Irrevocable is the first book in the Guardians series of contemporary military romances.
Tess, a nurse in a neonatal unit, has sworn off men. However, her friends take her out for the evening to a popular nightclub where she trips and falls into Ethan, a good looking guy, but he accuses Tess of deliberately throwing herself at him and they separate after their disagreement.
They meet a second time at a charity event when Tess sneaks to the stables for a glimpse of a famous race horse. Ethan’s on guard duty to prevent guests from wandering, and once again the pair argue.
This is an enemies-to-lovers style story with a Texas setting which also squeezes in a good dose of secondary themes, all of which vied for attention. I did enjoy the story to a point, but it tried too hard to cover all the points where more depth could have worked just as well with fewer plot ideas.
When Tess nosedives into Ethan, it’s a genuine accident. But when she trespasses? Maybe not so much.
When Tess Williams, a neonatal intensive care unit nurse, finds her fiancé in bed with another woman, she is done with dating. Even if it means she won’t have a family of her own, because trust and honesty are that important to her. Hellbent on avoiding any temptation of the male kind, she makes one devastating mistake: nosediving into the solid chest of a Delta Force operator.
Her second far-reaching mistake? Trespassing.
Ethan Mitchell, only son of a Texas billionaire, joined the Army to turn his life around. Adamant all women are only after money and can’t be trusted, and to keep his past secret, he is only interested in casual flings. Until a stubborn and infuriating five-foot-seven firecracker crashes into him, insisting he is mistaken, and he needs to apologize.
Sure. Like hell he is. And like hell he will.
Ethan may admit he is wrong (about one woman specifically), but will he risk exposing his secrets to keep her in his life? And Tess may give in to the attraction between them, but will she risk her heart for someone who, all too often, is sent on life-threatening missions?
Content warning: This novel contains realistic neonatal experiences.
Olga has been reading Blind Turn by Cara Achterberg
The book description gives an idea of the bare bones of the story, which is not very complicated, at least on the face of it. The novel follows the aftermath of a terrible accident, although perhaps not a totally ‘accidental’ accident, as the girl driving, Jess, was ‘allegedly’ texting while driving. The girl, who suffers a concussion, can’t remember anything about the accident, but her friend Sheila, who was with her in the car, has plenty to say. The victim is a well-known town coach and a friend and mentor of the girl’s father. Let’s say there’s not much love lost for the girl and her family in the town (Jefferson, Texas) after that happens. The novel falls into the categories of family drama (or women’s stories, as the story is told by the two women, Liz, the mother, and Jess, her daughter, in the first-person) as well as a coming of age story. Jess is only sixteen when the accident happens, and she grows up considerably during the next few months, while she discovers who her real friends are, reorders her priorities, gains a new appreciation for both her parents, learns about guilt, and more than anything, about forgiveness. She is not the only one who grows up in the process, and her mother also learns a lot about herself and about those around her.
I’ve mentioned some of the themes discussed in the book, and there are others: disappointed expectations, second chances, the risks of texting and driving (of course), parenting, split-up families, the nature of guilt and forgiveness, the way all lives are interconnected and all actions have consequences, unplanned parenthood, looking after the elderly (especially our parents)… This is not a novel full of secrets and twists, devious characters and bizarre motives, but rather one that we could imagine happening to our own relatives and/or friends (or ourselves). That is one of its strengths. The plot does not require any suspension of disbelief (or not much. At times, I wondered if in real life things wouldn’t have got even more difficult for those involved, and especially some of the male characters seem very understanding and forgiving, although that is refreshing), and as the book is not heavy on details or descriptions, it is even easier to imagine its scenario taking place around us.
