Blog Tour for The Controlled by Becky Komant

Join Becky Komant, author of the adult suspense thriller, The Controlled, as she tours the blogosphere July 1 – September 27 2013 on her first virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!  You can follow her tour here. 

VISION TO REALITY: MY JOURNEY by Becky Komant

When I think about my journey to becoming an author and how The Controlled came to life, I sit back and smile!

For many years I envisioned writing a book on health and wellness. My chosen career path is in fitness and life coaching -- one I fell into quite naturally as I have always been an athletic girl with a strong outlook on life. So a health and wellness themed book seemed to fit perfectly into the equation. I wanted to write something motivational that could be used as a self-help resource. I love helping people in a teaching role and encouraging them to never give up on anything.  To believe.  I never really had a plan as to when I would write a book, but the thought was always there.

As I put more thought into it, several ideas bounced around my head. I decided it would be fun to incorporate these into something that would not only entertain, but touch on real-life issues people face.  I wanted to create a great story that was an amalgamation of the problems people face, a strong female character, and edge-of-your-seat scenes. I took up a pen and paper to begin sketching out the action and my book was no longer a thought.  I started writing, and over the next 15 months it evolved into The Controlled, an adult suspense thriller. 

Writing The Controlled was an educational journey for me.  In order to have the reader feel the emotion, I needed to draw them in and feel the characters’ angst through the storyline and writing.  Throughout the process I envisioned myself in many of the situations and allowed my heart and soul to get under the characters’ skin. I believe the result is captivating for the reader.

I’m confident that it was through my fitness and life coaching that all this came to life.  I have seen people face and have to deal with difficulties directly and indirectly. Even though the plot is fiction, the emotions are very real. I hope that through The Controlled readers are not only entertained, but it helps those who are having struggles in life – and that it gives them hope that they too can dig deep and get control.

The Controlled

By Becky Komant

Publisher: BK Press Corp

Release Date: July 15, 2013

Genre: Adult Suspense Thriller

Length: 216 Pages

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Book Description: 

Sarah Ruiz thought she had it all – until someone entered her life who was hell-bent on destroying her.

Sarah Ruiz is a business owner, a fitness trainer and a mom.  Married to the ever-so-charming and wealthy Alex Ruiz, Sarah appears to have the perfect life.  But behind closed doors, he revealed a side of himself that destroyed her love for him.  With five beautiful children and unable to leave her situation, Sarah knows she must make changes.

Sarah’s journey to freedom take a turn when a man, Gabe Benoit, promises to help her.  Thus starts a whirlwind of romance, intrigue, seduction, blackmail and manipulation.  No matter which way Sarah turns, she is backed into a corner before she can even realize it.  When she finally has promise of a better future, she must use every ounce of her strength to work her way through the web of lies and find truth on her journey to independence.

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Excerpt

She tried to be the perfect wife. She wanted him to see that she could fix the wounds his brother’s betrayal had seared onto his heart. A natural first step, she thought, was to begin a family of their own. She loved children and knew that once he had his own little ones who needed him he’d feel complete.

Three months into her pregnancy with Enrico (or Eric, as they called him), her hopes for a utopian life hit a brick wall. Sarah went up to Fort Lauderdale to shop for baby clothes. She hadn’t told Alex where she was going, hoping to surprise him with the cutest little football jersey ever made. Alex, however, didn’t find it cute.

When she got home, she found him in the kitchen, pacing. He fumed that she had gone out for the day without telling him where she was going.

He raised his voice, yelled some things at her in Spanish, and before she could process the magnitude of his anger, she felt the crack of the back of his hand across her soft cheek. She sank down to her knees on the tile of their perfect kitchen. She raised her eyes to him, one hand holding her cheek and the other protectively on her stomach. The look on his face frightened her so much, she thought she would vomit.

Then she did vomit.

She remained on her hands and knees. He didn’t move, except to inch backward from the puddle. She stared at her fingers as he spat the words for the first time: “You have nothing without me. ”

She continued to stare at her hands, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry. “Why would you do that to me?” she wondered aloud.

“This is my house. If you don’t like it, you know where the door is.” He turned on his heel and left for the evening.

