Synopsis "Love Allows No Escape: The Sweet Lure of Romance (in English)"
The Sweet Lure of Romance focuses on the aspirations, desires and fears of a group of young people in their early to mid-twenties, who all reside in England and whose lives collide on the Greek island of Rhodes. Cathy, Ryan, Nick, Devin and Jules feel that opportunities to change are becoming scarcer - so thrust into this vibrant sensual environment - where friendships and their fidelity to those back home - are tested by the intense emotions and insecurities it agitates. Cathy, a raven-haired beauty, ostensibly enjoys a privileged lifestyle in the West country, working for her father's mainstream publishing company. However, under the surface, she feels increasingly constrained - both in her job and her relationship with her domineering boyfriend, James - who also manages the floor she works on - so interviews with a rival competitor in London. Ryan, edits content for a media company and dreams of cutting movies, but has a tendency to live up in the clouds much to his girlfriend's annoyance. She feels he should focus on more practical things, like getting a flat with her. When he stalls on this, she tells him that she'd rather go back to Dublin, than move into the squalid council flat, that he shares with his buddies from Ireland in London. One of these flatmates, Nick, is determined to get away from the degradation of their accommodation and rent an apartment in the right area with his upper middle class girlfriend, Rachel. An ambitious recruitment consultant - he wants to lay down the foundations of a successful life in London. However, he's not looking forward to the sexual constraints of his new situation and views their lads' holiday to Greece as his final two weeks of freedom. Then there is Cathy's flatmate Jules, a recent business graduate, who lives more for the moment, and has to kind of blackmail the cautious Cathy into going to Greece with her. Lastly, Ryan's other flatmate Devin, has a fondness for both the drink and making money, the latter mostly from his job as a trader in the markets. Thinking that he'll miss out on the crack, he buys a return ticket to Greece, so he can enjoy a couple of weeks on the beer with the lads there. This book - tells the story of the lead up to their holiday and their first week on the island - while the next The Tightening of its Grip, continues their Greek adventure and immediate return. The final one The Courage to Submit, completes the saga, focusing on the emotional spill over from it and the dramatic effects it has on their lives back in England. For some of them their character flaws continue to shadow them, self-sabotaging their present, but two are so deeply affected by what happens there, that it's simply impossible for them to just return to their previous existences. For these two, love indeed allows no escape route, no possible retreat back to it.
