What More Could a Navy Seal Have to Learn? - by Judith Hudson

Life Lessons are the backbone of each of my Fortune Bay books. In fact, they are the lynch pins of most romance novels and—dare I say—the real story in most books. But let’s stick to romance.

In writing a good romance, the problem is always keeping our two obvious love-interests apart. Often the problem is in the form of low self-esteem in their personas. Isn’t it heartwarming to find out that the sleek, model-esqe female protagonist, (who is also a vet who rescues animals with life threatening issues and restores them to health and then finds them happy homes if in fact not adopting them herself!) still struggles with body issues from her chubby childhood? And the Navy Seal, who rescued fifteen orphans in El Salvadore and, needless to say, has the body of, well, a Navy Seal, struggles with opening up to women because his older sisters teased him mercilessly when he was a child.

So, when he rescues a kitten that was stuck up a tree, who has an additional terrible injury, and takes it to the vet, he can’t believe she could ever go out with him, to say nothing of LOVE him, because he is so fundamentally unlovable. And need I say, high-jinks ensue.

Only when both protagonists confront their issues and learn their life lessons can we allow them their happily-ever-after.

Now, some people think this is contrived, but isn’t life actually often exactly like this? Okay, maybe minus the god-like physiques, and sometimes the happy endings, but we all have life lessons to learn, and so must our characters. More than the actual romance itself, these are the parts of the book that to me are the most satisfying to write and, as a reader as well as a writer, to read: the struggle, the shame or sadness, the inevitable coming up against it, whatever it is, and then the epiphany that follows.

The Good Neighbor is the second full length book in the Fortune Bay series, which coincidentally is on sale on Kindle for 99¢ this week, beginning tomorrow. It is a story about fathers and daughters; a woman whose widowed father couldn’t show love, and a man who still struggles with the shame of having given away his baby girl as a young teen. These issues became the heart of the book.

Stories about women who give up their babies are painful and poignant, but are often known. At least among women. The fathers, however, seldom have a voice. In my research I found, not surprisingly, they too often harbor painful feelings of loss and failure. The difference is, in that manly way, they usually don’t talk about them.

Sean may have been my favorite hero to write. I might have fallen a little in love with him myself. 🥰 The Good Neighbor also a fun Thanksgiving story - all hell breaks loose at Thanksgiving dinner and what’s more fun than that! So take advantage of the 99¢ sale this week and get the ebook on Amazon Monday November 25th..

If you want a reminder, CLICK HERE and I’ll let you know when all the books come on sale in the next few months. I'll even throw in Lake of Dreams, a 100 page prequel novella for free. 😊 

bit.ly/Thegoodneighbor

Happy Holidays!

Judith Hudson