NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
The writing of The Fawn has been a bittersweet journey. This is a story very close to my heart and a story suffered by many women around the world. It's not a new story. It is one that has been told time and time again by many different people in many different ways and with many different experiences, but with the same old problem. Hopefully through my love of my characters and emotions I've made it an interesting one. I wrote the first twenty pages of this story back in 2008 shortly after finishing the first draft of Whisper Cape. Although the story of The Fawn is completely fiction, it does represent a time in my life when I was insecure and my self-esteem was at an all time low, sometime back in my late thirties early forties. Things changed, circumstances changed, and I was able to find my own self worth. One thing similar to The Fawn is that I didn't do it alone. The people in my life had a huge influence on me, friends mostly. And my knight who helped me realize my own self-worth time and time again. Just as Jackson is there for Lena, my knight was there for me. That is where the similarities end. But the emotion is strong in this story and I hope I've been able to portray it well enough to be appreciated. Lena's journey is very different from my own, yet, holds so much weight in my heart.
Teaser Excerpt
I grew up in a small town in Pennsylvania, spending most of my time daydreaming or playing around in the mud. I grew out of the mud play, well, most of the time, a good soak in the mud is always fun. I still daydream often and sometimes my daydreams interrupt my daydreams. So I write to remember them. If I didn't write, I think my mind would explode from an overload of fantasy and weirdness. To the annoyance of my friends and family, my characters sometimes become a part of my world. During my childhood, I would frequently get in trouble in school for daydreaming. Eventually, my vivid imagination paid off and I had the privilege of writing and co-directing my sixth-grade class play--a dreadful disaster, though not from my writing, of course. I'm pretty sure it was the acting.
The writing of The Fawn has been a bittersweet journey. This is a story very close to my heart and a story suffered by many women around the world. It's not a new story. It is one that has been told time and time again by many different people in many different ways and with many different experiences, but with the same old problem. Hopefully through my love of my characters and emotions I've made it an interesting one. I wrote the first twenty pages of this story back in 2008 shortly after finishing the first draft of Whisper Cape. Although the story of The Fawn is completely fiction, it does represent a time in my life when I was insecure and my self-esteem was at an all time low, sometime back in my late thirties early forties. Things changed, circumstances changed, and I was able to find my own self worth. One thing similar to The Fawn is that I didn't do it alone. The people in my life had a huge influence on me, friends mostly. And my knight who helped me realize my own self-worth time and time again. Just as Jackson is there for Lena, my knight was there for me. That is where the similarities end. But the emotion is strong in this story and I hope I've been able to portray it well enough to be appreciated. Lena's journey is very different from my own, yet, holds so much weight in my heart.
Released Date: March 1, 2014
The Fawn
A New Adult Novel
Sexual content and mature subject matter, including domestic violence and abuse.
After a not-so-wonderful young adulthood—shuffled from one foster home to another—Lena Benton had hoped marriage would be her ticket to happiness. Wedded a year after high school graduation, Lena was certain she’d found her knight. But when Troy Harington’s true colors surface shortly after their glorious day of elopement, things aren’t quite as rosy as Lena had envisioned. When an unforeseen event turns ugly, all she can do is ... run!
But does she run far enough?
Jackson Beaumont prides himself on being a nature-loving, guitar-strumming carefree sort of guy, known for his eagerness to help injured animals find their way back into the wild. When Lena Benton walks into his bar, he’s once again swept off his feet with concern and desire to help the wounded. Will he risk having his heart torn apart again when the memory of the fawn he rescued as a child resurfaces?
MY REVIEW
When I first started reading this book, I really scared for Lena. She was married to a monster, who is finally determined to kill her. Before he can succeed, she stabs him as he is strangling her. Believing him to be dead, Lena does the one thing she has only dreamed of doing.
She runs.
She doesn't care where she goes, she just knows that she has to get as far away from Troy as physically possible. Lena knows if he isn't dead, he will stop at nothing to find her and finish the job he started.
