No Holding Back by Kate Evangelista @KateEvangelista

No Holding Back cover

No Holding Back
Kate Evangelista
(Dodge Cove #2)
Published by: Swoon Reads
Publication date: October 18th 2016
Genres: LGBTQ+, Romance, Young Adult

A romantic European vacation is the perfect excuse to let go in this highly anticipated sequel to No Love Allowed by Kate Evangelista.

Everyone knows that Nathan is in love with his best friend, Preston…Everyone except Preston. Nathan has always accepted that Preston was too focused on his swim training to worry about love. But Preston is heading off to train for the Olympics soon, so if Nathan wants his chance at love, he has to speak up now. But saying “I love you” is surprisingly difficult, even for someone as confident as Nathan. Maybe a whirlwind vacation in Europe could help? But… what if it doesn’t work out and he loses the best friend he’s ever had?

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No Holding Back and Love Locks

When I first started writing No Holding Back, I knew right away that the book needed to feature the love locks in Paris. Nathan has this notion in his head to place a lock on the Pont des Arts in Paris and throw the key into the Seine before he confesses his undying love for Preston. The way the tradition goes is lovers would engrave their initials onto the face of the lock, secure it to the railing of a bridge, then throw away the key. The act symbolizes the strength of their love and that it will last forever.

Sadly, the Parisian government has decided to ban love locks and I get where the decision comes from. It’s because the weight of the many locks caused the railings to break. Those bridges have been there for such a long time. They are landmarks. So preserving them is essential. As Nathan comes to discover in the book. Poor guy. Dashed his hopes.

A fun fact about love locks is that the tradition didn’t actually start in Paris as many think. Its origins actually come from Serbia and it dates back over 100 years. The tale began in WWI. In the town of Vrnjačka Banja there lived a school mistress named Nada. She fell in love with a Serbian officer named Relja. Because of the war, Relja had to fight for their country. Unfortunately, he meets someone else in Greece and falls in love with her, leaving Nada heartbroken. Some say Nada died young because she never recovered from the heartbreak of losing Relja. Because of this, all the young women in the village wanted to protect their love by writing down their names with the names of their loved ones on padlocks and locking them to the railings of the bridge where Nada and Relja used to meet. Thus the love locks were born. Interestingly enough, the bridge is called Most Ljubavi or the Bridge of Love.

If you want the authentic love lock experience, I suggest visiting Serbia and the bridge. The tradition of love locks is so compelling that it’s happening all around the world. There are love lock bridges in Rome, New York, Germany, just to name a few. I think it would be amazing to plan a grand trip with the purpose of visiting the love lock bridges around the world.



Author Bio:

When Kate Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn’t going to be the next Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her university and never looked back. Today, she is a graduate of De La Salle University – Manila with an Bachelor of Arts in Literature. She taught high school English for three years and was an essay consultant for two. Currently she writes full time and is based in the Philippines. To learn more about Kate, please visit her website at www.kateevangelista.com or follow her on Twitter @KateEvangelista

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