Eye of the Beholder / Jackie Weger

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Romance

Approximate word count: 55-60,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: YES  Smashwords: NO  Paper: NO

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Jackie Weger “…began writing romance novels in the 1980's while living in a small farming town in Texas and is an award-winning contemporary romance writer. She published sixteen novels with Harlequin Books and is now bringing her five-star favorites to the e-book community.”

To learn more about Ms. Weger visit her blog and/or herFacebook page, she loves to chat to readers.

Description:

“Twenty-four year old Phoebe Hawley is on a quest to find a place for her homeless family. Phoebe is Alabama tough, country smart and sapling thin. On the road with two siblings, twelve year-old Maydean and five year-old Willie-Boy, Phoebe is out of money, out of gas and out of patience. Now the only things she owns in abundance are Hawley backbone and Hawley pride--neither of which she can trade for food or gas. 

A collision with Gage Morgan puts Phoebe's mission in even worse jeopardy--until Phoebe discovers Gage Morgan owns the perfect place for the Hawley clan. 

But Gage Morgan has a bruised ego, a tight fist on his wallet and an iron fist on his heart. Once Phoebe discovers Gage is too wily to succumb to her schemes to pilfer his wallet and claim his home, she has to try something different to win his heart.

But will Hawley backbone and Hawley pride step aside to let her do it?”

Appraisal:

Phoebe Hawley is a no-nonsense type of heroine. She is smart and sassy in her country ways and has a lot of responsibilities on her shoulders right now. Her character is well developed and likeable, although some of her methods are a bit underhanded. Maydean is a hoot, she provided a lot of unneeded stress for Phoebe, bless her little pre-teen heart; Ms. Weger had her down well. Everything that came out of this little spit-fire’s mouth I could hear coming from my own daughters. (Pre-teen girls are a trial in and of themselves.) Willie-Boy was a typical five-year-old boy and provided a lot of comic relief and was a blessing to have around.  

Gage Morgan is a handsome widower with a hard heart, and wasn’t a character easy to like at first. As we learn about his character it was easy to understand why he had built a wall around his heart to protect it. His relationship with his daughter, Dorie, was another matter altogether, it made me wonder if he was worth the effort to get to know at all. However, Phoebe sees potential in this brash hardworking junkyard owner. One of my favorite things about this book was the heartwarming relationship that develops between Dorie, a lonely little girl who misses her mother,  and Phoebe.

There is a light Christian theme that runs through Phoebe’s upbringing that is not too in-your-face. I thought it fit with her character and she wasn’t trying to convert anyone. A typical example is this passage.

She went onto the porch and stared up into the noonday sun until a kaleidoscope of colors blocked out true vision. Prudence, temperance, and fortitude swelled within her. Being noble was doing God’s work, certain, she thought. Ma would be so proud.

 “Whatcha doing standing out in the sun like that, Phoebe? You know it makes your freckles pop out.”

What with feeling so fine spirited, Phoebe didn’t like being reminded of earthly flaws.  “I was prayin’ over your food, Maydean, so you won’t choke to death. The way you gobble I figured I’d better get as close to God as I could.”

As the tenuous relationship between Gage and Phoebe develops both seem to change and begin to temper each other until one of Phoebe’s schemes blows up in her face. I found this story a nice change of pace with real down home people and an easy read despite the backwoods, under-educated, country drawl. This is a nice, out of the ordinary, old time romance you are sure to enjoy.

FYI:

This book contains adult situations.

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant editing or proofing issues with this book.

Rating: **** Four stars