Recently I reviewed a book that’s been on my TBR for six years so I keep telling myself that I will eventually get to read something by Colette McCormick! All my blogger friends tell me her writing is wonderful and today we’re celebrating her latest release, An Uncomplicated Man with a smashing guest post by Colette.

Previously I’ve had chance on Linda’s Book Bag to ‘stay in’ with Colette to chat all about her novel Ribbons in Her Hair in a post you can read here as well as host a brilliant guest post here from Colette called What Happened Next when she explained all about her journey to publication for Things I Should Have Said And Done. Colette also let blog readers into the secret behind the title of her book What’s in A Name here!

Published yesterday 5th December 2019 by Headline Accent, An Uncomplicated Man is available for purchase here.

An Uncomplicated Man

What if the man in your life isn’t who he says he is?

Daniel Laither is a mild-mannered and uncomplicated bank manager, but when his boss asks him for a favour, things begin to get tangled. Introduced to businessman Arthur Braithwaite, Daniel reluctantly agrees to a financial arrangement that will create an unbreakable link between them.

When Daniel meets Lucy, Braithwaite’s daughter, he becomes a man obsessed. From the steamy afternoons spent together in hotel rooms, to evenings out with Lucy in fancy restaurants, Daniel’s life moves a million miles from the one he’d had.

He finds himself lying to his friends, his colleagues and, most importantly, his wife. He borrows money from a loan shark to afford this double life, but when the debt demands to be paid, he contemplates stealing from the bank. When Lucy falls pregnant and Braithwaite insists upon a marriage, Daniel has to choose between his two lives…

The Root of All Evil?

A Guest Post by Colette McCormick

The bible says that ‘the love of money is the root of all evil,’ and while he didn’t ‘love’ money, his ‘need’ for money certainly had a large part to play in the life of the uncomplicated man that was Daniel Laither. It was the means to an end that he hoped would be his.

His downfall begins when he reluctantly engages in a financial arrangement with a very wealthy man. However, his real problems start after his head is turned by a pretty face, and not just any pretty face. Lucy is the daughter of the very wealthy man he is doing business with. When she sets her cap at Daniel, he is helpless and he cannot resist what she is offering. But all of her life Lucy has been used to the finer things in life – things that come at a price and it’s a price that Daniel will have to pay if he wants to keep her.

But Lucy has another suitor, one that can easily afford the things that she likes, so how is Daniel supposed to compete?

By spending money that he doesn’t have, that’s how.

In the 1980’s when credit was easy to get, living beyond our means was practically a national pastime. We were all borrowing money to buy the things that we wanted and look where that landed us. But this isn’t the 1980’s, it’s 1957 when ordinary people didn’t borrow money for frivolities. They didn’t need money to make them happy. They’d lived through the war, were thankful for what they had and counted their blessings. The first lesson that my Economics teacher taught us was that if expenditure is regularly greater than income (X > Y), it is a one-way ticket to disaster and that is something that Daniel learned to his cost.As a bank manager, you’d think that he would already know it, but when we’re not thinking straight, we all do stupid things.

In an attempt to not lose the woman that he has become obsessed with, Daniel drains the savings and spends money that he doesn’t have. When that is still not enough, what else can he do? How low is he prepared to sink? Are there any lengths to which he will not go?

The bible also says that no man can have two gods. Daniel didn’t have two gods, he had one and her name was Lucy.

(Now that has made me even more determined to push An Uncomplicated Man up to the top of my TBR! Thanks Colette.)

About Colette McCormick

Originally a city girl, Colette has made her home in a one of the many former mining villages in County Durham. When not working as a retail manager for a large children’s charity she will more than likely be writing, even if it’s only a shopping list. She also enjoys cooking, gardening and taking the dog on long walks in the countryside near her home. She has been married for almost forty years and has two grown up sons.

To find out more, follow Colette on Twitter @colettemcauthor, find her on Facebook and Instagram or visit her blog.