Guest Post with author Eva Marquez

Today I am on the book tour for Sweetest Taboo by author Eva Marquez that was put together by Pump Up Your Book.

I got to spotlight this book a few weeks ago and it sounded so good that I couldn’t wait to show case it.

I am so thrilled and happy that I also got the chance to read and review the book. My review will be posted shortly. So check back a little later for that.

But now I am so honored to have Tom Stevens, a character in Eva Marquez’s Sweetest Taboo do a guest post for me. I want to thank Eva for taking the time out of her busy tour schedule to do this for me and I truly appreciate it.

Without further hesitation please help me welcome Eva to the blog.

Dear Readers,

I suppose many of you might have comments or even unanswered questions that you would like to ask me, given the opportunity to do so. With that said, I would like to take this brief moment in time to at least try to partly explain “my side of the story”, and what my thoughts were as to the decisions I made so many years ago.

I would like to start by saying, you don’t always have a choice with whom you truly fall in love with. For those of you who would like to argue the point, well, all I can say is…have you really ever been in LOVE? I am not talking infatuation, dependency, or that you have been with someone for such a long time you are “used” to them and you wouldn’t know how to live without them in your life. I am talking about the type of love that you KNOW, that you FEEL in every fiber of your soul, a feeling of comfort, of being “at home” in the arms of that person, knowing if you never saw them again, you would continue to love them unconditionally with all of your heart for the rest of your life? This is how I felt about Isabel, don’t ask me why…because I can not explain, it is just how it was, how it is, and how I feel.

The first time I saw Isabel from afar, I felt a connection. I don’t know why I should have felt anything at all, as she was just one of thousands of students I have seen on campus over the years. But there was something there, I know, you may be saying “but she was only 15”. I didn’t look at Isabel as an “age” or anything else, I just felt a connection of some sort…it was that simple. I didn’t see her until the following year on the swim team, where as you have read, I got to know her quite well. I NEVER set out to seduce her; it was quite the opposite as she flirted and made relentless advances by being near me every chance she could. Eventually things happened (against my better judgment I might add) as we got to know each other, as we fell in love with each other, and as we dreamed of a life together.

I will always say that Isabel was never a “school girl”, she was never an “age”, and she was never anyone I pursued. She just appeared in my life at that particular moment in time, and while the relationship that developed between us was strong, it only became stronger as time went on. To you, the reader, know that I love Isabel with all of my heart, with all of my soul, and with every fiber of my being. It can and will never be any other way for me. This I know.

~ Tom Stevens

About the Author:
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, daughter of European immigrants, Eva Márquez has spent most of her life outside of her home country. At the age of five, Eva accompanied her parents to the United States, where the family settled permanently. After graduating from university, she went on to complete graduate studies in International Relations in Spain. Eva received her Master of International Studies degree from the University of Sydney and went on to work in the global health field in Sub Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Eva currently resides in Southern Africa.

Her latest book is the YA/Adult Fiction, Sweetest Taboo. You can visit Eva’s website at www.SweetestTabooBook.com

About the Book:

Isabel Cruz was fifteen years old when she met Tom Stevens. She was 15 when they started dating, and 16 when she lost her virginity to him. By the time she turned 18 and went to college, everything had fallen apart. This hadn’t been an ordinary love, though. Not a love between two dear friends, or even high school sweethearts. This had been the most taboo sort of love there was: a relationship between a student and her teacher. Isabel started her high school career as a normal student, but set her sights on Tom Stevens as soon as she met him, and pursued him with an intense – and sometimes reckless – fascination. When he finally approached her after swim practice and told her that he shared her feelings, it was the start of a forbidden and dangerous relationship. Join Isabel as she makes her way through this dark love story, hiding from teachers, lying to her parents, and defying the authorities to make a life with the man she loves. Watch as she discovers the wonders of love and romance, and the terrible betrayal of jealous friends. And cry with her when she learns the hard truth about life and the people in her world. Sweetest Taboo is inspired by the true and tragic stories of students who fall in love with their teachers, and live with the hard truths of forbidden romances. In a world full of after-school specials on sexual predators, this touching book seeks a different path, casting both student and teacher in a gentle light, and showing that true love may lie at the base of even the most illicit romance.

Sweetest Taboo Tour Page: http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2012/10/28/pump-up-your-book-presents-sweetest-taboo-virtual-book-publicity-tour/