Character Spotlight ~ Julie Lessman's John Brady & Elizabeth O'Connor and signed giveaway

Today the spotlight shines on....................Elizabeth O' Connor & John Morrison Brady

If you read historical romance you will know the name of Julie Lessman and her Daughters of Boston series. The third book in this wonderful series, A Passion Denied, has just released and my copy arrived this morning and I can't wait to read Lizzie and Brady's story. I know I am in for a treat :)

And Julie has a treat for you all here too, a spotlight on the characters that are Lizzie and Brady. I've had a soft spot for Brady since he first appeared in A Passion Most Pure and even more so now!

Enjoy:~

Brief physical description of your main characters:

Lizzie O’Connor (formerly Elizabeth or Beth), is a shy and gentle bookworm bent on fairytale romance. She is willowy and graceful at five-foot-seven, and has near-violet eyes and a fashionable bob that is all the rage in The Roaring Twenties. Her chestnut hair is worn in a wavy shingle haircut, falling just below her ears and shows off her heart-shaped face and slender neck to good advantage. She is delicate and slim, with soft, subtle curves in all the right places.

John Morrison Brady, Collin’s best friend from WWI and now his business partner, is six-foot-three and very muscular as he works out at a boxing gym and play sports. He has cinnamon-brown hair and brown eyes that appear almost hazel in the sunlight. He has a dry wit and a deep-calm personality.

Actor/famous person who might resemble her/him

For Brady, definitely Michael Vartan, the lead in Never Been Kissed with Drew Barrymore. Here’s the pic I like the most because he has that deadly-calm look in his eyes that Brady so often wears. Hubba-hubba!

For Lizzie, I think Revell did a WONDERFUL job with the cover model – she is exactly as I pictured her, but if I had to pick a movie star, I would go with Emmy Rossen.

Strengths and weaknesses

Lizzie’s strengths are her passion for literature and her passion for God, her gentle nature, her love of children, and her flair for drama when it comes to story time at the bookstore where she works. Her weaknesses are also tied to her love for literature, which translates into escapism and her obsession with fairy-tale romance and finding the man of her dreams, which in her case with Brady, sets her up for major disappointment.

Brady’s strengths are his deeply-rooted passion and commitment to God, his dry wit, his fierce loyalty to those he loves and his calm and inexhaustible patience. His weaknesses are part of the story and something I cannot divulge, but let’s just say that not only does he have a hidden temper, but that “still waters run deep.” He is also a man who can forgive any wrong of anyone … except himself.

Quirk (if any)

Lizzie’s quirk is that she gnaws on her lips a lot when she’s shy or frustrated, which in this book, with Brady, is pretty much ALL the time!

Brady’s quirk is he loves to mess with machinery in the print shop, so he is always covered with ink, head to toe.

Your inspiration for the characters

Well, when I started writing this series, I actually modeled each character after an aspect of myself. For instance, Faith from A Passion Most Pure is my spiritual self, Charity from A Passion Redeemed is my carnal self (before God), and Lizzie in A Passion Denied is my dreamer self. Lizzie is a bookworm bent on fairytale romance, just like I used to be as a little girl, sneaking downstairs to watch romantic movies after my parents went to bed. In her story, Lizzie has to learn (just like I did) that true romance, the kind that really satisfies, comes from following God’s precepts and not the world’s.

As far as Brady, I have always seen him as a strong, silent Billy Graham-type of man who is a virtual Rock of Gibraltar when it comes to God. But as we all know, the only “Rock of Gibraltar” that exists on this planet is located south of Spain! Which underscores a line in A Passion Denied that says, “We’re nothing more than Christians … human beings with clay feet and a strong God.”

Background to the story:

When Brady first appeared in A Passion Most Pure as Collin’s trench mate in WWI, I liked him so much, that I wanted him to be a permanent character in the series. So it was an easy fix to have him and Collin establish a partnership in the printing business, the same business both Collin and Brady’s fathers were in. As far as Lizzie, I thought it would be fun to have her develop a crush on Brady in book 2, A Passion Redeemed, which then sowed the seeds for their romance in A Passion Denied.

Ironically, the original manuscript depicted much darker secrets for Brady that were very disturbing and, I thought, very necessary. But, Revell did not agree and had me rewrite the plot to lighten his secrets. In retrospect, I now feel that Revell was absolutely correct in their original call, and I am grateful for my editor’s wisdom in this matter.

Photograph of press by Eamonn McCabe

Fabulous, Julie ~ as always! Thanks so much for sharing an inside look into your characters and for providing a terrific giveaway :)

On Monday, the spotlight turns on Nicole Baart's Abigail and Hailey Bennett from one of the most poignant and heart wrenching stories I have had the privilege to read. Don't miss it!

Relz Reviewz Extras

Reviews of A Passion Most Pure and A Passion Redeemed

Interview with Julie

Visit Julie's website

Buy Julie's books at Amazon or Koorong

Open Giveaway

Julie is graciously giving away a personalised and signed copy of the winner's choice of one of her books! Doesn't get much better than that! To enter:~

Post a comment by Sunday 10th May, 2009 telling me which of Julie's three books you would love to win together with contact details.