…
Charlotte Young and her five closest friends ring in the New Year on a ski vacation in the swanky, celebrity-packed French Alps, where her world collides with long-time celeb crush, Des Bannerman—aka “The King of Rom-Com.” Unexpectedly, Charlotte finds herself happily reconciled to an innocent evening of drinking champagne, gambling, and chatting to the celebrity of her dreams.
Charlotte’s friends join forces to help her realize her lifelong fantasy, yet his girlfriend, the latest Bond Girl, proves an insurmountable obstacle. Lighthearted banter turns into tabloid fodder and leaves Charlotte saddled with a restraining order.
With the help of her friends, Charlotte finds the answers to life’s biggest questions while trying to deal with the fallout of her fifteen minutes of fame.
Prosecco &Paparazzi is a contemporary romantic comedy about what happens when the paths of a celebrity god and a mere mortal collide.
Previously self-published under the title Charlotte’s Restrained, The Accidental Stalker. It has been re-edited.
Charlotte Young and her five closest friends ring in the New Year on a ski vacation in the swanky, celebrity-packed French Alps, where her world collides with long-time celeb crush, Des Bannerman—aka “The King of Rom-Com.” Unexpectedly, Charlotte finds herself happily reconciled to an innocent evening of drinking champagne, gambling, and chatting to the celebrity of her dreams.
Charlotte’s friends join forces to help her realize her lifelong fantasy, yet his girlfriend, the latest Bond Girl, proves an insurmountable obstacle. Lighthearted banter turns into tabloid fodder and leaves Charlotte saddled with a restraining order.
With the help of her friends, Charlotte finds the answers to life’s biggest questions while trying to deal with the fallout of her fifteen minutes of fame.
Prosecco &Paparazzi is a contemporary romantic comedy about what happens when the paths of a celebrity god and a mere mortal collide.
Previously self-published under the title Charlotte’s Restrained, The Accidental Stalker. It has been re-edited.
Author website:
Author Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMKAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kennedycelia
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/celiakennedy/
Official hashtags: #Prosecco&Paparazzi and #PassportSeries
Publisher Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/booktrope
Celia Kennedy was born in Wurzburg, Germany on a military base. Her parent's penchant for traveling has stuck with her, she's lived in and traveled through several countries.
The imagined world has always fascinated Celia. She has studied Art History, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, and Architecture. Her thirteen year career at UW in Seattle ended in 1996. Not wanting to be homeless, she left the academic world and worked as a Landscape Architect, married the love of her life, became a mom, has been PTA President, and both Boy and Girl Scout Leader.
The unimaginable wealth in her life is the most fascinating thing to her.
Her love of travel, the designed and natural world, friendship, self-discovery, wine, chocolate, AND love are the foundation of her life and books.
