Her Second Chance Billionaire Sweetheart
Her Billionaire Romance, #2
I started last week with a series that I'm doing where I talk about overall complaints about a character, and my thought process behind why I wrote that character the way I did. If you'd like to start from the beginning, click here.
This week, I'm talking about Her Second Chance Billionaire Sweetheart.
I haven't read the reviews in a while because, to be honest, my confidence right now is shot. So, this will be the thing that stuck out to me most when the book was fresh off the presses.
Quite a few comments were about Grayson being weak. When I was writing that book, it was heavy on my heart how men were being attacked for not showing emotions. It bothered me because I felt like society was speaking out both sides of its mouth.
We wanted men to show emotions and then put them down when they did. What was a man to do? This was a no-win situation for them. How can we raise boys with compassion when men aren't allowed to grieve? We see a man crying, and it's automatic take-it-like-a-man. How about let's all take it like a human being and allow all of us to grieve in our own way? Extend mercy and grace.
"He glanced up and nodded as she pulled her hand back. She caught a glimpse of his eyes and could see they were red. He hadn’t been close to tears; he’d cried. One of the things she loved about him when they were in school was how tenderhearted he was.
Gray was loving and kind to everyone."
I loved Grayson's tenderheartedness. Every time I read it, I fall in love with him even more.
Side note: He was a premie, and in the book, you learn that in the NICU, he was rocked to sleep by the nurses and later had trouble sleeping. My oldest was a micro-preemie. At 22 weeks and 5 days, one pound four ounces, and 11 inches long, she came into this world screaming. What did her nurses do? She was this tiny little being, and for the first month of her life, you couldn't touch her because her skin was so fragile. Once she could be touched, there were nurses who didn't like to hear her cry and would rock her the entire night. This baby did NOT want to sleep in a bed, so the first month or so she was home, she slept in her car seat. Yes, that's the only way she'd let Mom and Dad get a wink. So, part of Grayson's story is my daughter's story.
Back to Grayson. I love his heart. I love the gentle way he loved. I love the tenderness he showed Emma when she was angry and frustrated and grieving their relationship as much as he was, but in a different way. That contrast in how they dealt with their loss covered a spectrum of coping.
I think it's okay for a man to cry. I think it's okay for a man to weep bitter tears. That isn't weakness, it's strength. It shows boys that their strength doesn't come from their fists, it comes from their hearts.
The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35.
Jesus wept.
Jesus. Wept.
The God who created the universe wept over His child. Jesus wasn't weak. After hours of being beaten, He was crucified. He could have called down ten-thousand angels to rescue Him, and yet, He chose to stay on that cross. He was God in the flesh, so what He experienced, was an unfathomable, excruciating pain.
If the God of the universe can weep. Our men can weep, and their masculinity is fully intact when we dry their eyes.
This week, I'm talking about Her Second Chance Billionaire Sweetheart.
I haven't read the reviews in a while because, to be honest, my confidence right now is shot. So, this will be the thing that stuck out to me most when the book was fresh off the presses.
Quite a few comments were about Grayson being weak. When I was writing that book, it was heavy on my heart how men were being attacked for not showing emotions. It bothered me because I felt like society was speaking out both sides of its mouth.
We wanted men to show emotions and then put them down when they did. What was a man to do? This was a no-win situation for them. How can we raise boys with compassion when men aren't allowed to grieve? We see a man crying, and it's automatic take-it-like-a-man. How about let's all take it like a human being and allow all of us to grieve in our own way? Extend mercy and grace.
"He glanced up and nodded as she pulled her hand back. She caught a glimpse of his eyes and could see they were red. He hadn’t been close to tears; he’d cried. One of the things she loved about him when they were in school was how tenderhearted he was.
Gray was loving and kind to everyone."
I loved Grayson's tenderheartedness. Every time I read it, I fall in love with him even more.
Side note: He was a premie, and in the book, you learn that in the NICU, he was rocked to sleep by the nurses and later had trouble sleeping. My oldest was a micro-preemie. At 22 weeks and 5 days, one pound four ounces, and 11 inches long, she came into this world screaming. What did her nurses do? She was this tiny little being, and for the first month of her life, you couldn't touch her because her skin was so fragile. Once she could be touched, there were nurses who didn't like to hear her cry and would rock her the entire night. This baby did NOT want to sleep in a bed, so the first month or so she was home, she slept in her car seat. Yes, that's the only way she'd let Mom and Dad get a wink. So, part of Grayson's story is my daughter's story.
Back to Grayson. I love his heart. I love the gentle way he loved. I love the tenderness he showed Emma when she was angry and frustrated and grieving their relationship as much as he was, but in a different way. That contrast in how they dealt with their loss covered a spectrum of coping.
I think it's okay for a man to cry. I think it's okay for a man to weep bitter tears. That isn't weakness, it's strength. It shows boys that their strength doesn't come from their fists, it comes from their hearts.
The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35.
Jesus wept.
Jesus. Wept.
The God who created the universe wept over His child. Jesus wasn't weak. After hours of being beaten, He was crucified. He could have called down ten-thousand angels to rescue Him, and yet, He chose to stay on that cross. He was God in the flesh, so what He experienced, was an unfathomable, excruciating pain.
If the God of the universe can weep. Our men can weep, and their masculinity is fully intact when we dry their eyes.