I liked all (or most) of the characters. Although I have little in common with Liz or Jess, I found them both easy to empathise with. They are not perfect but are fundamentally good people trying to get on, and they love each other deeply, though at times it might not be that evident even to themselves. The rest of the characters are also pretty decent despite their flaws, and this is not a book where good and evil are clearly separated. Sometimes a mistake can have terrible consequences, and sometimes good people can do terrible things. If I had to choose some of my favourites, I quite liked Katie, Liz’s sister; her friend Avery; their neighbour, Dylan; Ellen, the counsellor; and Fish, a boy Jess’s father knows. Both of their love interests are endearing, although at times they appear a touch too perfect (but things happen that qualify that impression), and even the characters whose behaviour is not exemplary are not despicable. Through the main characters’ narrations we get to share in their doubts, hesitations, fears, defence-mechanisms, disappointments, expectations, hopes, guilt feelings; and it’s impossible not to wonder what we’d do in their place. I have no children, but I could easily imagine what Liz might feel like, and as somebody who’s driven for years and has been lucky enough not to be involved in any serious accidents (none involving injuries), Jess’s plight was instantly recognisable. Their thoughts and their emotions felt true, and the way they behave and eventually grow suits perfectly the kind of human beings they are.
The use of the first-person narration by the two main female characters works well, as we get both sides of the story, with access to more background into the changes and the actions of each character than the other has, and it also provides us with some distance from each woman and an outsider perspective on them, and we come to realise that they are more alike than they think. The author is both skilled and thoughtful enough to avoid common-places, and she does not give her characters an easy way out. They have to work through their issues and earn the hard lessons they learn. Saying that, I loved the ending that manages to be both, open and hopeful.
The writing flows easily, and although the novel is not full of action or a page-turner in the standard sense, there are very emotional moments. We become so involved in the lives of the characters that it’s difficult to put the book down, as we care too much for them to rest until we know what happens. I read a review written by somebody from Jefferson, Texas, who felt somewhat disappointed because she had expected to recognise some of the landmarks, so beware if you have similar expectations. On the other hand, I got a good sense of what it felt like to live there (or at least in the Jefferson of the novel) and to know the characters personally, and that worked perfectly well for me.
I thought I’d share a few of the passages I highlighted (although, remember mine was an ARC copy, so there might be some slight changes in the final version):
Why does forgiveness require a sacrifice? That piece of Christianity never made sense to me. That sounds more like making a deal than offering forgiveness.
I am the roadrunner, running in thin air, moments from smacking into reality.
Sometimes it feels like I’m in a dystopian novel being controlled by a cosmic author who makes the characters do things no one would ever dream they would do —especially themselves.
I am different too. I am finished withholding forgiveness and clinging to my anger and fear like some kind of sick armor to shield my heart.
I recommend this novel to readers who love realistic/plausible coming-of-age stories and family dramas that don’t fall into the trap of trying to make everything right or easy for the characters while at the same time avoiding unnecessary twists used simply for effect. If you’re looking for an inspiring story you can connect with and characters you’d love to have as neighbours or friends, this is your book. There is heartache, tears, and also a process of growth and lessons to be learned, and you’ll feel better for having read it. And what more can we ask for! (Oh, I almost forgot! There are dogs as well!)
In the aftermath of a fatal texting and driving accident, a mother and daughter must come to terms with the real meaning of forgiveness.
Liz Johnson single-handedly raised an exemplary daughter. Jessica is an honor-student, track star, and all-around good kid. So how could that same teenager be responsible for the death of the high school’s beloved football coach? This is Texas, where high school football ranks right up there with God, so while the legal battle wages, the public deals its own verdict.
Desperate for help, Liz turns to a lawyer whose affection she once rejected and attempts to play nice with her ex-husband. Jessica faces her angry peers and her own demons as she awaits a possible prison sentence for an accident she doesn’t remember.
Jenni has been reading Blind Turn by Cara Achterberg
I suppose this review should start with a disclaimer: I’m a Texan.
Not only am I a Texan, I’m a northeast Texan. I was born and raised roughly 50 miles from the city of Jefferson, where Cara Sue Achterberg’s Blind Turn nominally takes place. This setting is what drew me to her novel in the first place, despite tight family drama’s like this laying way outside my usual genre.
