K.L.'s comments
(member since Aug 31, 2009)
K.L.'s comments from the Book Excerpts group.
(showing 1-4 of 4)
Thanks, Brooklyn! It was pretty exciting being my first one. I can only hope they keep coming that way.
New Review from Apex
Reviewed By Linda Waterson
Official Apex Reviews Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Accomplished, motivated, and successful, Charisse has it all - that is, except a fulfilling relationship. Even worse, despite her best efforts, she keeps falling for the same type of man over and over again: the lying, cheating player. To her credit, because of the polished allure of her suitors, Charisse doesn’t often realize she’s about to be played - but it doesn’t stop her from hurting all the same once their true colors show in the end.
Finally forced to confront the self-repeating cycle of disappointment to which she’s grown accustomed, Charisse takes a deep, introspective look into the underlying reasons behind her faulty decision-making when it comes to choosing a mate. In her ensuing state of enlightenment, she vows to do a better job of staying away from obvious losers of all shapes and sizes - but when was the last time everything went exactly according to plan for anyone? What follows is a hilarious, eye-opening series of adventures and misadventures in love as Charisse strives to discover what it takes to finally find the real thing.
Creatively well-crafted, The Bum Magnet is a highly enjoyable, entertaining read. In a signature style equally hilarious and insightful, author K.L. Brady takes readers on a vicarious journey through the depths of the mind and heart, reflecting the very real emotional trials and tribulations with which we are all more than familiar. In so doing, she paints a vivid, heartfelt - and rather amusing - picture of the ups and downs of everyday romantic pursuits.
Furthermore, Brady’s engaging tale does a commendable job of portraying such pursuits in a highly realistic light. Rather than paint her potential suitors - or even Charisse herself - as flawed demons and flawless innocents, The Bum Magnet depicts them as flesh-and-blood, genuine human figures drawn straight from the canvas of real life. For all their various drawbacks, they make no more or fewer mistakes than we all do in our various everyday pursuits.
Witty, pointed, and real, The Bum Magnet sucks you in from the beginning and keeps you rapt until the very end. A highly recommended read.
The Bum Magnet
Copyright 2009-K.L. Brady
LadyLit Press
www.klbradywrites.com
Now on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0615307...
Available in Bookstores Nationwide October 6th.
From Chapter 1
Her words played in my head like a scratched LP, “Charisse, a good man is like Santa Claus, believing in him feels real good until you find out he doesn't really exist.” Although I ignored most of my mother's attempts at wisdom, this little gem stuck with me . . . like gum on my shoe. No wonder I was nearing the big four-oh and home alone on yet another New Year's Eve. No bubbly to pop, no confetti to throw, no love to kiss at midnight's stroke, only me, my remote control, and six goldfish—one in desperate need of a trip to the porcelain god.
Why was I home alone on New Year’s Eve again? Because of Marcus damn Mathews—“the one.” You know “the one,” right? The one who cheated. The one who lied. The one who broke my damn heart. The one who kept calling my house begging me to take his conniving ass back. That “one.” I had finally settled in for the night and tried to forget that I flushed three years of my life down the toilet of wasted time and squandered heart when my doorbell rang.
He’s baaaaack!
“What do you want, Marcus?” I asked, exasperated by his unwillingness to accept that our relationship was over.
“I want you. I need you, Charisse,” he pleaded, his eyes resembling those of hungry puppy dog begging for his next Scooby snack. I guess he didn’t see the sign on my forehead—No Dawgs Allowed!
“No, what you need to do is go find that bitch I caught you with and ring her damn doorbell. Love don’t live here anymore.”
He let out a sigh of annoyance and aggravation as if I was the one ringing his doorbell unannounced and uninvited. “Why are you doing this, baby? You know how sorry I am.”
“Yes, Marcus, I know how sorry you are . . . and that’s precisely why I’m doing this. Now, you can leave voluntarily or I can call five-oh. In my neighborhood, you know they’ll be here before you can back out of the driveway.”
