When Harry Met Charlie - Release Tour and Giveaway

 

Can two men who clash over everything ever agree on love?

When Harry Met Charlie

by Donna Costa

Genre: MM Romantic Comedy

Harry is a number-cruncher. Charlie is a people-person. One is bubbly and optimistic, the other serious and pessimistic. With an endless stream of verbal sparring and heated debates filling the car on their road trip from Vancouver to Toronto, they arrive at the conclusion they are complete opposites and go their separate ways.

When they meet years later – older, wiser, and love-worn – will their sparring become a prelude to romance? An exciting turn on? Will they be there for each other when it’s needed most?

Boys’ Love + Nora Ephron Fan Fiction = When Harry Met Charlie

 

“Fun, funny and wonderfully delightful! Reminds you of experiencing your first crush – I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!” – Leeanne Whitehouse, Pure Country Morning Host

 

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Chapter 1

    It’s 1977. Harry Burns has just graduated from law school on the West Coast and is standing at the window of his third-story dorm watching for the arrival of his ride to Toronto. He crosses his arms and drums his fingers impatiently.

Behind him, Harry’s friend and dorm mate Rufus is vigorously kissing his girlfriend, Sally. They’re sighing and murmuring to each other. Oh, I’m going to miss you so much. I love you. Will we ever see each other again? Kiss me again. Harry rolls his eyes.

Out the window, Harry spots a VW Beetle pulling up to the curb across the campus green. Rays from the rising sun glint off the car roof. He pushes his glasses up his nose and shouts, “Ride’s here, Rufus.”

Harry slings his backpack over one shoulder and wedges a heavy box of textbooks under his arm, then grabs his suitcase with his other hand. Why couldn’t someone invent luggage with wheels? Struggling to carry all his gear, Harry loses patience with the couple’s sloppy sweet-nothings and shoves Rufus’ arm none too gently, dislodging him from the embrace. “C’mon. Let’s go!”

“Bye, sweet-ums!” Rufus gives Sally one last smooch. “I’ll call as soon as I get there.” He stares longingly into her eyes and blows her a kiss, then snatches up his duffel and follows Harry down the stairs.

Harry stops as they reach the VW, taking in the vomit-green color, which reminds him of the nauseating flight he took from Toronto when he moved west to start university. He’s in no hurry to repeat that experience. A two-day nonstop road trip is the lesser of two evils.

He eyes the car’s thick rust and immediately wonders if the car will make it all the way across the country. With two unknowns—the driver he’s never met and the state of the car—his anxiety increases. Why hadn’t he been more prepared, done more research? Am I going to regret this?

A young man gets out of the VW, and Rufus, the common denominator, makes the introductions.

“Charlie, this is Harry, my roommate here in Vancouver and my pal growing up in small-town Ontario. Harry, meet Charlie, my friend from karaoke. That’s where Charlie told me he was headed to Toronto, like you, and why I suggested you ride together.”

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it isn’t this. Shouldn’t a future flight attendant be clean-cut and well groomed? Instead, Charlie has the appearance of a furry teddy bear. Even his forearms, visible below the short sleeves of his Oscar Wilde T-shirt, are bushy. His faded bellbottoms are a little too tight. Is that the start of a pot belly? Don’t flight attendants have weight restrictions? He extends his hand to Charlie for a handshake.

As Charlie settles behind the wheel of the Beetle, Harry places his suitcase and textbooks on the back floor behind the passenger seat. A Coleman thermos and small picnic cooler already take up the floor space on the driver’s side. Harry folds his long frame onto the rear seat beside Charlie’s nineteen-inch Electrohome TV, complete with rabbit ears. The only place for his feet is atop the box of his books. He squeezes his knees together and holds his backpack on his lap. It’s only a short drive to the airport. I can manage.

Rufus jumps into the front passenger seat. The bud vase on the dash holding a single daisy catches his attention, and he flashes a peace sign at Charlie. “Cool!”

“I knew you’d like it,” Charlie says, beaming a hundred-watt smile. He grabs an imaginary microphone. “Good morning, ladies, ahem, gentlemen. Welcome aboard Flight 2B with service from Vancouver to Toronto, with a short layover at the airport. We expect to be on the road for approximately forty-eight hours. Please fasten your seatbelts and stow your baggage. Please note there are two exits.” Charlie points at the car doors, then adds, “Thank you for choosing Charlie’s VW Air.”

Harry rolls his eyes and wonders if he’ll have to put up with aviation demonstrations every time Charlie takes the wheel.

Maybe flying would have been a better option?

Too late now.

Donna Costa draws on her love of romance, both novels and movies, plus her years in the aviation industry for When Harry Met Charlie. She writes in a variety of genres including YA, memoir, romance, and historical fiction. She lives in London, Ontario.

 

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How I Became An Author (a long and winding road)

I discovered romance novels when I was in high school. Harlequin was the most popular back then—I’m talking the 70s—and I would often read two books a night, reading into the wee hours before falling asleep with sweet dreams.

 At that time, I wrote many romance tropes in my head. My dream was to be a romance writer, but I was very shy and lacked confidence. While my English teachers were very positive about my essays, I sensed they would be less keen about romance writing. So I kept my dream a secret.

 Around that time, I heard a radio interview where the hosts were discussing a famous British romance writer, whose name I have forgotten. What I do remember is one of the hosts saying, “Even though she’s written a catalogue of best sellers, it’s not really literature is it?” Or words to that effect. I felt the disdain and disparagement. There was no way I would reveal—or follow— my dream after that.

 I went on to work as a corporate secretary, ghostwriting countless business letters in which “Dear Sir” and “Yours truly” featured prominently. After leaving the steno chair, I worked in holistic health and wrote natural health blogs for my business. (Details in my stories often reflect my health leanings.)

 But life sometimes takes you in a different direction. One day I began writing what I thought was a health blog. I heard the voice of Lucy in my head and that “blog” became my first novel Breathing With Trees, a YA fiction, coming-of-age story. Of course, there’s a sweet romance in it! I believe I needed to write that young character to heal my own teen wounds of the past so I could heal and move on.

 When Harry Met Charlie is my first adult rom-com and ideas are percolating for some love-later-in-life romances.

 

 

Taking the Road Less Travelled

When I was 50—gosh, to be that young again—my husband came home from work one day and asked, “How would you like to move to Australia for a year?”

 Without missing a beat, I replied, “Sure.” Only then did I ask what it was about.

 My husband was a professor at the local college here in London, Ontario. He took a one-year sabbatical to work on his Masters degree in Information Technology at Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia. I tagged along even though he said I didn’t “have to” if I didn’t want to. Right, just try going without me!

 Our two oldest children had already left home and our youngest was about to fly the nest. The timing was perfect, so we sold our house and packed up our belongings—two checked bags apiece—and moved to Queensland. (Our youngest son ended up studying in Byron Bay, New South Wales.) While my husband crammed for exams, I worked part time as a receptionist/bookkeeper at a physio therapy clinic. I also joined Bushwalkers, a hiking group of fun-loving, enthusiastic, and physically-fit Aussies who showed me their country.

 During my year away, I posted a blog, primarily for my parents back in Canada. Ironically, they never read it, not being comfortable with computers. I recently published those posts as a travelogue, In the Land of Oz: Travel Diary of a Canuck Living a Year Down Under. I hadn’t set out to write a book, but obviously writing was part of me, even back then (2009).

 

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