Taffeta Brown grew up in the foster care system. She had been sick as a baby and by the time her medical problems allowed her to be adopted, she was an older child. She married the only son of a prominent attorney and for awhile she thought her life was perfect. True, her husband was spoiled and his parents gave him everything, but he had graduated with a law degree and was going to work for his father’s firm, and she was sure in time he would grow up. Taffeta was happy when she found out she was expecting a child, until her husband informed her he wasn’t ready to be a father so she had to have a abortion. She refused, informing Phillip that wasn’t going to happen.
When Sarah was born, Phillip’s parents fell completely in love with her. Phillip pretended to love her too, whenever his parents were around. During the pregnancy he had stopped bothering to hide his infidelities, but if Taffeta wanted to provide a stable life for her daughter, she had to look the other way. One night when Sarah was three she got up late at night, managed to unlock the safety gate on the stairs and fell. This was what Phillip had been waiting for! He accused Taffeta of abusing the child, divorced her and got sole custody of Sarah. Since a child wasn’t in his plans, he immediately gave Sarah to her grandparents.
Convicted of child abuse, Taffeta relocates to different town. Not wanting to draw attention, she dresses in dowdy clothes and spends all her time building her business. One day she will get the money to hire a lawyer and gain custody of Sarah, until then she has to fly below the radar and build a reputation as a model citizen. Enter Barney Sterling, a local lawman who finds himself drawn to Taffeta. When Taffeta finds out that Phillip has removed Sarah from his parents home and is leaving her in the care of strippers and drug addicts, she turns to Barney. Barney is a Deputy Sheriff and every criminal he has known claimed to be innocent, but once he starts thinking about the story Taffeta tells him, he decides that if Taffeta is lying she would surely concoct a better story.
The book tells of Barney and Taffeta’s fight to get her little girl back, and their growing attraction to one another. By the time they get the child back, they find she acts like a 20 year old stripper with a language to match.
This is an excellent read.
As always I wish you happy reading, Linda
Iris Johansen has been writing fantastic stories for years and now she writes with her son, Roy Johansen. The two continue to create hard hitting mysteries that will keep you entertained. This is part of the Kendra Michaels series. If you have never read one of her mysteries, she was blind and with a new surgery regained her sight. Kendra learned to notice things that most people overlook, and as a result has been used by different law enforcement agencies to solve cases. She helped put serial killer Eric Colby behind bars. He was suppose to be executed, but Kendra knows that somehow he is still alive, even though no one believes her.
