Between the fast-paced New York City, a rural Mississippi town and a charming Pennsylvania college campus filled with secrets, two young girls learn the consequences of growing up too quickly.
Abused by her mother, Amalia Graeme longs to escape her desolate hometown and fall in love. Contemplating her loss of innocence and conflicting feelings between her boyfriend and the dangerous attraction for an older man, Amalia faces life-altering tragedies.
Brianna Porter, a sassy, angst-ridden New York City teenager, yearns to find her life’s true purpose, conquer her fear of abandonment, and interpret an intimidating desire for her best friend, Shanelle. Desperate to find the father whom her mother refuses to reveal, Brianna accidentally finds out a shocking truth about her missing parent.
Set in alternating chapters two decades apart, the parallels between their lives and the unavoidable collision that is bound to happen is revealed. Father Figure is an emotional story filled with mystery, romance, and suspense.
Biography
James is my given name; most call me Jay. I grew up on Long Island and currently live in New York City, but I’ve traveled all across the US (and various parts of the world). After college, I spent 15 years working in technology and business operations in the sports, entertainment and media industries. Although I enjoyed my job, I left in 2016 to focus on my passion: telling stories and connecting people through words. My debut novel is ‘Watching Glass Shatter,’ a contemporary fiction family drama with elements of mystery, suspense, humor and romance. To see samples or receive news from my current and upcoming books, please subscribe with your email address at my website: https://jamesjcudney.com
What do I do outside of writing: I’m an avid genealogist (discovered 2K family members going back about 250 years) and cook (I find it so hard to follow a recipe). I love to read; between Goodreads and my blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, I have over 500 book reviews which will give you a full flavor for my voice and style. On my blog, I started the 365 Daily Challenge, where I post a word each day that has some meaning to me, then converse with everyone about life. There is humor, tears, love, friendship, advice and bloopers. Lots of bloopers where I poke fun at myself all the time. Even my dogs have segments where they complain about me. All these things make up who I am; none of them are very fancy or magnanimous, but they are real and show how I live every day.
A bit of humor: Everything doubles as something else when you live in NYC. For me, it’s the dining room, my favorite space in the apartment, where more than just my cooking is on display! As I look out the windows onto a 12th floor terrace, various parts of nature (trees, bushes, flowers, bugs & animals) inspire me to write. How else can you pen the best story possible without these things by your side?
My Review
A coming of age story!
Set in a dual timeframe, the author creates a story of innocence lost, parental abuse, uncovered secrets, and the journey two young women take on the road to self-discovery.
Cudney uses the juxtaposition of completely different personalities- Amelia is shy and innocent while Brianna is confident and independent- to highlight underlying similarities. Both long for acceptance and love in a world that often seems unforgiving and harsh.
The plotline is nothing short of brilliant, with a surprise ending you won’t guess is coming!
I give Father Figure 5 lovely kisses- A family saga with thorns!
Jacquie Biggar-USA Today Best-selling author 
Hi,
Thank you so much for taking time to read and review the book. I’m thrilled to learn it received 5 lovely kisses… and when you said thorns, it made me think of one of my favorite books by VC Andrews – If There Be Thorns, one of the books in the Flowers in the Attic saga! You rock! 🙂
J
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I read Flowers in The Attic, those poor kids. Your book has a lot of the same angst (different situations, of course), I felt so bad for Amelia. Good job, James!
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🙂 Thank you!
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Not your usual genre, Jacquie. But it sounds like a compelling read. Thanks for sharing. Best wishes to Jay.
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Thank you, Staci.
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I’ve been stretching my readerly wings lately, lol
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That’s an excellent review and the story certainly sounds compelling. I love stories with dual timelines.Congratulations to Jay!
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Thank you, Mae Clair.
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Between you and James, you’ve stoked my interest. Maybe, I’ll try writing one someday 🙂
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Oooh! I’ll look forward to it!
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🙂
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Love the cover. I see the angst of these girls in the fonts and colors.
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I like the choice of two paths, one leading to the moral ground (church in the background) and one leading to the unknown. Which would you choose? 🙂
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Awesome review to share, Jacquie. Bravo to James! 🙂
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Thanks, Natalie. I appreciate it.
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Thanks, Natalie. This is a story about consequences. I always wished for the gift of hindsight, maybe then I could have avoided some of the decisions I made in life! lol
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lol Me, too! 🙂
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Quite a thing to write between times – sounds like you achieved this very well James and with a cracking yarn to boot. All success!
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Thanks, Susan. It was definitely a challenge to tell a story 20 years apart but make each chapter mirror the companion one about the two women’s lives. 🙂
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James did a fantastic job with the dual plots, Susan. Well worth the read.
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Thank you, Jacqui. Yes, the angst is high!
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Wonderful review, Jacquie! You’ve made this sound like such a powerful read! ♥️
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It was, Jennifer. Gritty in places, sweet in others. I think you’d enjoy the read 🙂
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Thank you! I appreciate it.
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Great review Jacquie. You’ve made me curious;)
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Sounds good! 🙂 Thanks.
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The author did a stupendous job with characterization, Denise. I think you’d enjoy this one!
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YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyy!!!!! I am so happy that you loved it too Jacquie! And you are right Jay is a master plotter!
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You’re gonna make me develop an ego! :O
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I really enjoyed Academic Curveball, so I had to give this a try, and I’m glad I did!
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I really enjoyed this novel, a lot of story packed in, fast paced but thoughtful.
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You’ve been a great supporter – thank you very much.
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Hard subject matters, but James tackled them grace and charm 🙂
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thanks for the reblog, Anita and Jaye Marie!
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Thank you everyone!
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I am so glad you enjoyed this one Jacquie. I read it back when it came out and enjoyed it very much. Very different from the Braxton Campus series, but a great plot and well-written story. Yes, you are so right about the ending.
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James did a superb job with this one! Thanks for stopping by, Carla 🙂
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A fantastic review of Jay’s book, Jacquie. I am reading it now and so far it is terrific.
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Oh, yay! I’m glad you’re enjoying the story 🙂
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