Boots & Backpacks by KC Kahler Blog Tour + Giveaway

Today I have the honour of being the first stop on the Boots & Backpacks Blog Tour with a guest post by the author, KC Kahler. Read on to find out more about the book and author, and there is a chance to win a paperback copy of the book, open internationally! So without further ado I will pass over to KC Kahler

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Book blurb:

Pride and Prejudice on the Appalachian Trail, roughly

William Darcy counts down the last few months to his 30th birthday with dread. Orphaned as a child, his parents’ will includes a bizarre clause: Darcy must get married by his 30th birthday in order to inherit the family fortune. To make matters worse, the press knows about this deadline, as do the hordes of women chasing him in the hopes of becoming Mrs. Darcy. His family legacy hangs in the balance, but Darcy has little faith in the fairer sex. Will he find a woman he wants to marry, and quickly?

Elizabeth Bennet is determined to pursue her education and career without letting a man get in the way. When her traveling companion drops out, her planned hike on the Appalachian Trail is jeopardized. She meets the spoiled, snobby William Darcy just when he is desperate to escape the spotlight. No one will suspect that the Prince of Manhattan has gone backpacking! Darcy and Elizabeth form a tenuous partnership and begin a 300-mile journey that will transform them both.

In classic romantic comedy tradition, Boots & Backpacks follows our reluctant partners as they build trust, friendship, and even more. Six weeks together on America’s most famous hiking trail may turn out to be just what these two need!

Romantic Comedy Tropes in Boots & Backpacks

Author KC Kahler

As a pop culture geek, I’m a sucker for tropes. What’s a trope? Well, according to the supreme time-sucking site TV Tropes:

“Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations.”

Tropes are universal across all media types - mythology, literature, TV, movies, comic books, video games, etc. As consumers of media, we recognize tropes, either consciously or subconsciously, and form expectations about the characters and the plot. In a genre as formulaic as that of the romantic comedy, certain tropes get used over and over again, but fans of that genre keep coming back for more.

Jane Austen used tropes masterfully in her novels. Pride and Prejudice is considered by many to be the grandmommy of the modern romantic comedy. It is certainly the grandmommy of my novel Boots & Backpacks! So what beloved tropes from P&P can you expect to see in B&B? Here are a few:

• Tall, Dark, and Snarky - Yes, my hero is named William Darcy and he is quite the eligible bachelor! But he does have a few issues to work through: he’s a spoiled snob, he’s obsessed with the family fortune, and he distrusts basically everyone he meets, especially women.
• Spirited Young Lady - Elizabeth Bennet: as unimpressed with Mr. Darcy upon first introduction in 2014 as she was in 1813.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension - So much banter! The sexual tension in Boots & Backpacks starts out especially belligerent, but over the course of the story, our dear couple learns to get along.
• Will They or Won’t They - The staple of all romantic comedies! Usually it’s a foregone conclusion that they will, but the fun is seeing how and when they do.
• Inter-class Romance - Darcy’s a super-rich blue blood; Elizabeth is middle-class.
• Arch Enemy - Darcy’s arch enemy in Pride and Prejudice is George Wickham, but in Boots & Backpacks, the gossip columnist Gwen Younge fills the role.
• Grande Dame - Catherine De Bourgh, grand with or without a title.
• Act of True Love - In P&P, we know Darcy really loves Elizabeth when he drops everything to search for Wickham and Lydia in the seedy parts of London, and then, when he finds them, foots the bill to make them marry. And he never takes the credit or even wants Elizabeth to know about it, lest she feel indebted to him. Sigh.

Obviously, I can’t reveal what the Act of True Love is in Boots & Backpacks! But trust me, there’s a good one.

Now, just because we form expectations based on the tropes we recognize doesn't mean those expectations are fulfilled. Sometimes an author may set up a trope only to subvert it. A bait and switch, if you will. Think of a banana peel that no one slips on, or a damsel in 
distress who saves herself. So don't think that you know everything you need to know about Boots & Backpacks. There are quite a few surprises!

If you, like me, can’t get enough tropes, see the full TV Tropes list for Pride and Prejudice, as well as the section on romantic comedies. But be careful! One click will lead to many!

Thanks for reading, and thanks to Ceri for hosting my ramblings.

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Thank you to KC Kahler for such an entertaining guest post! To find out more about KC Kahler you can visit her blog: http://kckahler.merytonpress.com/ and follow her on twitter @KCKahler

Meryton Press are very kindly offering a giveaway of one paperback copy of Boots & Backpacks on this stop of the blog tour, open internationally. To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post. Please leave a way for me to contact you should you win, twitter handle or email address (to prevent unwanted spam please leave your email address with an (at) instead of an @). Closing date is 10 November.

Please note that this giveaway has now closed and the winner will be chosen soon!

Since this a blog tour there will be other opportunities for you to learn more about the book and potentially win a copy. Here are the other scheduled stops:

28/10: Review at Songs and Stories

30/10: Excerpt & Giveaway at So Little Time…

31/10: Review at Wings of Paper

01/11: Guest Post & Giveaway at My Love for Jane Austen

02/11: Review at The Delighted Reader 

03/11: Excerpt at More Agreeably Engaged

04/11: Excerpt & Giveaway at The Calico Critic

05/11: Review at Warmisunqu’s Austen

06/11: Guest Post & Giveaway at The Darcy Obsession

07/11: Review at My Kids Led Me Back to Pride and Prejudice