Despite the current Greek debt crisis, holidaymakers from all over the world are still flocking to Greece to enjoy the sea and sunshine provided by the Greek islands.

Greek-born but Melboune-raised author Diana Karezi is very aware of Greece’s strong appeal.

Not only does she write about handsome Greek men but she also uses her vibrant Greek Australian cultural heritage as the main theme of her sizzling romance book Surrender, published by Australian eBook publisher this July 2015.

Diana Karezi is the pen name of Dora Kitinas, who is also a visual artist.

Kitinas shares her time between her Melbourne home in St Kilda and her apartment in Athens, Greece, overlooking the Acropolis.

She writes travel and culinary articles for numerous newspapers and magazines, and has enjoyed a successful career as a professional visual artist.

She loves to cook traditional Greek food for her extended family, which includes son-in-law Ross Wilson of Mondo Rock fame and her granddaughter, Neighbours star Olympia Valance.

“Through a historical and mythological journey, I wish to entwine Greek culinary culture together with the local customs,” says Kitinas.

“I want my readers to try and discover for themselves on what island this impossible love story is set on.”

Her novel, titled Surrender, is set on an unnamed Greek island. Kitinas’ leading characters all have Greek backgrounds and are usually conflicted about where they belong.

In this way, the author takes her readers on a journey through the Greek islands, from Athens all the way back to Melbourne.

“I fell in love with Greece in the ’70s and that feeling tortured me,” Kitinas tells Neos Kosmos.

“My passion for Greece made me move to Athens in the ’80s, where I spent 13 years of my adult life.”

“In order to do so, I had to part with my life in Melbourne,” she admits.

Surrender tells the story of Hope, a Greek Australian woman, who, after a messy divorce, escapes to a summer spent in solitude on a Greek island paradise.

Whilst enjoying a holiday on the Greek islands, Hope not only gains a potpourri of summertime friends but also the attention of Jason.

A summer romance is fine, but Jason is much younger and wants more. Can he persuade this headstrong, worldly, older woman? Can this alluring younger man provide a second chance of love?

The author also tackles issues of feminism, sexism and, most controversially, gay marriage.

“I have many gay friends and thought it natural to include gay characters in my book in order to represent the modern lifestyle of today.”

Kitinas is currently working on the next steamy book of the Greek Affair Series, preferably in the sun on a Greek island with a cold glass of Ouzo.

For more information, head over to www.facebook.com/DianaKarezi and www.dianakarezi.com

Surrender is available as an ebook from www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00ZH2AP10