Today the spotlight shines on…..Tara Sweet & Josh Adams
I love Julie Carobini’s books and Sweet Waters is no exception! Julie manages to fill her stories with humour and fun as well as tackling heartfelt pain with grace and tenderness. Don’t miss out on the first book in her Otter Bay novels ~ I can’t wait for the second book but alas, June, 2010 seems a long time away 😉
Over to you, Julie:~
Brief physical description
In a departure from my previous heroines, Tara is a “summer”, ie., fair, rosy pink skin tones. Her hair is light. Her build is, hm, not ‘average’ but let’s just say ‘normal’. 🙂
Josh is tall and broad shouldered–he’s a firefigher after all, LOL–with golden highlights in his hair. 
Actor/famous person
Well, picture younger versions of Gwyneth Paltrow (although not as slender) and Matthew McConaghey.
Strengths and weaknesses
Tara can be described in one word: sensible. As the first born of the girls, Tara has always been a responsible leader of the family, but sometimes she can be unyielding–or at least perceived that way.
When it comes to firefighting, Josh’s strength is in his fearlessness. Just might be a weakness of his too…
Quirk (if any)
We all put our trust in something. In Tara’s case, she is addicted to the life of a soap opera character, so much so that she reads the daily digest and when in a pickle herself, often wonders what “Eliza”, the character, would do.
Your inspiration for the character
A verse in Scripture caught my attention one day, “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands…” (Jer. 31:10) and I thought, “Hm, what if a person had to be physically moved in order for God to get her attention?’ While this story is fiction, I realized that God had done a similar thing in my own life, and that once removed from the things that kept me from him, I finally heard him clearly.
Background to the story
What happens when the fairytale turns out to be a soap opera?
Tara Sweet is nothing if not sensible. Usually. But her engagement is off, and her mother—yes, mother—is newly married and gallivanting around Europe. It’s time for a change. So she convinces her sisters to honor their father’s final wish an
d rediscover the fairy-tale life they knew in Otter Bay, California. But Tara discovers fairy tales are fragile—and truth is often one ugly layer after another of secrets, accusation, rumor, and a past an entire church wants to forget.
Firefighter Josh Adams knows all about battling personal demons. He’s been doing so ever since a woman nearly died in his arms. Actually, long before . . . As the turbulence in their lives grows, Tara and Josh find themselves at odds with their families, their faith, the townspeople of Otter Bay—and each other.
Only in facing the lies from the past can they find the truth.
Just fabulous, Julie ~ many thanks for stopping by. Looking forward to “meeting” Gage next year – LOL!!
On Thursday, I will be spotlighting Kaye Dacus’ Meredith Guidry & Major O’Hara from Menu for Romance ~ more fun!
Relz Reviewz ExtrasReview of Sweet Waters & Chocolate Beach
August 4, 2009 at 6:18 am
Tara sounds fascinating. I think I'm already drawn. I seem to say something like that every time I read one of these character spotlights.
Great work ladies. Thank you both.