Review: Widower's Aura

Title: Widower's Aura
Author: A.J. Renee
Format: Kindle (A.R.C)
Pages: 260
Date(s) Read: August 17-19, 2016
Rating: 4

Summary:

Sofia Brazier escapes a career gone south as a juvenile probationary officer in New Orleans.  She moves from the large city to the small town of St. Fleur where she opens a photography business in an attempt to cleanse herself of the dark souls she'd tried to help.  All is going well, untill Noah enters the local pub.  Noah's wife died, and ultimately it is an act brought on by Noah's own daughter that brings their fates crashing together.

Review:

I was gifted an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.  I would like to thank A.J. Renee, Love Between the Sheets Blog Tour, and the publisher for offering me this opportunity to participate in the blog tour as well as offer a review.

All the emotion.

All of it.

This book is so very well written and it takes a trope that is quite difficult to get right and gets it so very, very write.  A.J. Renee's debut novel is filled with a little bit of mystery to add to the romance that is building between Noah and Sofia.  Everything flows so naturally through out the story, and even those scenes that are of an explicit sexual nature are so very well written.

The small paranormal aspect to the book is one that absolutely sealed my adoration to this story a bit more.  I love that Sofia can see auras, and the fact that she can't see Noah's was enough to give her pause and ultimately pique a bit of her interest because....well that's something that's never actually happened before!

After I started the book (sometime after dinner and before bedtime on the 17th) I knew it was one that I'd have to put down before I went to bed or I'd ultimately end up finishing it in one setting and getting absolutely no sleep on a night where I had one of my longest shifts that week.  My better judgement finally won out and I ended up puttin the book down and picking it back up after work and various other household errands.  Only reason it took me about 2 days to read it is because I chose to defy the pull of this fantastic novel and delve into the real world when I really, really wanted to stay with Noah, Sofia and Lexi until the very last word was read.

This is definitely one that I will recommend to anyone that loves a fantastically written story, in-depth and relate-able characters and a little small town magic.

Widower's Aura: Interview with A.J. Renee

I always love getting a chance to pick an author's brain!  No, seriously, it's so very much fun.  Apparently, I have a knack for picking questions that really, really make them think!  I loved interviewing A.J. Renee, and her answers are fantastic.  Thank you for allowing me to participate in the blog tour for Widower's Aura!




1. What was your inspiration to start writing a novel?
I’d love to say I had this A-HA moment but I didn’t. One of my best friends died way too young. I couldn’t get over the fact that she never got her own real-life love story. Writing Widower’s Aura was my own grief therapy and giving her the love story she never got. Sofia, while fictional, was inspired in many ways by my friend.

2. Do you listen to any music or anything while you write?
I do! I created a playlist on YouTube that includes John Legend, Gavin DeGraw, Christina Aguilera and A Great Big World, Christina Perri, Sam Smith, Paramore, Ed Sheeran, Jennifer Lawrence, Anna Kendrick, and a few more. I need music I’m familiar with so I don’t spend more time listening to the lyrics than writing. I also listen to my 6, 4, and 2 year olds playing around.

3. What are some of your go to writing snacks, drinks, etc?
Tea! I love this Lipton Green Tea that’s Jasmin, Orange, and Passionfruit. I’m not big into snacks because I’d eat the whole pantry if I did but I do grab about two squares of Dove’s Dark Chocolate. My friend laughs at me because she says I’m weird for only eating 1-2. I guess most people would eat a handful? Oh well, I guess that makes me weird, nothing new there.

4. What is your favorite part about becoming a published author?
Seeing something I started two years ago grow from grief into a wonderful love story that I can honor my friend’s memory with.

5. How do you keep your tasks organized? Between family tasks and writing tasks?
I’m still trying to figure out this balance. My family has to come first but there are some days that I’m reminded I’m struggling to juggle it all. There really aren’t enough hours in the day.

6. Do you have a favorite character in your books? Least favorite character?
My favorite character is always the one I’m working on. They become living and breathing people to me, even if it’s only in my crazy head. Least favorite character, wow that one’s hard. I feel like I should say Slick but I can’t and I can if that makes any sense. I want to protect him after everything he went through as a child but as a mom I want to smack him upside the head and tell him to take responsibility over his actions. The fact that he blames others for the things that were clearly in his own hands makes me CRAZY.

7. What authors do you draw inspiration from?
My love of small town stories comes from Marie Force and Kathleen Brooks. My love of the suspense mixed in with the love story comes from Julie Garwood. R.L. Mathewson’s humorous characters inspire me to create characters who can be quirky or silly.

8. If you could meet one author for 24 hours, how would you spend it?
Oh goodness. Just one? This is a really hard question. I have so many authors I love. Kathleen Brooks. So I can drink some of her special tea from Keeneston. We could talk about her lovely batch of friends who exist in my life as real beings. It would also be pretty awesome to brainstorm what characters should fall in love next.

9. If your books were ever made into a movie, who would you want as the cast?
Another hard one, HA! For the record it took me about 2 hours to figure out this list.

Sofia: Olivia Munn
Noah: Josh Duhamel
Lexi: India Eisley
Jaxson: Nick Robinson
Lindsey: Emilia Clarke
Marc: Jay Hernandez
Jaime Lynn: Nikki Reed
Jesse: Boris Kodjoe
Sheriff Randy: Robert Forster
Annabelle: Megan Fox
Slick: Logan Lerman

10. What color best describes your mood throughout the day?
Something bright like red or orange. My life is pure chaos with little kids and trying to balance all the hats I wear.

BotW: Widower's Aura

Okay, so it's Wednesday.  I'm a little late.  Blame the cold that decided to move in this past weekend and is still here! Yeah, loads of fun that.  However, I'm still getting book of the week up (while this week is still going so that's a plus right?!). 

This book is a new favorite of mine, recently released on August 18th, and written by a dear friend of mine...whose blog tour I'm also participating in...so today's posts will ALL be Widower's Aura themed...including a review and a Top 10 by A.J. Renee! There will also be a review by your's truly! 

Anyway, let's get this party started! 

Living in a world full of colors, Sofia Brazier escapes a career gone south as a juvenile probationary officer in New Orleans. After moving to the small town of St. Fleur, Sofia opens a photography business in hopes of ridding her life of all the dark auras surrounding the damaged souls she once tried helping. Her comfortable new life is upended when widower, and ex-security-forces-turned-handyman hunk, Noah Tyler enters the local pub.

Noah attempts to avoid the voluptuous beauty who has captivated his every thought. That is, until his daughter vandalizes Sofia’s building and effectively seals their fate. After cutting his daughter a break, Sofia begins tearing down the walls he built after his wife’s death.

Just when life finally seems worth living for Noah, Sofia finds herself the victim of a string of crimes. Can he protect Sofia when he failed to protect his own wife?