When she walks into a pub and meets Jackson Beaumont, she doesn't expect him to be the one to change her life. She's beaten up badly and is only wanting a cup of coffee and some peace and quiet.
Jackson takes one look at her and knows she is in some kind of trouble. He doesn't believe her lie about being in a car accident. He also knows that someone's fist caused her injuries. Always having a soft heart to help wounded creatures, he decides to help Lena. He's not too worried about whoever she is running from, he just wants her safe and healed.
What he doesn't expect is the attraction he feels for her. He knows that the last thing she needs is another man in her life coming on to her, so he gives her the space she needs. The last Lena expects is kindness from anyone. For so long she's been dealing with her husbands cruelty that she's rightfully apprehensive about accepting kindness from any man.
Jackson gives her a place to stay, food in her stomach, and most importantly, the chance to see that not all men are evil creatures. She's terrified to trust him, but knows she has no choice.
I loved this book! It was gut-wrenching reading Lena go through what Troy did to her, but she had the courage to get out. She had the courage to run until she was safe. Because of everything he did to her, she believed she was weak. She didn't understand the strength inside of her. Just the simple act of getting away from the violence showed an immense strength of her being.
Oh my God... I so loved Jackson!! He never pushed Lena farther then what she was comfortable with; and only ever wanted to take care of her. Knowing her fear of killing her husband, he does a little digging of his own for her to find out the truth.
Then Lena sees an old friend in the pub. One she hasn't seen since before he left her husband. What she finds out sets about a chain of events that almost has her running again.
As I said, I loved this book!! I loved seeing how Lena discovered who she was without Troy there to bring her down. With Jackson's help, she's able to see that there are actually men out there capable of love and tenderness and not anger and violence.
Teaser Excerpt
Lena
No more tears, I ordered myself. It’s over. Was he dead? I hoped he was dead. I had to have killed him. My emotions—convoluted with anger and fear—dominated my judgment, giving me courage to go on. I’d never considered myself weak, to allow a man to have such complete and utter control over me—to beat me whenever he had the whim. How the hell had that happened?
Well, that person was gone and I didn’t want to be weak anymore. I lifted my glasses, studied my eye again, and thought of my mother—she’d been weak, I remembered. The vision of my stepfather beating my mother to death invaded my mind. I was nine at the time, and sat cowering in the corner, praying he wouldn’t come at me when he’d finished with her. I’d watched him slap my mom around before, and she’d always been able to recover. But that last time, he’d gone too far. I watched as my mother fell to her knees, clutching her stomach as his foot came off the ground and struck her in the face. She’d fallen backwards and her head hit the edge of the red, brick hearth of the fireplace. I covered my eyes and screamed as blood spewed out all over the bricks and the worn out, dingy cream carpet. A neighbor heard the screaming and called the police. They’d gotten there in time for me, but too late for my mother.
I’d been on my own since I was eighteen after enduring one foster home after another, never really fitting in. But at the tender age of fourteen I’d found my niche. An old discarded second-hand guitar I’d discovered in someone’s trash became my savior. As long as I had a guitar in my hands nothing else mattered. After a few months of living with some friends and several temporary gigs here and there, I’d been lucky enough to find a spot with a smalltime band singing and playing lead-guitar. They called themselves The Magic Crew. They were good too, on their way to stardom, and I was right there with them until Troy Harington showed up and swept me off my feet.
It seemed as if it had all been a dream as I thought about how he’d manipulated me into believing he loved me. Handsome? Oh yeah, he was handsome.
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There are still a few days left to enter on Goodreads to win a signed paperback copy of The Fawn and be sure to add it to your TBR list. This contest is open internationally.
THE AUTHOR:
I enjoy writing about characters living in small quaint towns and tend to lean toward the unusual and edgy.
My paranormal playing field delves into a different milieu, abandoning vampires and werewolves, but not discounting them. Someday I might like to write a novel about vamps and those furry creatures. But for now I like the bizarre mixed with romance. A strong hero or heroine confronted with extraordinary forces of nature, powers and capabilities gets my blood running hot as does an steamy contemporary romantic suspense.
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Blog | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page
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