Traditional literature has certain
typecasts for characters: Villain, evil. Hero, good. Staying inside these
boundaries helps an author ensure her readers will dislike the bad guy and like
her good guy/girl.
My characters tend to misbehave, though. In
Trouble Won’t Wait, hating Mandy’s husband Mike from the start is
easy—after all, he broke a sacred vow of marriage. And yet, as the story goes
on, he’s not quite so hate-able. At times, it’s even easy to feel bad for the
guy who did something really rotten, and still has a few bonehead moments, but
underneath it all is a good man. Staying angry with him is also difficult for
Mandy, which complicates her plight. And I have to confess, having a
not-all-bad “bad guy” flustered some of the ladies in my romance critique
group. But life isn’t always all straight lines and clean cuts, is it?
Giveaways!
Have you ever empathized with a villain? If
you leave a comment and share who, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a
digital copy (PDF, EPUB or Kindle) of Trouble Won’t Wait. An Amazon gift card of $15 will be awarded to one lucky commenter from Buy The Book Tours Media Page at the end of the 8 week book tour.
Have a great day.
Trouble Won’t Wait - Book Blurb
Good things may come to those who wait,
but trouble waits for no one…
Cheating is a dealbreaker...or so Mandy’s
always thought. But when she catches her husband getting some “strange,” she
realizes how hard it is to cut and run, or even file papers. She agrees to
a month of counseling, which will give her time to grieve the loss of her
marriage before she has to tell the world—and the kids. Then she meets Adam,
who gives her a hunky--if mysterious--shoulder to cry on, and that thirty-day
waiting period seems like an eternity.
Adam has no problem confessing that he’s
watched Mandy from his window for months as she runs by his house. If he told
her why, though, she’d freak out for sure. He knows they’ve got a future
together, if he can think of a way to explain his past. And he’s sure the
rat-bastard who cheated on her is putting the moves on her again, but he won’t
be the revenge guy. The month-long cooling off period she agreed to is lasting
forever, and might just be indefinite, if trouble keeps getting in their way.
WARNING: Eccentric old lady pushing
salt-of-the-earth advice, bossy big brother, kooky counselor, super-secretive
hunk, and perfect justice served amidst adult situations and language.
Excerpt: Mandy’s individual session with the unconventional marriage
counselor
I doubt Baldwin understands my resolve, so I explain. “I’m only here because I’m stalling Mike until after the holidays to separate.” Or was Mike stalling me? I’m not sure anymore. “I have no intention of ever sleeping with him again, and I want a divorce.” That should be clear enough.
His bushy brows shoot up. I’ve piqued the wanta-be therapist’s interest. “Why do you feel that way?”God, could it be more simple? “He had sex with a woman we know, while I was in the same house! Anybody, even one of the kids, could have walked in on it! It makes me sick to think of him touching me.”“Do you still love him?”Jesus, did Mike put him up to asking that?“It doesn’t matter. I can’t forgive him for what he did. I’ll never forget what I saw, it comes to me at all hours of the day and night.”“So you do still love him, but you’re angry, possibly jealous of his having another partner without your consent.”Without my consent. This guy probably advocates swapping and threesomes, all the fun and games, as long as both spouses consent. I snap my gawping mouth shut.Good ole Baldwin looks me straight in the eye. “What if you were to have an encounter with an outside partner, to even the score?”Is it the smoke from the candles or his suggestion making me choke?“You mean like a revenge affair?” Stampeding thoughts of Adam shred my calm like buffalo through prairie turf. I feel flushed.* * * *
Maria Grazia's review
She thought they had a satisfying relationship, she was sure of that and loved Mike dearly. And even after her
husband betrayed her, ignored her efforts to keep fit and attractive after
having their two children, didn’t even realized she wrote books in her spare time and never read what she wrote, she accepted a month’s
counseling to try to save her marriage. She can’t love Mike any longer but her
sense of duty is strong enough to let her promise him she will meet the bizarre marriage counselor he chose.
She is so angry with Mike, who goes on cheating on her even during the counseling, but she tries to bear his presence in her life and in the same house for 4 weeks more. Where does she find the strength? In the newly acquired friendly bond with a mysterious, fascinating neighbour, Adam.
She is so angry with Mike, who goes on cheating on her even during the counseling, but she tries to bear his presence in her life and in the same house for 4 weeks more. Where does she find the strength? In the newly acquired friendly bond with a mysterious, fascinating neighbour, Adam.
Adam and Amanda are clearly attracted to one another, but she doesn’t want to give her husband any
reason for blaming her for the failure of their marriage, so she decides she can’t have an affair before her
marriage is officially over.
Will
she be strong enough to resist temptation? Then, what does mysterious Adam hide
in his top-secret past? Why has he been watching her from a distance in the last months and
knows so much about her?
Autumn Piper’s
prose is vivacious and her narration involving, she brings to life realistic
characters with whom you’ll find easy to relate, especially Amanda. The
experiences she includes in her novel are ordinary but made special by romance
and irony and will give the reader an
occasion to reflect on love, temptation, trust and loyalty.
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Thanks for having me, Maria. And thank you for the lovely review!
ReplyDeleteIt's been a pleasure to read and it's a pleasure to have you as my guest. Good luck to your lovely book!
ReplyDeleteI'm always torn about villains. Unfortunately, some of them bring more life to a novel than the hero. I guess I have to admit that Augusta Elton is one of my favorites. I think she'd be a great match for Sir Walter Elliot of Persuasion if the thing with the Reverend Elton fizzles.
ReplyDeleteI think our atraction to villains is just because they have flaws, big huge giant unforgiveable flaws in some cases, and choose to live their lives against the common current.
ReplyDeleteA little bit of rebellion is not bad, too much is not sane or healthy.
My favourite baddie: Ripley is so much clever than Dickie Greenleaf that it got me everytime.
My favorite villain is Lothaire from Kresley Cole's IAD series.
ReplyDeleteHappy Holidays & thanks for the amazing giveaway!
elizabeth @ bookattict . com