Take a prim, proper young woman in Boston in 1950, add a measure of self-reliance and courage——then hustle her off to New York City in a fit of rebellion and what do you get? You get Dorothea Fitz-Simmons, young, naive and hell-bent on finding the life she's only dreamed of.
From the minute she steps from the train, she can feel the adventure just waiting to be scooped up and embraced. Even the air feels different, as if it is charged with a special kind of electricity. Carriage rides in the park; lush dinners in exotic restaurants, tickets to theatre and concerts propel her into a whirlwind relationship. She discovers love, sex and the knight-in-shining-armor of every girl's dream. But as she catapults through this new life she doesn't see that she is being caught up in a web of deceit and danger.
Sunny Serafino, an award-winning author, recognized for her ability to inspire readers with stories of courageous women, has done so once again——this time with a thrilling new twist.
Beyond Innocence begins in Boston in 1950. Thea Fitz-Simmons has led a sheltered life, the daughter of an extremely successful lawyer and an icon of Boston's elite society. Thea is the perfect daughter who has followed the strict admonishes of a controlling mother for twenty years. But a wanderlust, a tingling of adventure begins to nag at Thea and she wants to escape the constrictions of this restrictive society.
It isn't easy making this kind of change but taking a measure of courage from her father, who has broken a few barriers himself, Thea takes off on her own. Her adventures are filled with optimism, difficult lessons and a taste of what it is like to be this courageous.
Excerpt
Excerpt:
My fingernails dug into the flesh on his back. His lips moved from mine to my neck and then down over my chest, his tongue flicking each nipple as he entered me. My head was driven into the pillow; my neck stretched as far back as it would go—I watched him through almost closed eyes—the ultimate consummation of love was mine and knowledge that for me there would be no more fantasizing, no more dreaming of the unknown. In that moment I was no longer a child. A small cry of rapture escaped my lips and I felt Edward's body relax and fall on mine.
"Always remember I love you, Thea," he whispered into the damp hair clinging to my neck.
Professional Reviews
Daren Lamb, author
"Beyond Innocence, Sunny Serafino's latest novel, takes us back to a time when young women lived at home until they married, and only dreamed of striking out on their own. Danger and excitement abound as a young girl, determined to be self-sufficient at any cost, even her life, defies the shackles of society.
This is Sunny's best work, by far."
The bulk of the collection is eight short stories that are set in yesteryear. The compilation is filled out with four entertaining fantasy pieces and three poems.
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