Review: A Sweet and Gritty Gulf Coast Family Drama Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 1, 2014
Twenty four year old Phoebe Hawley has come to the Gulf Coast town of Bayou Le Batre with her younger twelve year old sister and five year old brother, looking for work and a home, when she gets into a fender bender accident with widower Gage Morgan, a junkyard owner with a young nine year old daughter. When Gage takes her bumper and license plate to assure she covers the cost of the damages in the accident, Phoebe wrangles her way into his home determined to prove her Hawley pride and grit. There is very little plot and the ending is exactly what readers of this type of backwoods romance  and family drama want; however, this story finds its strength in the characterizations of two individuals searching for respect and security for themselves, while trying to overcome the physical and emotional road bumps in their past, blend in the responsibilities of family and parenthood, and deal with the romantic attractions that begin to well up within for each other. The novel is well written and edited, although I cannot claim to be an expert on Louisiana Cajun swamp diction. There are some sex scenes, but they fit within the path of two souls who clash, banter, hold back and then begin to mesh over the course of a few weeks in their lives.