He didn’t bring up Fort Lauderdale again, but that incident was the beginning of a new pattern. Each time Sarah caught a glimpse of the life she dreamed of, cruel words and an occasional backhand buried her dream deeper and deeper into the Miami sand.

Following one such instance, she mentioned leaving him. His laughter was laced with hatred.

“Really? And just where would you go?” He shook his head, laughed again, and went out to one of his clubs. She felt like a child who threatened to run away.

The birth of Enrico brought them together for a time. Alex took great pride in his new son, and Sarah and Enrico were inseparable. His smile filled her with such happiness that before long she was pregnant again. The rest of the kids came closely together—four pregnancies, five children. Her final pregnancy delivered twins, a boy and a girl.

Sarah’s life became all about juggling children and managing Alex’s moods. She came to recognize when Alex’s demeanor was darkening and would be on alert against sending him over the edge. Even so, Alex’s harsh words and rough nature pervaded even the parts of their relationship that were supposed to be the most gentle and intimate.

ABOUT BECKY KOMANT

Becky Komant was born and raised in beautiful Kelowna, British Columbia.  Spending most of her childhood years outdoors and playing sports, Becky’s passion for fitness was ignited.  Working at a gym at the age of 16, she then went on to an advertising position at a local newspaper following high school.  Soon after, Becky started her family and wanted to be more involved with her children.  It was then that Becky followed her passion and founded a successful private training studio.  

Realizing that being a trainer was much more than just helping people physically, this lead her in the direction of becoming a certified life coach.  Because of her fitness and life coaching career, Becky always envisioned writing a book.  Overtime and thought, it evolved into her first novel, The Controlled. With more writing on the horizon, she hopes to inspire others on many levels. Becky continues to reside in Kelowna with her family.

Her latest book is the adult suspense thriller, The Controlled.

Learn more about Becky at www.beckykomant.com.

My Review

Part adult suspense thriller and part life/advice coaching, The Controlled by Becky Komant is a raw, gripping tale of a woman trying to break away from an emotionally, mentally, and physically abusive relationship.  A strong, yet flawed heroine, a creepy, obnoxious, needs to be put down male lead and secondary characters who aren’t what they seem, kept me turning the pages to discover what was going to happen next.  While this may not be every reader's cup of tea due to the subject matter, Ms. Komant is without a doubt a talented author whose career I’ll be keeping my eye on.

Married to a gorgeous and publically charming husband, Sarah Ruiz appears to be a woman who has it all.  Plenty of money, 5 loving and wonderful children, a great body and a budding career as personal trainer paint the perfect picture.  Only nothing is what it seems; her husband is everything but charming behind closed doors and the love she once had for him is gone.  Determined to gain freedom for herself and her children, Sarah is determined to use her career as a fitness model and experience as a personal trainer to break free.  

Ms. Komant does a very good job developing Sarah’s character; while somewhat weak at the start of the book, Sarah gains emotional, mental and physical strength as the story develops.  She becomes a character you find yourself rooting for, though I will warn you there are times you might want to yell at her for the decisions she makes.

Ms. Komant also does a good job developing the male characters in this book – it’s very easy to quickly grow to hate “Alex”, Sarah’s husband.  As his behavior escalates, and he does some truly dastardly things, I began to think of him as a rabid dog that needed to be taken care of by animal control.  Adding Gabe Benoit, a popular photographer who quickly goes from professional contact to possible knight in shinning armor, Ms. Komant adds several turns and twists to this story I did not see coming.  Let’s just say Gabe isn’t what he appears to be.  

Soon Sarah finds herself truly stuck between a rock and a hard place.  She'll have to make some difficult choices in order to change the course her life has taken.  She'll also have outwit a man who is determined to never let her go.   

Will Sarah be able to outwit her manipulative and controlling husband?  Will she ever really get the freedom she desperately needs for herself and her children?  Will she ever discover the true love she's always wanted?  You’ll have to read The Controlled to find out.  I really enjoyed Ms. Komant’s book and look forward to reading more of her work. 

My Rating:  5 out of 5 Crowns

FTC Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this book as a part of a book tour in exchange for a fair and honest review.  I did not receive any additional compensation for my opinion of the reading material provided.