IMPERFECTIONS
Ann Chiappetta
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GENRE: YA Contemporary Fiction
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BLURB:
For
Lainie, feeling unwelcome is only the beginning of her struggles. Her mom is
addicted to painkillers, her stepfather is a felon, and her dad traded her in
for a new family.
So
what if she’s kicked out of high school? Determined and attractive, Lainie sets
out to make her own path.
Shane,
the young man she begins dating and believes is trustworthy, transforms into a
possessive and cruel boyfriend. When Efren, Shane’s older cousin, enters her
life, Lainie grasps onto a shred of hope, falling in love. Shane’s obsessive
and abusive treatment of her, however, casts a deep shadow over Efren and
Lainie’s chance to find safety and a
future free of the fear of Shane’s
sadistic retribution.
Will
their love persevere, or will Shane’s pervasive and negative influence push
Lainie and Efren apart, forcing them to love secretly?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT
Shane wasn’t who he once was, and I needed to do whatever I
could to help her feel safe. Witnessing the abuse and shame she’d endured
because of his sick obsession twisted me, and I wanted nothing more than to
pummel his snotty little face until he begged for mercy. How could anyone abuse
someone like Elaina?
She strode past Shane and into my suite with the final
armful , ignoring him.
“I’m done,” she said.
“I hope she doesn’t disappoint you in bed,” said Shane.
The anger boiled, but I kept myself in control. “Enough of
that. This isn’t the time to rearrange your face, you snotty wanker,” I said,
my voice thick with anger.
I waited until Shane dropped his gaze, then I said, “I hope
that day comes soon, cousin. I hope you step over the line so I can make some
improvements to your complexion.”
He retreated to his room. I heard the lock engage, and I
permitted myself to feel a little regret at not defending Elaina’s character
with direct contact of my fist against that arse’s face.
I entered the room. Elaina had stacked her belongings, her
life, into a corner of the sitting area. It saddened me to know that a few
cases and boxes were all that remained after Shane had stolen and sold the rest
to get high.
There was so much about her that I wanted to know. Why her
father never helped her. Why she didn’t ask for help from her relatives in New
York. I knew her mother was an addict and that she and Elaina did not speak.
She was enrolled in East Bay Community College and was close to earning an
associate’s degree. She wanted to obtain a bachelor’s degree in kennel and
stable management. So focused, and yet she seemed sad.
The fair gowns hung on a hook in the closet. Her fingers
caressed the pewter and black one.
The gesture brought me a sense of gloom, as if she were
saying goodbye. After I had crept into Rita’s box and listened to her sobbing,
the moderate measure of guilt I felt for punching Shane, the wanker, then
asking Rick to assist in throwing him over the fair gate, had been assuaged.
Shane should have gotten a sounder beating, but he was still blood kin. That
was the only thing that had saved him from my rearranging his mug.
Listening to Lainie’s sobs, I realized I wanted to pick her
up off Rita’s back and be the one to absorb those tears. I needed her to trust
me. She was so vulnerable and isolated that I wondered if she would ever take a
chance on sharing the abuse I knew she had endured during her time living with
Shane. I hoped when she finally decided to trust me, I would be able to handle
it.
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Guest PostTopic: What are the main themes explored in your book?
Thanks for helping promote my book. The main theme is never
give up hope and always be open to love and believe in yourself. If someone
shared these three key convictions with me when I was Lainie’s age I might not
have felt lost and alone.
A secondary theme is trauma and healing from it. Lainie meets both negative and positive people
in her life. The push and pull of traumatic experiences she endured while being with Shane and then sharing
a place in her life with good and caring people shows the depths of her
strength and pain.
A third theme is what could happen if trust in yourself is
weakened and not believing you deserve to love and be loved. Feeling unwanted,
ignored, and alone often goes unreported by people who are profoundly affected
by the impact of these influences. Lainie’s inner thoughts and actions
throughout the story show her struggle with these influences and mastering them.
Lainie is caught between love and obsession. Effren enters
her life and illuminates how much her life with Shane is tinged with abuse and neglect.
There is an undercurrent of being abandoned by her birth family and it veils
her from what is actually taking place with Shane.
Is Effren her knight in shining armor? In some respects,
yes. You will need to read the book to find out if he is strong enough to cope
with Shane’s obsession and Lainie’s trauma; will their love survive or is it
too late for Lainie to ever feel worthy to be free to love and be free of
Shane’s cruel games?
I worked for many years as a trauma counselor and exploring
it and how it effects characters in my books is one I find is worth considering
as a way to add depth to my stories. There is a connection with family drama
and trauma, why else do they seem poetically similar? I am not trying to be
trite or snarky; I believe adversity is
one path to achieving great things. I wanted Lainie to find a path and with
each step gain confidence and self-respect. This is her journey and I hope you are
drawn to it while reading the story.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Ann
Chiappetta, M.S. Poet and author
Ann’s
award-winning poems, creative nonfiction, and essays have appeared
internationally in literary journals, popular online blogs, and print
anthologies. Her poems have been featured in The Avocet, the Pangolin Review,
Plum Tree Tavern, Magnets and Ladders, Oprelle, Western PA Poetry Review
2024and Breath and Shadow. Ann’s short story, The Misty Torrent appeared in the
Artificial Divide anthology published by Renaissance Press (2021).
Ann
is the recipient of the 2019 GDUI Excellence in Writing award and the WDOMI
2016 Spirit of Independence award.
Independently
published since 2016, the author’s seven volume collection includes poetry,
creative nonfiction essays, short stories and contemporary fiction.
Diagnosed
in 1993 with a rare form of progressive retinal disease, Ann accepts vision
loss as part of her life but doesn’t let it define her as a whole person.
The
author resides in western Pennsylvania with her husband, retired guide dog pet
dog and cats, striving to develop a mutually-beneficial relationship with her
assistive technology.
Contact
Ann by visiting her website: www.annchiappetta.com
Subscribe
to Ann’s blog at www.thought-wheel.com
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com /verona.chiappetta/
BookBub Buy Links: https://www.bookbub.com/books/imperfections-by-ann-chiappetta?source=link_share
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GIVEAWAY
Ann Chiappetta will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thank you for featuring IMPERFECTIONS today.
ReplyDeleteThe blurb and excerpt sound really good.
ReplyDeleteThe book details sound like an interesting read.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like an insightful novel. Thanks for sharing.
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