My daughter's review of Just Like That

Some of you know that my daughter and I have entered a new phase of our relationship—she is reading one of my books for the first time.

This has been equally fun and scary for me. 

Scary?  Yes!  Here are just a few reasons.  There are swear words in my books.  But I’m not worried about that.  She’s heard ‘em all, and used a few herself.  There’s a guy who gets his way almost constantly with his charm and good looks.  That doesn’t concern me though—she sees right through that and finds him amusing.  There’s a girl who has a hard time being vulnerable.  Now I’m all for my daughter being strong, independent and confident, but she’s already all of these things times a thousand.  There’s also a time for vulnerability and trust with the right person—I hope she gets that.  

If not, I’m going to be bummed as a mom and a writer.  Oh, and then there’s the fact that she will now know all about blow jobs.  And she’ll know that I know all about blow jobs.  Yeah.  A little awkward.  Mostly though, I’m a little worried because she’s a discerning, avid reader.  She knows what she likes and what she doesn’t like and why.  She’ll be very honest with me, not just about the story and character development, but also the actual writing itself.  Oy.

But there are good things too.  One big one is that she keeps telling me the parts she likes and finds funny and it always makes me smile.  She thinks I’m funny! :) She also thinks I depicted the teenage girls and guys pretty accurately.  I love that she’s finally dipping her toe into romantic fiction after years of wanting to only read fantasy and science fiction (with romantic elements).  I also think it’s good that she’s learning what things make a man heroic (at least from her mother’s perspective).

So, she’s almost through chapter six (of twelve) and we’re both surviving without blushing or stammering around each other and yes, she’s through some sexy scenes.  However, she hasn’t read The Butter Scene.  I asked her if she’d gotten there yet and she said “No.  And I’m kind of scared to get there.”  LOL!  The warning on the book says, “… a whole new way to look at butter” and her comment to that was “I don’t think I want to look at butter differently”.

For fun, though, I thought it would be interesting to interview her about her experience in reading the first half of the book.  By the way, she’s reading Just LikeThat.  Yes, it’s the second in the Bradford series, but she thought the heroine sounded the most interesting of all my heroines :)

Me:  Is it weird reading a book written by your mom?

Finicky:    I don’t think of it as a book written by my mom, it’s just a book.

Me: (I like that answer :))  What one word would you use to describe the hero, Sam?

Finicky: One word isn’t fair.  To me or to your characters.

Me:  Aw… that’s nice :).  Now what word would you use?

Finicky:  Caring.

Me:  How about Danika (the heroine)?

Finicky:  *big sigh* Careful.  But smart about how she’s careful.

Me:  That’s more than one word.

Finicky: So?

Me:  Yeah, okay.  What’s the most annoying thing about the book?  The story, the characters, or anything.

Finicky:  There’s nothing really annoying about it. 

Me:  So you’re not missing all the supernatural powers or sci-fi stuff?

Finicky:  Well, yeah, that would make it better.  But you don’t really miss something if you know it’s not going to be there.

Me:  Okay, so what do you like best about the book?

Finicky:  That Sam’s a womanizer but he’s not an asshole.  He’s empowering for her, for women in general.  Like when he’s all about her feeling sexy—not being or looking sexy for him.  I also like that he’s taking care of her.  And their relationship is really easy—they just slip into it and it works.

Me:  Who’s your favorite character?

Finicky:  I can’t pick between them.  I could say Sam, but that would be overlooking all the great things about Dani.  If I pick Dani, it’s overlooking all the things I like about Sam.  I like them both.

Me:  What’s your favorite scene so far?

Finicky:  I don’t do favorites.  I feel like it’s unfair to pick just one.

Me:  Were you uncomfortable reading that first sex scene in the bathtub?

Finicky:  No.

Me:  Not even a little?

Finicky:  Nope.

Me:  But you didn’t know all that stuff, right?  Right?

Finicky: *smiles*  Yes.  One of the Sarah Dessen books I read kind of had that in it.

Me:  It did? 

Finicky:  But not like this, that was a negative thing in that book.  In your book it was good.  And it makes sense that over the years and years humans have been around that someone would figure out to do that.

Me:  *not really sure what to say I burst out laughing*  Can I please include that in the interview?   Please.

Finicky:  Yeah, whatever.

Me:  So what did you think of the scene overall?

Finicky:  I liked it.  It was interesting seeing her point of view during that scene, because it made me realize that it’s not just about being hot and sexy but that it’s also about being cared about and feeling comfortable.  Even though we don’t see his point of view, we know that she feels like she can trust him.  It was a little eye-opening, I guess, seeing how it’s supposed to be.

Me:  ooh, I really like that.  As a mom and a writer I love that you got from that scene that it’s not just physical. 

Me:  So, anything else you want to add?

Finicky:  Are you done asking questions?

Me:  *smiles*  I can be.

Finicky:  Can I just go read now?

So, I’m feeling even better about the whole thing now, honestly.  The fact that my as-of-yet not-sexually-active daughter is seeing a healthy, caring physical relationship and a strong, confident woman able to be herself but also let the right guy close makes me happy!  And to know that she’s seeing the “right” things in Sam, the hero—the caring, the honesty, the fact that he’s about Dani feeling good even more than about himself… that’s all very, very good.

Wonder if I’ll be able to talk her into reading another book?  I think she’d really like Sabrina and Marc.  Or Brooke and Jack. Or Jaden and Adam.  Or…