“Alright, Charisse. I’ll leave for now. But this isn’t settled, not by a long shot,” he declared as I slammed the door in his face.
Damn! How could I let this happen again? I am suffering from a chronic case of Wrong Men-itis and it has to stop! I thought. Shaking my head in confusion, I walked back to the disaster area that formerly served as a family room.
Now, how am I going to entertain myself until I pass out in a drunken stupor?
I turned on the stereo determined to avoid any sappy love songs to send me deeper into my emotional upheaval, so R&B - out, Pop - out, Country - way out, nowadays you couldn't even trust Rock. Finally, the disco station, XM-83, what a relief. “Night Fever” by the Bee Gees played, a perfectly non-suicide inducing song.
Thought a gripping magazine article might help take my mind off my troubles, so I grabbed a few from the coffee table. My preferred sub-scription was Z: The Zaina Magazine, published by talk show hostess, Zaina Humphrey. Between hosting mind-numbing “hope you didn't come for the cookies” open houses; helping delusional “my home will sell for ten thou-sand above market price, even with the lime green carpet and Barney-inspired purple paint” sellers; and showing homes to unrealistic “will the seller spring for a Sub-Zero in this trailer?” homebuyers, my days were consumed. I kept her show on TIVO for occasions I needed my fix though.
Forty locked its jaws on me like a Pit Bull, so my interests broad-ened far beyond the “Six Ways to Have an Orgasm While Balancing Your Checkbook” articles. I craved pithy, spirit-lifting, soul-feeding, personal-growth inducing, psycho-therapeutic edutainment in under sixty minutes or for less than five bucks an issue. Zaina delivered. She taught me how to improve my relationship with myself and the people forced to tolerate me.
After perusing a couple of editions and glancing at a few nuggets here and there, I decided to return my attention to the disappointing plasma if I didn't stop to read anything in detail. Near the last pages, I glimpsed an article that piqued my interest: “Stop Attracting Toxic Men: Five Steps to Unpacking Your Emotional Baggage.” I studied it with a level of focus I hadn't been able to muster in weeks.
Common Signs of Emotional Baggage
Do you have a difficult time opening up even when the new guy in your life makes you feel safe to do so?
No. No difficulty. It's none of their business.
Do you test him every chance you get or maybe try to catch him in the act to give yourself an excuse to remain emotionally distant or break off the relation-ship?
Eeeeh, that's a bad thing?
Do you carry around stereotypes and hang-ups? If all your boyfriends cheated on you, you assume all men lie and cheat?
Hmph, well if the shoe fits. . .
Do you avoid taking responsibility for your mis-takes? You blame your partner for the demise of your relationship and for every bad thing that has happened to you.
So not true. I only blamed them because it was entirely their fault.
Do you have a lingering ghost from your past his-tory you've tried to forget, but never put to rest?
Hmmm, maybe I better keep reading.
If any of the behaviors above sound familiar, you've got emotional baggage. Follow these steps to unpack your baggage for good.
1. Analyze every failed relationship you've ever had, but don't focus on what he did wrong, assess your role too. Use the information to decide what you need and don't need from a partner.
Every failed relationship? Jesus, by the time I'm done, I'll be too old to remember what I was trying to do in the first place.
2. You have faults too. Face them. Take responsi-bility for your own mistakes. Stop wasting energy on the blame game and conquer your “poor victim” mentality.
Piece of cake. I have no faults.
3. Take a little time off from dating. Give your-self some time to heal. Starting a new relationship without dealing with old hurts and bad relationships simply sets the stage for a repeat disaster.
When they say dating, I'm sure they don't mean sex.
4. Don't compare your current man with your ex-boyfriend, and don't burden him with sob stories from your past relationships. Resist the urge to tell him how your ex-boyfriend cheated, lied, or destroyed your trust in men.
Well, what the hell are we supposed to talk about?
5. Cut your new man some slack. Give him one hun-dred points and only deduct when he makes major mis-takes.
I'll give them two hundred points, and they'll still find a way to muck it up.
Okay, this definitely piques your interest. Looks like a fun read.
