About Susan Griscom:
“I daydream often. If I didn’t write, I think my mind would explode from an overload of fantasy and weirdness. To the annoyance of my friends and family, my characters sometimes become a part of my world. During my childhood, I would frequently get in trouble in school for daydreaming. Eventually, my vivid imagination paid off and I had the privilege of writing and co-directing my sixth-grade class play—a dreadful disaster; though not from my writing, of course, I must blame it on the acting.
The craft of writing, although dormant for years, never really left me. Many years later, and with the help of technology, I let my imagination run wild again.
Born in a small town in Pennsylvania, I enjoy writing about characters living in small quaint towns. I tend to lean toward the unusual and spooky. I read all genres but I love reading paranormal romance and like writing in that genre.
My paranormal playing field delves into a different milieu, abandoning vampires and werewolves, but not discounting them. Someday I might like to write a novel about vamps and those furry creatures. But for now I like the bizarre mixed with romance. A strong hero or heroine confronted with extraordinary forces of nature, powers and capabilities gets my blood running.
I live in Northern California with my very romantic husband, my small yippy dog, Riley, and my humungous black cat, Saké. My family consists of his and her children; four wonderful sons and one beautiful daughter, six grandchildren and another on the way. My greatest love in life is my family and those large and ever growing holiday dinners.
I enjoy traveling. I hate running, but do it once in a while. Reading and writing are my favorite pastimes.”
Keep up with Susan online at her: Blog | Website | on Facebook | Twitter |Goodreads | and her Amazon Author Page.
The Fawn
BEAUMONT BROTHERS Book #1
Buy from Amazon / B&N /
Sexual content and mature subject matter, including domestic violence and abuse.
This will be a two book series, but both books in The Beaumont Brothers can be read as a standalone.
After a not-so-wonderful young adulthood—shuffled from one foster home to another—Lena Benton had hoped marriage would be her ticket to happiness. Wedded a year after high school graduation, Lena was certain she’d found her knight. But when Troy Harington’s true colors surface shortly after their glorious day of elopement, things aren’t quite as rosy as Lena had envisioned. When an unforeseen event turns ugly, all she can do is ... run!
But does she run far enough?
Jackson Beaumont prides himself on being a nature-loving, guitar-strumming carefree sort of guy, known for his eagerness to help injured animals find their way back into the wild. When Lena Benton walks into his bar, he’s once again swept off his feet with concern and desire to help the wounded. Will he risk having his heart torn apart again when the memory of the fawn he rescued as a child resurfaces?
*eARC received from the author in exchange for an honest review
The Fawn was a wonderfully gripping story about rising above oppression, finding salvation, discovering beauty and joy in the little things, and the transformative properties of true love...
A contemporary new adult romance, The Fawn follows Lena through her journey as she escapes from a terribly abusive husband and finally strikes out on her own, all the way to where she is able to find the love she truly deserves, both from herself and from another.
Touching on a subject that isn't much used in fiction because it's oftentimes hard to read, The Fawn starts with scenes of domestic abuse. While gut-wrenching in their intensity, the scenes are integral to setting up Lena's story and her motivation and mindset for the rest of the book. There are times within this first part of the book that you will become breathless and want to look away. You will hate and rail and wonder if the author is writing from experience. I asked, and the answer is no (thank goodness!), but what that all means is that the writing is superb and done with such finesse, it immediately sucks you in.
As Lena's journey leads her farther away from her abusive husband and out onto her own, she ultimately ends up finding Jackson, and let me just say that you will immediately add another book boyfriend to your list of favorites!
Lena and Jackson's story is sweet, emotional, and a truly enjoyable read. One thing I will note is that the pace of the story, given the subject matter that builds the heroine's character, is a bit rushed, but it's a work of fiction and there are only so many pages to work with, especially if the meat of the story is supposed to be the romance. Susan couldn't have changed this without adding a lot of no action time slips or uncomfortable parts of the book that wouldn't be light enough for an NA romance. It's called out in the beginning of the book before the acknowledgments that it's a work of fiction and in no way meant to be a realistic journey of a true battered wife. I hope that readers will keep this in mind while reading, because outside of the fact that yes, Lena and Jack do end up falling in love quickly, it's a romance book, and that's what we're all hoping for, isn't it!?
I would definitely recommend this book for fans of sweet contemporary romance with some danger and intrigue thrown in for good measure.
The Fawn
