PLEASE MENTION THE PRIZE THAT THE AUTHOR WILL BE GIVING AWAY:
Jennifer will be awarding a $25 Amazon gift card and chocolate to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour (international giveaway).
Encourage your readers to follow the tour and comment; the more they comment, the better their chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here:
http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2013/04/virtual-book-tour-seduction-of-esther.html
The Seduction of Esther
by Jennifer Wilck
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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?
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EXCERPT:
She leaned toward him and pointed to a crumb on his cheek. She brushed it away and his heart slammed against his chest. He could kiss her right here. Right here, in front of all these people.
What the hell had he been thinking? There were people here. Lots of them, and most of them were looking at him. As if a bucket of cold water had tipped over his head, his desire died and he leaned back against the chair.
Samara shifted. “Josh, do you think you could go with me next Sunday to look for set decorations and costumes?”
Way to go. Here I am thinking about kissing her, and she’s thinking about Josh. Despite his discomfort over the thought of a public scene, disappointment rose like bile in the back of his throat and he swallowed.
“Sorry, Samara, but I have a meeting. How about another day?”
“I can go.” Nathaniel heard the words come out of his mouth as if from a distance. What kind of an idiot am I?
“Really? That would be great. I need to get started on the set and I could use another pair of eyes. Josh, don’t worry about it, Nathaniel and I will take care of it.”
Josh’s glare should have made Nathaniel uncomfortable. It should have made his skin crawl. It should have made him back out to avoid everyone’s attention now focused on him, to come up with some kind of excuse. It should have warned him. But it just made him smile.
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Review:
*disclaimer from Harlie…I grew up in Dallas, TX. In high school, half of the girls on our drill team were Jewish. My brother’s best friend was Jewish. Shoot he went to temple and church. And my cousin (male) married a very nice Jewish girl from Chicago. I had completely forgotten about the Purim celebration. Thank you Ms. Wilck for the reminder.*
So now that you’ve read Harlie’s disclaimer, let’s get on with the review. Between the scenes at the temple, hanging out a Kosher deli, the older ladies trying to play matchmaker (which is real in the Jewish culture) and the Shabbat dinner at Samara’s house, I felt like I was hanging out the Prager’s. Yes, they are my Jewish “family” in Dallas and the book made me miss them.
Samara was the typical klutz but also very likeable and realistic as a heroine. Working at her temple full time and getting flustered every time she came across a good looking man, she was real. Believe me, I’m a old married woman and I still get flustered when I’m around a good looking man. 😉 Also, liked the fact that realized early on that Nathaniel made her NOT be so klutzy. He had a calming influence on her.
Nathaniel had a lot to deal with. A public scandal that ended his marriage, a 7 yr old daughter to raise and then the ex decides she wants to play mommy again. His attraction to Samara was not good at all. Unfortunately for him, the gods had other plans for him when it came to Samara.
These two were sweet together. They completed each other in ways that they didn’t even know they needed. Nathaniel’s daughter was also a breath of fresh air. Not bratty, too cutesy but necessary with Nathaniel’s growth in the book and his relationship with Samara.
If there was a villain in the story, Ms. Wilck gave Josh the fortitude in the end to realize what he done not only to Samara and Nathaniel but also to himself. I knew he was swarmy in the beginning but the book’s end, I really wanted him to find love, too.
Again, the settings and locales were great. I’ve been to NYC and can picture everything that Ms. Wilck described in the book. Of course, now I need to go the Jewish deli in Dallas next month. 🙂 Ms. Wilck’s secondary characters were also good and enhanced the story along the way. Never intrusive and demanding of their own time. Okay maybe Josh and Miriam in the end… hint, hint.
Don’t pass up a great story about two people that didn’t know they needed each other to learn to truly love someone. You also might crave a good Jewish deli in the process. 🙂
When I was a little girl and couldn’t fall asleep, my mother would tell me to make up a story. Pretty soon, my head was filled with these stories and the characters that populated them. Each character had a specific personality, a list of likes and dislikes, and sometimes, even a specific accent or dialect. Even as an adult, I think about the characters and stories at night before I fall asleep, or in the car on my way to or from one of my daughters’ numerous activities (hey, anything that will drown out their music is a good thing).
One day, I started writing them down (it was either that or checking into the local mental hospital—the computer was way less scary) and five years later, I’ve gotten two book contracts from Whiskey Creek Press. A Heart of Little Faith came out in June; Skin Deep is coming out in November.
