Reverb by J. Cafesin (Guest Post)

Please welcome author, J. Cafesin!

Reverb is a unique combination of romantic suspense and literary fiction, but at its core--a love story. Spun from from The Magus (John Fowles), also about a man who learns to love someone other than himself, and way beyond 50 Shades of Gray (E.L. James), Reverb is told like Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevsky), modern, tight, edgy verging on sharp. It's like nothing you've read, guaranteed.

Excerpt:

The crispness of spring gives way to the heat of summer, and the days repeat and blur. We’re in her kitchen this morning. It’s just past noon and I’m cutting up peppers for the Spanish omelets she’s preparing. Eggs, breads, fruits and vegetables are staples here, and most all that’s available at the stores and street markets year round. She stops abruptly, cocks her head to one side and stares at me.

“My God, you’re gorgeous.” Wide, seemingly triumphant grin spreads across her face.

I laugh. She says it as a statement of fact, like she’s talking about a sunrise or something, and without sexual innuendo. “Thank you. You are too.”

“No I’m not. Don’t say stuff like that because we both know it’s not true.”

I look at her, stare really, trying to glean what she’s feeling. I’ve upset her. Why? What did I say that was wrong? She’s wearing her usual khaki’s and tee-shirt, but they don’t hide her feminine form, nor diminish her natural beauty. “'Lisabeth, I wasn’t making a flip comment. I think you are beautiful.”

“Right. Whatever.”

“No. Wrong. Not ‘whatever.’ Come with me.” I put the knife down, and take the bowl of eggs she’s in the process of whipping. Practically drag her into the bedroom and stand her in front of the full-length mirror mounted on the back of the door. “Now, look. What do you see?”

“Botticelli’s Venus, with bigger breasts. And behind me Mic’s David.” She gives me a mocking grin and tries to turn away but I hold her shoulders, forcing her to stay facing the mirror.

“Now I’ll tell you what I see. Before me stands a voluptuous woman, with curves in all the right places. She has strong, defined features, with deep hazel eyes that reflect her mood and clearly express her passion, and convictions. Her lips are full, red and inviting, and her smile radiates lightness. Look at yourself. Why is it you don’t see this?”

“Standing next to you, honey, Audrey Hepburn would look average.”

“You’re a hard case, my lady.”

“So are you. Let’s reverse this, shall we?” Then she ducks from my hands on her shoulders and moves behind me so I’m in front of the mirror. “What do you see?”

I stare at my reflection. Know I’m considered attractive by social standards, from years, a lifetime really of people fawning, but have never before bothered to examine my self-perception. “I don’t know ‘Lisabeth. Never taken much notice of how people look, unless they’re extreme. Physicality is too transitory. No substance. It’s given, not achieved.”

“What do you see, James?” She grins mischievously.

I shrug. “What do I see...A man, close to six feet, a little too thin, not as muscular as I’d like, with green eyes and brown hair that’s too long, and always a mess.”

“Now I’ll tell you what most everyone sees. Classic beauty. Strength. Virile perfection.” On her face in the mirror is now a soft, sultry smile, as her eyes scan my reflection. “Wide eyes of a child, penetrating green with long, dark lashes creating a natural eyeliner most women would kill for; high, sculpted cheekbones and a strong, square jaw contrast the soft, full lips that sharpen the boy to man.” Quick grin and she brings her hands to my shoulders and runs them lightly over my biceps.

Her touch is electric. Just beyond pleasure is pain. Every muscle tightens. Every nerve tingles with contact, right down to my groin. My heart beats hard and fast, and I wonder if she can hear it.

“Tall, slender and tight—but not daunting, the solid build of an athlete.” She slides her hands over my shirt sleeves and down my arms. “With huge, elegant hands,” she laces her fingers in mine, “of a practiced musician.”

Suddenly it isn’t fun anymore. Can she see how scared I am? Kiss her. Distract her. She won’t know if you take control.

She cocks her head to the side, stares at me in the mirror. She already knows, her smile gone.

I pull my hands away and turn to face her. Can’t breathe. Everything spins, like vertigo. “I told you, I’m not a musician anymore. A musician is someone who plays or creates music. I do neither, and I don’t want to talk about this.” I leave the bedroom, head back to the kitchen, but when I get to the living room the back door beckons and I walk out of the house.

The sun is high. It’s hot. I head towards the water. I see the startled, confused look on her face in the mirror over my shoulder moments ago. Feel her behind me, her hands slide into mine. Feel them grab my hands from behind on my way from the loo my second night at Caple Ne Ferne, and excruciating pain as they yank my fingers back, shove me forward, and I’m suddenly face down on the four poster fighting to get them off me.

Reverb

by J. Cafesin 

Amazon

James Micheal Whren is brilliant, beautiful, rich, and taken—with his genius for creating music. He's desired by many, yet commits to no one but his muse. Just twenty-eight, and at the pinnacle of his career, on the eve of his brother's funeral his father shatters his life, and James is left abandoned in hell with no one real to save him. 
His odyssey to freedom takes him beyond the looking glass, to the reflection of friends and lovers. Humbled and alone, James escapes to the Greek island of Corfu. But instead of finding solace there, loneliness almost consumes him. 
Until Elisabeth, and her son, Cameron. 
Reverb is a love story, a psychological thriller paced with romantic suspense. The story chronicles intricately woven characters fraught with frailties that possess us all, and that linger long after the read. It is a tale of redemption—the evolution of a modern man from solipsist to integrated awareness, and the journey that inadvertently awakens his capacity to love. 
Spun from The Magus, also about a man who learns to love someone other than himself, and way beyond 50 Shades of Gray, Reverb is told like Crime and Punishment--modern, clean, edgy verging on sharp. Like nothing you've read, guaranteed.

J. Cafesin Author Bio

J. Cafesin is a novelist of taut, edgy, modern fiction filled with complex, compelling characters thatbring story live, and linger long after the reads. Her debut novel, Reverb, has been called “riveting,”“deep,” “an original and unique read,” by recent Amazon reviewers. Other works include her fantasyshort story series, Fractured Fairytales of the Twilight Zone. Her second novel, Disconnected, is dueout in spring, 2014.Her essays and articles are featured regularly in local and national print and e-publications. Many of theessays from her ongoing blog have been translated into multiple languages and distributed globally:http://jcafesin.blogspot.comJ. Cafesin lives on the eastern slope of the redwood laden Oakland Hills with her husband/best friend,two gorgeous, talented, spectacular kids, and a bratty, but cute Shepherd pound hound.