Charlie Pederson, fierce but flawed like all women who have loved deeply and lost, takes a dangerous thrill ride from risky infatuation to the edge of disaster when she stalks her still suck-the-breath-out-of-you handsome college flame. As a therapist, Charlie knows she should abandon her crazed obsession over Danny Shapiro. But as a woman turning fifty and stifled in her marriage to deadly dull Harold, she finds herself driven to take a dicey last chance to find all that her heart needs. Little does she suspect that an impulsive visit to Danny's law office will make her the target of a homicidal erotomaniac. As she chases Danny down, she jeopardizes her professional reputation, infuriates her best friend, alienates her husband, and risks exposing the most painful secret of her life. DEGREES OF OBSESSION has it all-juicy romance and heart-pounding suspense. Best of all, it shines light on the fears, follies, and fantasies that drive the choices women make and on the love that redeems them.
About the Author: Karen Stephen grew up in La Jolla, dividing her free time between body-surfing, home chemistry experiments, and writing essays and poetry. She won her first writing contest in the 4th grade-a city-wide essay contest on America. She enjoyed a 40-year career as a Clinical Psychologist and still serves part time as a Mental Health Director for a large health plan. She published scholarly works, produced professional newsletters, and wrote dozens of online articles as the Mental Health Advisor for the National Association of Baby-Boomer Women (NABBW). She developed a serious interest in writing fiction in 2001 after attending the Taos Summer Writing Conference. Since then she has taken fiction and screenwriting courses at UC Berkeley and San Francisco's Writing Salon, and participated in the Algonkian and Write to Market conferences. Her debut novel DEGREES of OBSESSION was showcased by CreateSpace at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and is now available on Kindle. Her fascination with Corsica began when a mistral storm left her stranded on the Scented Isle during her college days. Attempting to "liberate" two Foreign Legionnaires made that cruise an adventure she would never forget and became the back story for her second suspense novel MOTHER TONGUE. Her novels will appeal to all lovers of the Romantic Suspense genre as well as to American and British Francophiles and ex-Pats, enthusiasts of the Corsican language, and readers of upmarket women's fiction who are looking for suspense and thriller elements. Her growing online presence highlights her role as Author, Flamingo Lover, and Corsica Enthusiast. Her author website can be found at karenstephen.com, on Twitter @docflamingo, and at facebook.com/authorkarenstephen