In the real world, I’m the mother of two amazing daughters and wife of one of the smartest men I know. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, reading, traveling and watching TV. In between chauffeuring my daughters to after-school activities that require an Excel spreadsheet to be kept straight, I serve on our Temple Board, train the dog we adopted from a local shelter, and cook dinners that fit the needs of four very different appetites. I also write freelance articles for magazines, newspapers, and edit newsletters.
When all of that gets overwhelming, I retreat to my computer, where I write stories that let me escape from reality. In my made-up world, the heroines are always smart, sassy and independent. The heroes are handsome and strong with just a touch of vulnerability. If I don’t like a character, I can delete him or her; if something doesn’t work, I can rewrite it. It’s very satisfying to be in control of at least one part of my life. My inspiration comes from watching the people around me and fantasizing about how I’d do things differently.
I can be reached at www.jenniferwilck.com or http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Wilck/201342863240160. I tweet at @JWilck, my blog (Fried Oreos) is www.jenniferwilck.wordpress.com and I contribute to Heroines With Hearts at www.heroineswithhearts.blogspot.com.
My books can be purchased through Rebel Ink Press http://rebelinkpress.com/our-titles.html,
Whiskey Creek Press www.whiskeycreekpress.com, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
Thanks for the awesome giveaway. This book sounds really good.
Sorry for the late post. I’m playing catch-up here so I’m just popping in to say HI and sorry I missed visiting with you on party day! Hope you all had a good time!
kareninnc at gmail dot com
Thanks again for hosting me! If you’re so inclined to leave this review on Amazon or Goodreads, I’d appreciate it. If not, no problem.
another great review..sounds like a great read.
Thanks, Amanda. Hope you enjoy it!
Nice review
bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Thanks for stopping by, bn100.
HOPE YOUR BOOK TOUR WENT WELL! THANKS FOR THE GIVEAWAY OF THE AMAZON GC AND CANDY! calicolady60@hotmail.com
Thanks, Shelley. Good luck!
I have really enjoyed this tour! Soooo looking forward to reading this novel! *EXCITED*
Best,
Chelsea.
justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
Thanks, Chelsea. I’ve enjoyed meeting all of these new people!
I love Harlie’s blog…She writes such great and useful reviews.
Jennifer…Does your mother take credit for your writing career? Obviously, telling your to make up stories led to something BIG! LOL.
Hi Catherine, I love Harlie’s blog too! She does now, since she’s read my bio, but she’s pretty clear that my writing is basically my own.
Oh I love it when villains are redeemable! Also when they have more dimensions than just “evil” they tend to be WAY more interesting! Thanks for sharing!
andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com
I do too, Andra, although I have to confess that it was partly the realization that, “wait a minute, if I’m going to make him the next hero, I’d better make him likable” about halfway through writing the book. 🙂
I would like to read this 🙂
That’s wonderful–I hope you like it.
Wow, this looks like a great book 🙂
Thank you!
Best of luck with the release–it sounds fun!
vitajex(at)aol(dot)com
Thank you very much.
What a great review. Thank you for the tour, I’m looking forward to reading the book.
Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com
So glad to hear that, Rita. I hope you enjoy it!
Harlie here…
OMG, Josh and Miriam are perfect for each other. Josh isn’t as bad as I thought. He admitted to Samara and Nathaniel that he was being a jerk but I think Miriam will make him more of a hero in my eyes. He just wanted Samara but for all the wrong reasons. Just my opinion…
BTW, I did contact the Prager’s. They wanted to know when I was coming to Dallas again…soon. Thank you for bring back memories of them that I had forgotten about.
Hi Harlie, I’m so glad I inspired you to go back for Jewish deli–it’s the best! My promo cards have a recipe for Hamentashen (a Purim cookie) on the back of them–love making them all year round!
loved the review and thanks for the giveaway!
Thanks for stopping by, kp
Good review! I really enjoyed it and thought Zoe was the perfect kid in a book…and yeah…I sorta warmed up to Josh in the end but not as much as you did….lol
Thanks for the giveaway…..
junegirl63 at gmail dot com
You read it! I’m so glad you agreed with the review. Josh will be the hero in the next book and I promise, he’ll finish redeeming himself. 🙂
Thank you for hosting today.
Thank you for your review. I wonder which characters we will be seeing more of in future books!!!!
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
You’ll continue to see Samara and Nathaniel (and Zoe), but the next book will focus on Josh and Miriam.
Wow – thanks for the awesome $25 giftcard giveaway. I’d love a chance to win!
Good luck, Jennifer.
And thank you for hosting me today, Harlie. As well as thank you for taking the time to read my book and post a review. I really appreciate it!