Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Finding Trust by Natalie Gayle: Review & Guest Post



Today I'd like to welcome Natalie Gayle to Pure Jonel.  Let's see what she has to say!


The Voices in my Head

Yep it’s true. I hear voices in my head. But before you lock me up or call the men in the white jackets – let me clarify. You see that’s how I write my novels. The characters talk and I listen.

Do they talk to me? Well not really. They don’t go “Hey Nat this is what’s going to happen.” It’s more as if I’m sitting watching things evolve through a movie. I refer to it as the “fly on the wall” phenomena.

You see, I can vividly hear and see everything that is happening and playing out in my books. Then I just describe it and write it with a bit of help from my characters.

I’ll be driving down the road listening to the radio and then next thing I know I’m watching a scene play out between my characters. The dialogue is, as if it’s happening in the car with me.

It makes me smile. It makes me laugh. My family often see this happening and walk past shaking their head.

“Mum’s head’s in her book again!” My kids say and walk off shaking theirs.

I’ve been caught with a sly smile on my face many times by my husband. For the first few times he said “What?”

After a little while I had to come clean, I think he was starting to get suspicious of something that was only a figment of my imagination.

Now he just raises his eyebrows, I smile and nod and he nods as well – very knowingly. Yep she’s up to it again.

What is totally bizarre is when the characters do something you don’t expect. It’s a bit unnerving actually. Take Rihanna for example. She did something big in Finding Trust. Something, that I just didn’t not expect. No way. No how. If you’ve read it – you’ll know what I mean. If you haven’t I won’t spoil it for you.

But when she did what she did. I kind of sat there gobsmacked. Really – she was going to do that? Apparently yes. Who am I to argue? I’m just the idiot on the keyboard!

I must say life’s never boring when you’re writing about dominant and interesting characters. They do and say the most amazing things, regularly.

I think this experience is probably very similar to all authors. I’m really interested to see if it still continues. It served me well to get “Finding Trust” written and delivered. I only hope it continues as well for all the other novels I have planned.

“Don’t fail me now – character’s!” I cry.

Not sure what I’d do if the process changed. So I’m not going to think about that. I’m a firm believer that if you start dwelling on the negative, you suddenly make it a reality. I’m going to trust that the characters want their story to be told and I’m going to do my job and write it the best I can.

So having now divulged that I hear voices in my head I hope you won’t think any worse of me. Maybe everybody does – they just don’t want to admit it?

What do the voices in your head tell you? Stop and listen – you might just be surprised.


And now, lets find out a little more about Natalie Gayle's novel!


Title:  Finding Trust
Author:  Natalie Gayle
Series:  Center Games #1
Published:  February 27th 2013 by EBS
Page Count:  376
Genre:  Romantic Suspense
Shelf: Review Copy
Rating:  ★★★★★


Book Blurb:

Finding Trust – Book 1 Centre Games Series Brayden and Rihanna 

He’s hot, sexy, and leads a double life. Sometimes in the limelight, mostly in the shadows. Brayden James holds fast to a secret that’s more than his to share. She’s a singularly focused veterinarian out for a rare night of fun with friends, at a New Year’s Eve rock concert. Going home with the lead guitarist was furthest thing from Rihanna Mason’s mind when the night began. When Rihanna inadvertently becomes the target of a deadly terrorist plot using the Hendra virus as a biological weapon, Brayden is forced to reveal his other life. His job is to keep her safe and together they must stop the terrorists before it’s too late. But what happens when she becomes more to him than just the assignment? Will the secret he cannot disclose ultimately prove too much for Rihanna’s fragile trust in relationships? Or will he finally break through the double brick walls around her heart, where every other man has failed?

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

My Review:

Wow! What a cool concept. I can honestly say that I’ve never read a book like this one before. Not only was it completely and utterly unique but it was also totally captivating and unendingly entertaining. Gayle takes a phenomenal concept and runs with it, creating a world and lives that you want to immerse yourself into, regardless of the danger.

Fundamentally, this story is very well written. It has a brilliant flow, and has been very well edited. As a reader you can lose yourself in the pages for hours on end. I never once put the book down. It was brilliant. Gayle’s descriptions and narrative are beyond compare. Everything is set out in vivid clarity, allowing you to walk into the pages of the book. She also switches perspective between the two main characters to give her readers a better sense of the entire story, rather than having it become one sided. This is very tactfully and clearly done, avoiding any possible confusion.

