Delighted to introduce you to Jennifer A. Davids and her latest characters, Dr John Turner & Miss Penelope Howard. This is Jen’s first feature on the blog and I hope there are many more in the future. Enjoy getting to know this young doctor and the fair Penelope!

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John Turner & Penelope Howard

Physical Stats

Dr. John Turner is 6’1” with brown hair and cinnamon brown eyes. He has a suspicious resemblance to a certain time traveler with a blue police box who is known to some as John Smith and others as David Tennant. He usually satisfied with whatever George, his valet, picks out for him to wear. He’s never had much time to pay close attention to his wardrobe.

Miss Penelope Howard is 5’4” with clear blue eyes and honey blonde hair. Penelope may have slipped through time herself as she has striking similarities to the Celtic heroine Isolde who Sophia Myles played in the movie Tristan + Isolde. She favors a practical wardrobe: looser corset, simple dresses. This usually satisfies Hannah, her housekeeper. Unless, of course, Penelope is unexpectedly invited to mix with society…

Can’t live without/passions:

Being a doctor is what John is truly called to do. He can’t live apart from the world of medicine despite what he might think. He likes to see people being active doing some good work or service.

Penelope can’t abide sitting idle; she has to be helping or taking care of someone in some fashion. Though she would never say it aloud, she misses the praise her mother heaped upon her before she died.

Strengths

John is a man of deep convictions. When he sees a wrong he feels the need to right it and he’s quick to give praise when praise is due.

Penelope has a giving heart. She gives of her time and her abilities selflessly.

Vulnerabilities

John is hard on himself. Too hard. To the point where he would sacrifice everything he holds most dear.

Penelope runs herself ragged trying to keep up with her numerous commitments.

What book would they recommend?

Both John and Penelope unreservedly recommend Jane Eyre. Why? Well, they say to read their story. They feel their reasons are best explained there.

Your inspiration for the character/Background to the story

I have to combine these two questions because they go so hand-in-hand. I have a book published by Barbour called Brides of Ohio, a three-in-one of my Heartsong Presents titles. The second book in that series is Wounded Heart and one of my secondary characters is a Doctor Noah Kelly who is a victim of unrequited love. I always wondered what happened to him so I decided to find out. A Perfect Weakness was originally going to be another Heartsong featuring him as a main character but his story grew and took on a life of its own. Penelope’s character evolved based on what sort of woman Dr. Kelly would have fallen in love with after his experiences in Wounded Heart. It became much too long to be a Heartsong title which was somewhat fortuitous since, sadly, Heartsong Presents ended up closing down. So I changed the names and some of the circumstances and A Perfect Weakness was born.

Thanks Jennifer!

The Civil War left its mark on Dr. John Turner. He turns his back on medicine and sees his unexpected inheritance in England as an opportunity to start over. But he never imagines how God intends to use his new role as lord of Ashford Hall or the beautiful woman he finds there to ease his troubled soul.

A tragic loss led Penelope Howard to bury her heart and dreams in her work for the Hall and the village of Woodley. But the arrival of the new heir stirs not only her discarded longings but her compassion as well. What burden does he carry that he can’t accept that grace covers the darkest of sins?

A deadly epidemic sweeps through Woodley revealing secrets which threaten everything. The doctor faces a choice: leave or dare to believe what the Lord whispers through the woman John has come to love.

No one is beyond redemption.

Jennifer A. Davids is a self-professed book nerd. The shelves of her office are overflowing with books and there are stacks of them by her bedside. When she’s not reading, she’s dreaming up a new story to tell her readers. She lives in Central Ohio with her husband, two children, and two cats.

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Buy at Amazon: A Perfect Weakness