A Candidate Endorsement

The semi-finalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest have been announced and are available for free download at Amazon.

There are about 800 entries, which seems like an awful lot. However, I wanted to take this opportunity to point out a particular entry that I think deserves special merit and attention:

The Miseducation of April Hillson, by Maureen McGowan.

I first read this piece (a slightly different version than available in the download) in a contest. Recently, it was a Golden Heart finalist. It’s a fabulous story, about a spoiled trophy wife who knows nothing outside of her position, and is suddenly thrust into the real world after her divorce with no idea how to handle any of it.

What I really loved about this book was McGowan’s ability to make what is initially a very unlikeable character extremely sympathetic, by weaving in bits and pieces from April’s past, so you see how she became the woman she became — how she was forced and manipulated into it, often by people who thought they were only doing what was best for her. It’s fresh, fast-paced, witty, and engaging. I highly recommend downloading, reading, and providing your own review.

(Apparently, the number and quality of Amazon reviews any given entrant gets somehow contributes to the selection of finalists, though I’m nto quite sure how that works.)

Go read!