Maria's life was torn apart when she was fifteen, and for seven years she's kept her terrible secret hidden from the world. Now, in her final semester of college, she still struggles against paralyzing fear just trying to speak up in class, and the terror and helplessness linger on in her nightmares.
Across campus, Owen sees his scars in the mirror every morning while he gets ready for class. They remind him of the broken home he left behind, the father he hates and fears, and the little sister he couldn't protect. Now, in his final semester of college, he's scared that he may have to return to the hell he called home after staying away for almost five years.
When Owen becomes a teaching assistant for one of Maria's classes, they find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. As the two learn each other's secrets and grow closer, they realize that although they may be lost, they're not alone anymore.
This new adult contemporary romance is recommended for ages 17+ due to heavy subject matter.
Hello, fellow romance addicts! It’s a pleasure to be here visiting with
everyone tonight, and a big thank you to
Stephanie for hosting me.
When I was invited to write a guest post for the Romance
Addict Book Blog, I agonized over topics for days. Character interviews weren’t going to cut it,
because there is no way on earth that either of Lost’s main characters
would ever agree to an
interview. Humorous posts wouldn’t fit
the book. In the end, I decided on this
topic. I’d like to take this post to
talk about the story on a personal level, both on my own personal level and, an obfuscated sort of way, many other
people’s levels.
At its core, Lost is a love story. It is not your usual fictional love story,
however. It is a painfully realistic story,
one based on – with their permission - the combined tales of real people who
opened up to me over the last year.
There is no alpha billionaire, no rock star, and certainly no steamy
BDSM in Lost. It’s not that kind
of story.
Lost is the story of two broken young people, Maria
and Owen, as they try to pick up their broken pieces and put them back together
again. They’re apprehensive of what the
uncertain future has in store for them, terrified of what’s behind them, and
very, very much alone.
…until they meet each other in their final semester of
college.
Suddenly, things are changing. Change is scary – especially when your life
is like either of these two people’s lives – but they can feel themselves
starting to come alive again. Maria and
Owen find someone they can trust – someone with whom to grow – in each
other. Maybe they’re not so alone after
all. Maybe they do have a chance of being loved by someone and of having someone
they can love back.
Part brutally realistic fiction, part sweet romance, that’s the story of Lost.
Lost has a little under 200 ratings and reviews
across the various sites so far and the reviews have ranged from loving it to
hating it, as you might expect for any book, really. My favorite type of review, by far, is when
the characters suck the reader in and they forget that Maria and Owen are
fictional. To give an example…
“The author wrote
Maria and Owen in a realistic way that made the two main characters come alive.
At times I forgot that these two characters were simply characters and I could
see them as real people.” – Amazon Reviewer
When I started writing Lost, I only had one viewpoint
to work from: my own. I had my own
memories from growing up, which are often not the nicest, let’s say (one
character’s nightmares are in part from my own life). It wasn’t enough for the story I wanted to
write, though, and I started trying to find people to talk to and learn from. So many people had stories like mine—stories
of abuse, violent upbringings, rape, all sorts of horrible and terrible
things—that I couldn’t even use all of them in the book. There just wasn’t room in the book. I had to pick and choose what I could
include, but almost every major story is from somebody’s reality, pieced together
into what I certainly hope is both a wonderful and painful reading
experience.
Some reviewers think it worked…
“I thought of skipping
through some of what [Maria] went
through just because I don't like thinking about stuff like that but I didn't because
that would have taken away from the overall experience. I really enjoyed this
book and even though it was really quite sad the ending left me smiling and
glad that I had read it.” – Goodreads Reviewer.
“[Nadia] doesn't shy away from the difficult issue
& doesn't sugar coat anything. The story felt very real & I became
emotionally invested in the story. I especially love the way she handled the
romance.” – Amazon Reviewer
From what I’ve written so far, It doesn’t sound, like
there’s much to be happy about in this story, does it? Why are the readers smiling at the end and
becoming emotionally invested in characters?
Because there is, in its own, brutally realistic sort of
way, a happy ending to both this story and the stories of so many of the people
who became Maria and Owen.
Lost has a sequel due out in July (the rather
obviously-named Found) so it’s
not a happily ever after, but it’s a
happy ending. A common theme among the
people who opened up to me with their stories was finally making it past their
problems in some way, be it therapy and counseling, moving away, legal justice
finally being served, etc. People were
able to rebuild and move on. On my own
level, once I escaped what I grew up with and found my special someone, I was
able to grow and thrive in a way I’d never been able to on my own. Happily Ever After found me, really. It found a lot of the people I talked to,
honestly.
Two reviewers on Amazon sum up Lost perfectly, in my
opinion…
“Sympathy will be
pouring out from readers throughout this entire novel as they follow along this
depressing and heart wrenching story. This is definitely a read for someone
looking for a deep and vaguely dark story. It is not a story for the weak
hearted, but rather fans of survivors.”
“Wow! What a book,
what an experience. The story ripped my heart out and crushed it into millions
of pieces, then it put each piece back with a delicate hand. LOVED IT!”
If that’s your cup of tea or if you feel up for the
experience, I believe that you will love Lost. If you are into realistic fiction and can
hold on for the light at the end of the tunnel, you’re in the right place and
reading the right book.
Maria and Owen were lost, and I invite you to read along as
they finally find each other.
Thanks for having me here, Stephanie, and thanks to everyone for reading this.
Find Nadia Simonenko:
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Website: http://nadiaromance.com/
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| Expected Release: July 15, 2013 |
All it took was one phone call to shatter Maria's happily-ever-after and bring her nightmares back to life. Maria's estranged brother is coming up to see her graduation and he isn't coming alone. He's bringing Maria's parents, as she expected, but he's also bringing along an old friend from college—someone who's haunted Maria's nightmares for seven years. Now, she's about to come face to face with the man who ruined her life.
Will the love and happiness Maria and Owen found be enough to hold them together as their lives fall apart around them, or will their relationship slip away and be lost forever?
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