Welcome to Unwritten's
February Blog Series
Characters in Love!
Each day will feature a different fictional character from various books and genres, and a personal interview about their love lives. It's sure to be enlightening, and if you find yourself dying to know more about them, pick up a copy of the the book!
2.
How/where
did you first meet your love interest?
8. Is
there anything your lover does that completely annoys you?
Today we welcome Zenobia from The Winemaker:
1.
Please
tell us a little about yourself.
I’m Zenobia, Zenna for short. I
was born in London but now live with my husband, Etán, on his wine estate in
Santiago, Chile. I used to be an English/Spanish teacher before I met Etán, and
then I worked at his estate, Sol y Sombra, for a while as his PR agent.
Recently, Etán helped me fulfill my dream, to run my own travel agency, Zenobia
Travel. Oh, and I have a special gift to see visions of the future, and
sometimes the past. It used to be my curse, but with the guidance of my
mother-in-law I more look at it as a gift, these days, putting it to good use.
2.
How/where
did you first meet your love interest?
Um-hum, well, you see, Marcos–my
ex-fiancé–dumped me and Etán witnessed the whole, humiliating scene outside our
rented house, on the pavement. Looking back I guess I was a bit harsh, lashing
out at Etán for something that wasn’t his fault, but he had this way of staring
at me…
3.
Was
it love (or attraction) at first sight?
Oh, yeah. From the minute I saw
his handsome face I knew I wanted to get to know him. As for Etán, he later
told me that I affected him in a way no woman ever has. And he showed me too,
at every opportunity he got. But I was protecting my heart, and he was
protecting his soul … and Luca, his brother, who he thought loved me too.
4.
When
did you know for certain that you were in love?
There was this awful moment when family
commitments and trying to save the estate forced Etán to marry Clara, the
neighbor’s daughter. I think when I saw the wedding preparations taking form in
their garden, I knew, for sure, that I love Etán like I’ll never love anyone else.
I still shiver thinking that he could have actually gone through with it.
5.
Have
you done anything to compromise your love (or vise versa)?
Etán is a very passionate man.
When he loves, he loves deeply. He once loved another woman, his first wife,
Sanita, to the point of obsession. When I kind of crashed into his life and
Sanita became jealous, trying to get it back together with Etán, I thought that
he’d risk what was developing between us for her. But he only compromised what
we felt for each other when he almost put his responsibility for his family’s
estate above what we could mean to each other by becoming engaged to Clara. And
I think that Etán believed I compromised our love when he pushed me away and
Luca and I became really close. I’m happy that those uncertain days are over,
that we now know what we are to each other, and that Etán can once more open
himself up and give his love to me freely.
6.
Has
anyone ever come between you?
Like I said, plenty of times.
There were Clara, Sanita, and of course Luca. And my kidnappers… If they
managed to pull off their scheme … I don’t even want to think about that.
7.
If
you could take your lover on the perfect date, where would that be?
I would take him right back to
Tahiti, where we eloped to to get married and where we spent our honeymoon.
Bora Bora will now always be the perfect place for me, because of the memories
we made there. If I have to take Etán someplace local, I will take him into the
vineyard, and set up a table overlooking the valley with his favorite wine and
food, my spicy dishes that he came to love so much. Yep, our date will have to
involve wine and food. After all, wine is the medium Etán chose to communicate
to me, like I chose food. It still is our special code of conveying emotions.
(Smile.)
8. Is
there anything your lover does that completely annoys you?
There is this thing about Etán
that you have to understand. It’s a bit difficult to explain. He has an
overdeveloped sense of smell, and he claims that the unique fragrance of my
skin intoxicates him, which is wonderful, but he can also tell by smell, by how
the chemistry of the oils in my skin change, when I tell a white lie, or when
I’m upset. I can never hide the way I feel from him. And he blames the way I
smell, like my shampoo or my body lotion, for losing his control, instead of
just acknowledging that he can’t keep his hands off me.
9. What’s
the biggest challenge you’ve faced together as a couple?
We were both rejected by our past
lovers and had to work hard at trusting and loving again. I have to say that it
was harder for Etán than for me. But Etán is a man who, when he loves, gives
everything. I am such a lucky girl.
10. Is there a happily ever after in store for
you?
Oh yes. We’re still on honeymoon,
but this is it … for life. Etán so
badly wants to be a daddy. I guess we won’t wait too long before we start
working on our own little family.
Want to dive into the wine-making world of Zenobia and Etan? You can find The Winemaker by Charmaine Pauls here:
Amazon (Kindle & paperback)
Lulu (eBook & paperback)
Mélange Books (eBook & paperback)
Charmaine,
ReplyDeleteEtan sounds seriously dreamy!
I loved this character interview. This book is on my TBR list. Congrats on your successful South African tour. Looking forward to reading this.
ReplyDelete