I really appreciate that the equine information and characteristics in this novel are correct. It is such a large basis for the story that you can’t help but be drawn to it. The biochemical aspect of this novel also adds another level to the story. Not only does it compliment the storyline but the fact that a situation such as this is a real possibility in the world makes you cringe.

I like that the characters are (mostly) real with each other. They don’t feel the need to be all ‘made up’ all the time, but rather feel able to act and dress as themselves with each other. Sure, they have secrets. I mean, who doesn’t. But essentially they are true to each other right from the get-go, building a brilliant foundation for a full relationship. This goes not only for the main characters, but for the cast as a whole. They are open and friendly with one another and act the way that true friends would.

Not only are the relationships between the characters well developed and realistic, but the characters themselves are as well. Each and every character that plays an important role in this novel is individually developed. Everyone has their own set of characteristics and their own personality. It becomes very easy to relate to some of them. Others, not so much, but that doesn’t stem from lack of character development. Rather, it stems from the fact that the characters are so diverse that even if you can see where they are coming from you won’t necessarily agree with everyone.

Above all, this novel was intense. It has an intensity that is rarely found in a novel. This intensity comes from the storyline as whole, not just select scenes here and there. It was brilliant. I cannot wait to read more from this author (and I think I see another couple or two brewing in this novel, so here’s hoping).


Author Bio:

I recently discovered those school vocational assessments are really interesting and probably correct! Who would have thought, hey? You see, I clearly remember taking one of those in Year 11 (for my US friends, I think that equates to junior year in high school). Anyway, semantics. Well, the results came back indicating that I should pursue a career in writing and something else. What that something else was I can’t remember but the writing thing stuck in my mind. Sure, I’d always liked English and had already developed a ravenous appetite for romance novels by the age of sixteen—but who becomes a writer straight out of school? So to cut a long story short, I went to Uni and studied Business and ended up managing large-scale IT projects shortly after. I can’t complain: it’s been a great career. I’ve done some awesome projects and met some incredible people and I won’t be giving it up anytime soon. Anyway, I’ve messed around with a couple of “secret” novels over the years and I finally decided to get serious and finish one. Hence “Finding Trust” came about. And about twenty years later, I’ve finally proved a vocational assessment correct, because I love writing! As to some other stuff about me: I live on the Gold Coast, Australia. I love spending time with my family and friends. When I’m not sitting behind a screen playing with IT or writing, you might find me down the beach playing in the waves on a Jet Ski or a bogey board (both are uber cool). When the weather turns a bit cooler (doesn’t really happen on the Gold Coast), we like to head for the snow. I’ve discovered I have two kids who are kamikaze skiers—they must take after their father. He’s always at me to “release the handbrake.” Apparently I’d ski so much better. I call it a healthy understanding of self-preservation and gravity! I like to think I can fit in a few workouts and martial arts classes each week. This tends to be a figment of my imagination more than reality, unfortunately. I am trying to remedy this, but those damn characters just keep demanding to have their stories told and, well, there’s always another good book to read! I hope you enjoy mine. Please drop me a line. I’m active on Facebook, Twitter, and via email Natalie@nataliegayle.com.au. I’d love to know what you think of my books and well, let’s be truthful—I love talking about books, whether they’re mine or someone else’s. Fiction is just so much more fun than reality!!!

Happy Reading,
 Natalie Gayle

Buy your copy of this novel online here today!


2 comments:

  1. Hey Jonel,

    Thanks so much for hosting today and I'm glad you like Finding Trust. I had a lot of fun writing it.

    I'm madly working on Rory's novel now. All the gang are back plus a few other interesting types. It's a little different. I'm not sure how to describe it. Maybe raw and emotional. My Beta's seem to be LOVING it so - fingers crossed.

    Any way thanks again -

    The Centre Gang all say hi as well!

    Nat

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    1. Thanks so much for stopping by Natalie!

      I can't wait to get my hands on Rory's story. I'm sure it'll be phenomenal, and cuddly, because what puppy isn't (sorry, Rory's a big boy, not a puppy). Of course, that doesn't meant that I don't have my fingers crossed that a certain someone else doesn't get their own story as well. :D

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