Tuesday, September 8, 2015

J Is For Josh

Jennifer talks about the hero in her book…

Josh was a great character to write. He started out as the villain in The Seduction of Esther. Maybe villain is too strong of a word. He was the foil. In that book, he was in love with the heroine, Samara. Except Samara was in love with Nathaniel.

Samara and Nathaniel were much better together than Samara and Josh. Samara was a bit of a mess and Josh thought it was his job to fix her. He was a great friend, but there weren’t any sparks—Samara didn’t want to be fixed (and I don’t like writing heroines who would want that anyway).

But he stuck with me because despite that flaw, he had a lot of potential. He was honorable, caring and compassionate and there was a reason behind his desire to fix people.

So I wrote him a book of his own.

In Miriam’s Surrender, Josh meets Samara’s sister, Miriam. And they hate each other. But slowly, they begin to see that the other one isn’t as bad as they first thought. That misunderstandings need to be cleared up and once they are, they realize how much they like each other.

But they each have secrets and they’re both perfectionists. So the two of them have to learn to unbend, trust each other and be a little less perfect.

Josh gets to show off his good qualities—and there are many. He gets to show some vulnerability. And he learns that the right woman will not only let him catch her, she’ll catch him as well.

Here’s an excerpt:

“I should probably go and let you get some sleep. I’ll pick you up Saturday around 11?”
“Perfect. I hope I’ll be recovered by then.”
He laughed, kissed her cheek and let himself out the door.
She put her hand to her cheek. His lips barely touched the skin, yet her cheek burned as if he’d branded her. They’d been warm and dry against her face. What would they be like against her lips? She leaned against the door and listened for the ding of the elevator’s arrival. It was whisking away the man she grew more attached to each time she was with him. She gripped the doorknob and willed herself not to turn it, not to open the door, not to run after him.
The elevator dinged. He’d kissed her.
***
Her cheek? Did he kiss her cheek? Oh hell. What was he, fourteen?
Josh continued to berate himself in silence as he flagged a taxi outside her building. He gave his apartment address to the driver and stared out the window.
Why didn’t he kiss her lips, like a man? Like a man who was attracted to a delectable woman.
He didn’t have a good answer for that question, except their relationship was new and he was still working things out.
She’d asked for his assistance and he’d run to her. It’s what he did. He helped people, and helping Miriam gave him a satisfaction deep in his soul. By aiding her, he established a connection between his heart and hers, except he couldn’t tell her.
If he did, she’d in all likelihood run from him, especially after all the support he’d tried to give her sister. She’d think he was doing the same thing, maybe confusing the two of them, and she’d be far from the truth.



11 comments:

  1. I love linked books, even if the link is tenuous. And I love this extract. Josh's thoughts made me smile, made me want to read the book to see how their story progresses.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is still in my TBR pile, need to move it up cause I remember not being fond of Josh in the first book. I agree, Margaret, linked books are great.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Josh and Miriam were certainly a good match for each other, once they stopped trying to control the other!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Redeeming the flawed hero is a great meme. Makes for a read I'll pick over the superhero any day.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love that your 'bad guy' got a book of his own. I'm all in favor of planting secondary characters to be used at a later date. It's even more fun when you aren't planning on giving them a story and they demand one! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes it is. I had it all planned out with other characters and then WHAM!

      Delete