For fellow Texans out there looking for loving descriptions of the historic red brick post office, the Beauty and the Book hair salon, Big Cypress Bayou, or the annual Krewe of Hebe Mardi Gras parades, I’m afraid you will have to look elsewhere. Achterberg’s “Jefferson” is a kind of Anytown USA, rather than specifically Jefferson TX, zip code 75657.
For me, the weakness of Achterberg’s work can be found in this. In a novel where one of the biggest hurdles is that the entire town turns their backs on the protagonists, the absence of that uniquely Jefferson spice is felt keenly. A weekend jaunt through Jefferson, the B&B and antiquing scenes are fabulous!, or even an afternoon stint on Wikipedia would have helped lend the novel local flavor and enriched the setting and the story immensely. When someone tries so hard to write a generic small town, they lose some of the DNA that makes every small town unique.
That said, there are some universal truths in Achterberg’s novel. Truths like small towns are places were “people mistake proximity for intimacy”, and frequent musings on the “invisible and impossible ways” people’s lives intertwine. There is beauty in these universalities, and in the ways that a mother’s love can transcend even doubt about her child’s innocence, in the redemption and of a flawed father, the generosity of a near-stranger who becomes a part of a family, and the maturing of a teenager.
There is beauty in forgiveness, of the self and of others, and that too lies at the heart of this very human novel full of very human characters.
The great strength in Achterberg’s work lies in this humanity, in the ways she makes her characters stumble and fall as they struggle to grow into themselves. There are no perfect people in this novel, but they’re all trying, and damn do we love to watch them try.
When Jess runs away from home, all of sixteen and crumbling beneath the weight of the world, our hearts run with her. She has been through so much, physically and emotionally, how can we begrudge her this escape?
And when she comes home? When her parents find her and finally realize how much hurt their child has been hiding and they break with the weight of it? How can an empathetic reader not break as well?
Despite the story taking place across several months, Blind Turn is a rapid read. The inciting incident, a horrific car crash that upends everyone’s lives, happens about page three and the punches keep coming from there. Courtroom drama, complicated family dynamics, small-town histrionics, and workplace politics all come into play in Achterberg’s story, just as they do in real life.
And just like in real life, the ending is messy. A man is killed in the opening car crash and there is no un-ringing that bell. Jess, who was driving the car, her parents, who have alternately fallen together, apart, and together-ish again throughout the novel, the dead man’s widow, and the town as a whole all have to learn to live with that. Lines of love and loyalty are tangled, but everyone we care about as readers is working towards better. Working towards being whole.
There’s no riding off into the sunset here, but there is satisfaction in the conclusion both in redemption well earned, and in completing a story well written.
3.75/5 for fellow Texans who see what it could be with a little research.
4/5 for everyone else.
In the aftermath of a fatal texting and driving accident, a mother and daughter must come to terms with the real meaning of forgiveness.
Liz Johnson single-handedly raised an exemplary daughter. Jessica is an honor-student, track star, and all-around good kid. So how could that same teenager be responsible for the death of the high school’s beloved football coach? This is Texas, where high school football ranks right up there with God, so while the legal battle wages, the public deals its own verdict.
Desperate for help, Liz turns to a lawyer whose affection she once rejected and attempts to play nice with her ex-husband. Jessica faces her angry peers and her own demons as she awaits a possible prison sentence for an accident she doesn’t remember.
Tempestuous Taurus is a romantic suspense novel set in Texas. Tara has inherited her parent’s equine therapy centre along with her siblings, but her sister is missing and her brother isn’t interested in being a part of it.
The centre has recently been run by Tara’s aunt after her parents were viciously murdered, but now her aunt has passed away too and Tara must come back and face some emotional hurdles. One of those is renewed acquaintance with her childhood sweetheart Jared; the man that was once accused of killing her parents.
