Because of my idea to write some beginning/sample questions for book clubs, Keri, one of my Street Team admins, thought it might be kind of fun to actually do that sort of thing in our Facebook group (Jade’s Bullet Babes—it’s here if you’re interested: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1474831589425990/ ). So, this week, when we’re not doing our regular “Bullet Babe of the Week” where, essentially, one of our members “takes over” the group for a week, members will be reading Tangled Web and discussing it. I consider that success. 🙂
So, in light of that success, I’m going to continue with my weekly Book Club questions. This week, we’ll take a look at another oldie, Stating His Case. This book, a standalone erotic romance, was published in 2011 but I’d actually written it years earlier, doing a heavy revision before going the indie publishing route. It was probably the first book where I let my “Gee, I love men with tattoos and piercings” banner fly high. 😉
Anyway, let’s get to it. First, the blurb…
Samantha Paulson, Attorney at Law, finds it hard to concentrate when new client Ryan Craig sits on the other side of her desk. She finds herself immediately drawn to him against her better judgment. She is torn between her career and her feelings for him. If she follows her heart, she could have the night of a lifetime with good-looking, heart-stopping tattooed bad boy Ryan, but she could also end up disbarred. Is he worth it?
Now for the questions!
Jade tends to write about strong women, and Samantha Paulson is no exception. How does that strength tend to affect Samantha’s relationships—not just with gorgeous client Ryan Craig but also her friend and business partner Adam Solano?
Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes fiction revolves around a character’s mistakes and his or her efforts to overcome them or make amends. In Stating His Case, Samantha makes a huge mistake that could cost her seriously—she could potentially be disbarred and unable to practice law, all for one (huge) error in judgment. How do you feel about Adam’s suggested solution? Was it too easy?
One thing Jade has said since publishing this book is that she wishes she had made the character Ed O’Malley more three-dimensional. Today, she feels that the character isn’t realistic because of that (making the story weaker than it should have been), in spite of the fact that his motivations and behaviors might “work” in the context of the book. Does the character Ed’s lack of depth ruin the story for you or is it something you can overlook in context of the rest of the book?
Do you feel that Samantha learned from the error of her ways or do you think that, if she was presented with the same dilemma again, she would make the same mistakes?
Is the relationship between Adam and Samantha believable?
If you could change the ending of the book, what would be different?
If you could ask Jade just one question about this book, what would it be?
How does Samantha compare to other female characters Jade has written? For example, how is she different from Valerie (of Bullet), Nicki (of the Nicki Sosebee series), or Kyle (of the Vagabonds trilogy)? Which one of them, if you had a choice, would you prefer to read about?
That’s it for this week. If you and your group come up with a killer question or two, please feel free to share them here! Happy reading!
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