Jeanette's here today on her blog tour for her recent Samhain release, UNACCEPTABLE RISK. Check out that gorgeous cover! The book sounds amazing, so go pick it up!
Behind Every Strong
Man…
It's been said a million times: behind every great man is a
great woman.
But in this day and age, does it really have to be that way?
I'm not going to lie. What draws me into a book is the hero.
It never fails. I love them hot, smart…and preferably tortured. Show me a good
man to fall in love with, and I am hooked. Immediately.
But what makes a romance novel great for me – what makes it memorable and re-readable – is a
strong heroine. Someone who can hold her own and who wants more out of life
than just a guy. Someone who gives as good as she gets. Someone who, even after
finding the love of her life, is still herself. Just better.
Strong heroines are hard to find, though, and they're even
harder to write. Our culture draws a very fine line between 'strong woman' and
… well, a word that rhymes with witch. Women are supposed to be accommodating,
supportive and, more often than not, submissive; when they break from that
mold, they run the risk of becoming unlikable.
But they also have a chance of becoming real.
Creating a strong heroine was key to the inception of my
debut novella, Unacceptable Risk. In
something of a role reversal from the typical romance, the heroine, Plix, is
the one out there on the front lines. Driven to expose the person she believes
responsible for poisoning her city and killing her parents, she's turned
herself into a one-woman army, capable of infiltrating enemy strongholds and
recording everything she sees, all to be used as evidence against the corrupt
powers she's trying to take down. Because her life is so dangerous, she doesn't
see love as an option.
It's a common dilemma for the strong heroine. Unwilling to
be seen as weak or to depend on anyone else, it's hard to let others in, much
let yourself fall in love.
The closest she's ever come to letting someone really know
her is her friend Edison. While he's not the one out there kicking ass and
taking names, he's integral to everything she does, repairing her systems and
working behind the scenes to keep her safe. He's an ideal, swoony hero, and
he's also the perfect counterpoint to Plix. He loves her because she's strong; he wouldn't want her to be anyone except
exactly who she is.
When these two do finally admit their feelings for each
other – when she finally allows herself to let him in – there's no change in
their relative positions. Plix learns that she can still fight for justice
while also taking something for herself. She learns that she can be a better version of herself, because she's
allowed herself to be supported by Edison's love.
And isn't that the heart of any great love story? Finding
someone who loves us for exactly who and what we are? Someone who challenges us
to grow?
I'd say so.
So I say it's time to put that old saying away. For me,
behind every great man is…well, nothing. Because the woman who loves him is
standing right beside him, holding his hand.
And both of them are better because of it.
About Unacceptable Risk:
Plix spends her
lonely, gritty life trying to solve the mysteries her father left behind. Armed
with a variety of cybernetic enhancements and a talent for getting into places
she shouldn’t be, she searches for clues to his murder—and who’s responsible
for poisoning her city.
Waking up on a
street corner with her brain wiring fried to a crisp, she figures she must have
gotten close this time. There’s only one man she trusts to pull her back from
the brink: a tuner who can retrieve the evidence hidden deep in the recesses of
her mind. A man she dares not let too close to her heart.
When Edison
downloads a secret SynDate schematic from Plix’s burnt-out circuitry, he knows
with dreadful finality that nothing—not even the fiery kiss he’s been holding
back for years—will stop her from pursuing her quest past the point of
insanity.
All he can do, as
he helps her plan her final mission, is ease her pain, watch her back…and hope
one of them doesn’t pay with their lives.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Unacceptable-Risk-ebook/dp/B005OVZ7X0
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unacceptable-risk-jeanette-grey/1105946840
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-unacceptablerisk-657478-143.html
Samhain Store: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/unacceptable-risk-p-6566.html
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unacceptable-risk-jeanette-grey/1105946840
All Romance eBooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-unacceptablerisk-657478-143.html
Samhain Store: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/unacceptable-risk-p-6566.html
About Jeanette Grey:
When she isn’t
writing, Jeanette enjoys making pottery, playing board games, and spending time
with her husband and her pet frog. She lives, loves, and writes in North
Carolina.
She is a member of
Romance Writers of America and Carolina Romance Writers.
Website: http://www.jeanettegrey.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jeanettelgrey
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jeanettelgrey
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4507045.Jeanette_Grey
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jeanettelgrey
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jeanettelgrey
GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4507045.Jeanette_Grey