The story starts well and I enjoyed the first half of the book, with chapters mainly alternating between Tara and Jared. Then suddenly there is a chapter from Tara’s missing sister, for me this jarred the flow of the story and I didn’t think it added anything to the main theme at this point. Later chapters contained a mix of paragraphs from different characters with no indication that the narrator had changed, which was confusing to the extent that it felt as though the editing had ended at the half way point.
I liked Tara and Jared when I first met them, but I thought that the author missed opportunities to develop them into rounded and believable personalities as the story developed. Tara’s sister is described as being autistic, but sadly I was never convinced of this in any of her characteristics or actions. Overall, I liked the idea of the story but it lost its way after a good start.
A gruesome murder, a loved-one’s betrayal, and her missing sister are more than enough for Tara-Grace to contend with. Now she’s forced to come back to her hometown to claim her inheritance―the family home and equine therapy business.
Bizarre and disturbing events, a child who can’t talk, and the threat of imminent danger are enough to push anyone over the edge.
Winds Of Time is a historical romance set in Texas around 1871.
In modern times, Selena Tillman has a locket from an ancestor, Mary. She has also inherited Mary’s property. But a family mystery and possible haunting surrounds Mary’s death, so Selina travels to Texas to try to find some clues. A couple of objects in the house, when touched, give Selina visions about the past, and an urgent message, from Mary herself, comes to Selina just as a tornado blows through the property.
The tornado deposits Selina at the property a year after Mary’s disappearance back in the late 1800s and Selina believes she now knows how Mary died and why no one found her body. But she’s immediately met by Major Davis and Captain Casey. Selina poses as a relative of Mary’s who was due to inherit the property. She must convince the men about her theory surrounding Mary’s death and in the process save an innocent man.
This was an enjoyable story. Selina was particularly tested when she tried to integrate with the era and not everyone believed who she was. She confused Casey on several occasions, but her resolve to rescue him and her feelings for him won him over. The novel included lots of information about the war with the Native Americans. It also showed the prejudices of the time against women and inter-racial marriages. I would easily recommend this to readers who enjoy historical romance.
The past is her future, the future, her past, but can she save an innocent man’s life before history repeats itself?
As long as Selena Tillman dreams of her ancestor, Mary, who disappeared without a trace in 1872, she’ll never find peace. As long as she dreams of the half-Native American army scout accused of killing Mary, she’ll never find love. Hoping to end the dreams and learn the truth, Selena goes to Texas where Mary and the scout died and sees more than ghosts. She sees a tornado kill Mary in real time before it jumps to the twenty-first century to pull Selena into its vortex and send her back to the nineteenth century. Selena believes she’s fated to prove Dylan’s innocence and save his life, but Dylan isn’t just the man of her dreams; he’s her destiny.
Fed up with the army, bigotry, and women—especially white women, Captain Dylan Casey dedicates himself to solving the mystery of Mary’s disappearance, proving his innocence, and trying to stop a war between the whites and the Indians. Then Mary’s cousin shows up, claiming a tornado killed Mary. Dylan doesn’t trust Selena, but she’s his only ally in Canyon Creek. Yet despite their common goal, growing mutual attraction, and a Comanche shaman’s prophecy of a white woman who will change his destiny and foretell the fate of the Indian Nation, Dylan refuses to take a chance on another spoiled, white woman—until fate changes his mind.
Book reviewer and garden enthusiast. Updates from my Hampshire garden. Usually talking about books and plants. People do not forget books or flowers that touch them or excite them—they recommend them.
Book reviewer and garden enthusiast. Updates from my Hampshire garden. Usually talking about books and plants. People do not forget books or flowers that touch them or excite them—they recommend them.
Book reviewer and garden enthusiast. Updates from my Hampshire garden. Usually talking about books and plants. People do not forget books or flowers that touch them or excite them—they recommend them.
Book reviewer and garden enthusiast. Updates from my Hampshire garden. Usually talking about books and plants. People do not forget books or flowers that touch them or excite them—they recommend them.
Irrevocable by A.J. Reid
Rosie Amber 