Letting Go and Letting Gods?

Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Third Degree and Rising.

“Fire Burning in Water.” Still. The Law of Attraction novel of Lauren Hartford’s that tells a rather disturbing story and will probably alienate all of the fans of the Jesse Matthews’ character. Book #3 of The Priestess Diaries, and our hero isn’t exactly heroic in this one. Newcomers to the series will probably either hate him or feel he got what he deserves.

I am worrying myself sick about this book, more so than any other book I’ve ever written, edited, published, or—for that matter—read. I just can’t seem to pry my anxious little fingers off it to send it to the printer’s. It should have gone to the printer’s by the first day of April instead of ten days later, but I spent about ten days back in March, researching strap-ons and, um, lost track of time. Go figure. So it’s entirely my fault that Lauren and her team had to wait until the past week to sift through the manuscript one more time to make changes to what had been re-revised, re-edited, and formatted later than planned.

Then again, with it running late, Lauren decided to add a final page of…explanation? No, that’s not right. It’s really more of an apology to the readers who are going to be screaming about what happens to Jesse. I myself wasn’t happy with the way the book ends, but it really has to end that way. I still can’t get beyond the first chapter without a lump in my throat, and I sob through the chapters of the book every time I read it.

Readers of the first book in the series adored Jesse and they aren’t going to be happy with some of the things he does in this one, but it’s necessary to explain how you attract the wrong thing to you sometimes. It’s also different from most other books on the Law of Attraction because it’s a sad and emotional book. Not a romance but a love story with enough sorrow to make it Oprah-worthy. Ironically the second book in the series will be out just shortly after the third book, which is okay since they can be read out of order in the series, but “A Wedding of Souls” is more about how our heroine became un-grounded while trying to discover what happened to Jesse when he disappeared. The wedding, incidentally, is Astrid and Gabriel’s as represented on the cover of the book—a ceremony that plays a vital role in our heroine’s discovery of the truth. Lauren’s reworking about 5 pages before we go to press on that one, and it’s a book that I just love the ending to because you get to see how heroic and noble Jesse can be, and I like noble and heroic. Plus, the reader finds out where he is—on the last page—and it’s an amazing last page that ends with so much hope for the future and with a huge life-or-death cliffhanger. Probably one of the best last pages I’ve ever read of any novel.

“Fire Burning in Water” ends with a lot of hope as well, if the reader sticks with it that long to see how things can be changed and uplifted through grace. For people looking for light and fluffy, they’re going to be disappointed. It’s a tough book, not for the Law of Attraction material, but for the emotional impact of the characters’ stories. Tough for me, too, because I love these characters and I know the story arch for the entire series and that this book is a turning point.

Argh. Okay, okay. Enough obsessing. I’m just going to pry my fingers loose and send it to the printer’s and trust in the Universe that this book will find its way into the hands of people who need clarity about what they bring into their lives, what they want for their futures, and what they push away. I’m letting go and letting Gods take care of the outcome.