Book Tour for Brother's Keeper by Elizabeth Finn (Guest Post & GIVEAWAY)

I'm a reader who loves intensely emotional books and just came across one that put my emotions on a roller coaster ride.  Brother's Keeper by Elizabeth Finn gives us a heroine whose youth has been full of pain and introduces her to the young man who's her best friend's brother as he becomes her loving angel.  Elizabeth's here today talking about this gutwrenching read as well as providing a giveaway.  So let's welcome Elizabeth and her amazing book to my site today....

How do you do justice to such a serious topic like abuse and believably incorporate it into a romance story? By Elizabeth Finn

I can truthfully say that while I was drawn to this particular question, and really really wanted to answer it, when it came right down to it, it was a very difficult question to tackle! Here’s what I can say on this topic…

I think that you have to respect this topic going in. I didn’t use abuse in a titillating way – not in any way did I do that. I tried very hard to make the emotion behind my victim’s character real, and while she carries a great deal of sarcasm in her approach to the world, sarcasm is also a defense mechanism and lends well to her life, who she is and what she’s endured.

She is a victim; there is no doubt about this fact. But it isn’t all she is, and this story shows her inner strength and who she really is and who she is meant to be. There are many facets to what makes Rowan … Rowan. Abuse happens to be one of those things.

When it came to the physical abuse itself, I didn’t make it pretty, I didn’t romanticize it, and I made it as real, gritty, and devastating as it is. The fact that she found love during a period of her life that was riddled with abuse doesn’t do the severity of abuse any disservice in my opinion. Had I glorified it, made it titillating in some way, or trivialized it, then I would have done the topic an injustice.

I can’t say every reader will agree with my approach. But I can say, I have no reservations with how I tackled this subject and incorporated it in to a love story. My characters are morally strong, abuse is not trivialized or used in any arousing way whatsoever, and I’ve tried very hard to accurately portray the ugliness of abuse. I would never wish to bring anything less to this subject than real raw accurate emotion, and I can only hope that my readers will see that in the story that I’ve written.  

Rowan is a high school senior. Logan is her best friend’s much older brother. With one ill-fated phone call, Rowan’s darkest secret is discovered, and she finds herself at Logan’s mercy, begging for his silence. Can he keep his distance while protecting her from the secret threatening to destroy her?

EXCERPT:

I beg my brain to concentrate on my book but can’t seem to keep my eyes where they should be. I keep looking up and watching Rowan. She’s pulling off her clothes, and I almost choke until I realize she has her dance clothes on underneath. She is sitting spread eagle on the floor, her back to me, lacing her toe shoes up her ankles. I can’t take my gaze away from her. She looks up to the wall of mirrors in front of her and catches me watching her from behind. She smiles shyly, and I smile back. I sit with my book open on my lap for the entire hour but don’t manage to make it past the first page.

I watch her as she stretches. I watch her as she goes through positions. She is beautiful—her lines so elegant. She may look small and unobtrusive at any other time, but when she’s in her element, she radiates and takes over the room. Her face is confident and calm, seductive but not intentionally so. The way she moves is so effortless, and her body is so amazingly balanced as she easily forces her body into positions that would make the average person groan in pain. I almost burst out laughing as I remember the acrobatics she attempted just shortly ago outside on the sidewalk.

Watching her body move is mesmerizing and does nothing for my vow to control my desire for her. Gay as Anthony most definitely is, I’m unrealistically jealous of the way he is allowed to touch her, pushing her legs into exactly the position he wants, turning and spreading her hips at his leisure, even sliding his hand around her firm buttocks to catch the back of her thigh and lift her leg at just the right angle. I catch myself holding my breath on more than one occasion, and by the time her hour is up, I’m her number one fan. I love ballet. She strolls over to me and sits down. She looks down before I even notice and sees just how far I’ve not made it in my book. I’m still on page one.

She smiles shyly before commenting. “Must be a boring book.” She has no idea…

“In comparison to other things, yeah, you could say that. Are you ready?”

AUTHOR INFO:

Elizabeth Finn is an Iowa native, where she lives with her husband and son. By day, Elizabeth is a Human Resources Specialist, but by night, she checks her professionalism at the door and immerses herself in the world of writing contemporary erotic romance. Look for more to come from Elizabeth Finn.

Visit Elizabeth at ElizabethFinn.WordPress.com, Facebook.com/ElizabethFinnFiction or email to ElizabethFinn77@gmail.com. She would love to hear from you!

**********GIVEAWAY**********

Elizabeth will be awarding a $10.00 Amazon Gift Card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

-Giveaway is OPEN TO EVERYONE.

-To be entered, leave a comment, along with your email addy.

-A winner will be chosen randomly from all comments made throughout the tour, so the more you comment the greater your chances of winning.  A list of all participating blogs can be found here.

-Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM CST on 11/16.