N Is For Nathaniel

Jennifer talks about one of her heroes...

Nathaniel is the hero of The Seduction of Esther. He's a single dad, concerned with his reputation, and he falls for the clumsy, yet beautiful, choir director at his new temple. Dating a member of the clergy brings with it a lot of attention, which is precisely what he's trying to avoid. But his daughter loves Samara and he gets to know her better when he stars in the Purim play with her.

I loved writing this book, as it let me explore Jewish characters in contemporary romance, and it let me write a fun kid as a big part of the story. Seeing how characters react to children gives readers a hint at the inner working of those characters and enables the writer to show traits that might be difficult to otherwise describe.

Amazon

Here's the blurb:

Samara Goldberg has a problem even the most beautiful singing voice can’t fix. She’s a walking disaster, especially when she’s around handsome men. To make matters worse, she’s in desperate need of someone to play the character of Mordecai for the Purim spiel she’s producing and the new congregant, Nathaniel Abramson, is a perfect fit. Nathaniel is a divorced dad who’s recovering from the biggest public scandal of his life. The last thing he needs is a relationship with the choir director at his new synagogue, who also happens to be playing the lead female role of Esther in the very play he’s been coerced into joining. Woven around the Jewish holiday of Purim, The Seduction of Esther is a story of two people whose lives mirror the plot of the Purim story. Like Esther, who had to hide her Jewish identity from the King of Persia, Samara and Nathaniel are hiding key pieces of themselves. Evil Haman wanted to destroy the Jews, and the nasty Josh will do anything to keep Samara and Nathaniel apart. Will their love survive, like the Jewish people in Shushan, Persia, or will their fear keep them apart?