The Seduction of Esther by Jennifer Wilck - Virtual Tour and Giveaway

Today we're welcoming author Jennifer Wilck to the blog on her tour with Goddess Fish Promotions for her romance, "The Seduction of Esther".

One randomly chosen commenter will win a $25 Amazon GC and chocolate so comment today, and then follow the tour for more chances to win! Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

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?

Enjoy an 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.

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.