Seduced by the Light
A Novel

Richard Monroe is a politician who spent his life creating the perfect image. Popular, admired and successful, Richard is the envy of everyone.

Raised by an image-conscious mother, the importance of success is indelibly ingrained upon him. Further molded by his ambitious social-climbing fiancé, Richard conforms to the image of the perfect man. As a young presidential hopeful, his campaign is backed by The Committee, a powerful political machine who brings him even closer to his dream.

Why does he feel so empty?

Suddenly he meets Michele, the only woman he’s ever met who possesses an identity instead of only an image. Drawn to this enigmatic woman, he discovers that she writes stories of spiritual erotica for an internationally known Buddhist monk – a man of unquestioned virtue.

Richards’s curiosity about the meaning behind her stories and her relationship to the monk pulls him deeply into the mystery of human sexuality, and eventually to a hauntingly lyrical affair with Michele.

Questions begin to replace the pat answers of his existence until Richard’s “perfect” life begins to unravel. When his relationship with Michele is revealed and scandal threatens to destroy everything he spent his life building, Richard must make the ultimate choice between his image and his identity.

© Rootie Simms 2006 All rights reserved