Guest Post/ Giveaway–Serendipity by Janet Nissenson

                           Published December 10th 2013 by Bookbaby

Where Did All These Wrecked Characters Come From?

Did it start with Fifty Shades or was it already happening? I’m talking about the current trend of having either the hero or heroine (or in really depressing cases, both) being emotionally damaged in one way or the other. There is a huge number, apparently, of seriously screwed up characters in our books these days, and I’m hoping that isn’t an accurate reflection of real life. If it somehow sadly is, then we must have a huge shortage of therapists and psychiatrists in the world.

Nearly every book I pick up has either the hero or heroine suffering from some sort of past or present emotional trauma, either due to abuse, neglect, addiction, illness, losing a family member, being in an accident, etc. – the list goes on. And these traumas that they have suffered appear to be the catalyst behind the entire plot of the book, the reason why the hero and heroine can’t just be happy together. Some of their reasons are legit and make sense, others seem like a real stretch. Nobody, it seems, has benefited from the services of a qualified, competent therapist to help them get over their issues. But then, if they had, the entire basis for the plot wouldn't exist. Some of these books have been so dark and depressing, that I felt like I needed a therapist after finishing them. I also can’t help feeling that a lot of these books have a real copycat trend going on, and that they are getting to be both predictable and boring.

With Serendipity in particular, I wanted to write a book about two characters who were perfectly normal, happy, well-adjusted people. The circumstances that keep them apart for a good part of the book have nothing to do with any past traumas or their emotional state. It is definitely a challenge to come up with a realistic plot line that allows for this, but that’s part of being a writer. I hope that more writers rise to the challenge and start creating characters who aren't on the verge of an emotional breakdown in every chapter.


 

    

Amen, you are preaching to the choir!! Let's declare this an angst free zone!

Was meeting again an unfortunate twist of fate? Or was it just serendipity?

Julia McKinnon was convinced she’d found the one – the man of her dreams, the most seductive, experienced lover she’d ever known – and the night they’d spent together in New York was the stuff erotic fantasies were spun from. But with the dawn of a new day came only heartache and betrayal, and her dreams were snuffed out like so much fairy dust.

Nathan Atwood felt like the lowest sort of life form after seducing the incredibly beautiful girl he met in New York, only to break her tender heart with the confession that he was already involved with someone else. Leaving Julia was the hardest thing he’d ever done, and the memory of their passionate night together haunted his dreams for months afterwards.

Now fate has brought them together again, and they are forced to work alongside each other. Will Julia be able to put aside the feelings she still has for her handsome boss and forge a new life for herself in San Francisco? And how long will Nathan be able to resist the gorgeous woman he’s never really stopped thinking about or wanting?

I can not for the life of me figure out why this book held me so enthralled. It broke so many of my hard and fast rules, that this should have been a DNF after the first two chapters. So why did I read the whole book in one sitting, turning page after page in record time?? I can only attribute it to Janet Nissenson's talent as a writer. If someone had told me that I would finish a book that centered around a hero cheating on his fiance, I would have been all "Oh, hell, naw!" I think the lack of poor, pitiful me was a major factor. If I run across one more character who has suffered child abuse from a drunk uncle or their rabid horse, or any type Jerry Springer scenario, My head might explode. Now, to be honest, a big draw IMHO (and keep in mind that I am a big ol' perv) is the outstanding dirty talk. You may think, dirty talk? Anybody can do that. Noooooo, not well they can't, trust me. Dirty talk in the hands of an amateur can not only be a turn off, it can also be cause for restraining orders. There is a very fine line between dirty talk and just being gross with moments of terror. Serendipity should be mandatory reading for anyone thinking about writing or practicing dirty talk. Janet is an artisan in this field. I haven't blushed in decades, that is until I read this book. It's not that what Nathan and Julia engage in is so exotic or bizarre, it was the language that shoved those images into the readers mind with a fierceness.

So, I am convinced the reason this book didn't register on my DNF scale is because I read it as an EROTIC romance. There are different guidelines, in my convoluted mind at least. For example, If this had been a Julie Garwood novel, I would have been convinced that Julie had suffered a severe head trauma. Whereas if this had been an Emma Holly novel, I would think she was a bit off her game because everyone in the book hadn't slept with everyone else at once. Think of it as a time delayed menage of sorts. So even with all the WTF, I still really, really liked this book. I do hope the sister gets her HEA, hint hint.

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Brand new author Janet Nissenson has been dreaming of writing her own book for decades and the dream has finally been realized.  Janet lives on the northern California coast south of San Francisco with her husband Steve and high-maintenance Golden Retriever Max. She worked for more than two decades in the financial services industry before switching her focus to producing road races and running events. She is a former long-distance runner, and current avid yoga practitioner. She looks forward to sharing more of her writing with interested readers for a long time to come - after all, she has three decades of ideas to put into words!

 

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Author Janet Nissenson is giving away a total of six prizes! One winner will receive a $15 Amazon gift card, and five readers will get an ebook copy of Serendipity. Ends 2/20/14 at 12 A.M. Eastern time. Open internationally to readers 18+.
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Legal Disclaimer
Because the government can not keep it’s nose out of my business, I find it necessary to make the following statement.

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review. I have no dog in this fight so the expressed opinions are mine and mine alone. I received no compensation, no hugs (physical or virtual) or any other incentive to influence my review.

This contest is sponsored by the author/publisher/publicist and R, S & TB is not responsible for prizes or fulfillment.