MAVERICK by Lisa Bingham

 

Publisher:    Berkley

Published:   November 1, 2016

ISBN:        978-0425278581

Genre:       Contemporary Romance

Format:     Print

Obtained via:  Publisher  

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

THREE-1/2 HEARTS

 

Bodey Taggart, the next to youngest of the four Taggart brothers has been the wildest of them.  His brothers, Jace and Elam have found the women of their dreams and settled down, but Bodey has no intention of following in their footsteps.  Even “grounded” this summer due to not one but two head injuries, he’s not about to give up his so-called wild ways.  There will always be a new challenge, a new adventure, a new extreme sport to pursue.

For the past year Beth Tivoli has been on the run with her younger brother, Eric and sister, Dolly.  Leroy Vonn, the leader of a terrorist group called the Farm, has been tracking them to bring Eric and Dolly back to his compound.  He will clearly stop at nothing.  To protect them Beth has stayed on the move and trusted no one.  But when she meets Bodey, something very different happens.  Something she cannot explain.  Against her better judgment, the little voice in her head, and stories she’s heard about Bodey, she begins to let him into her life and not long after, into her heart. 

For the first time in his life Bodey is ready to stop running to the next big adventure.  In Beth he finds someone he too can trust with his heart.  But with Vonn’s people after them, can they keep each other safe?

I enjoyed the first two books in Lisa Bingham’s Taggart Brothers series, DESPERADO and RENEGAGE.  As with those books I felt this story started off slow.  I felt no connection to either Beth or Bodey.  The details of their days as the SASS event seemed long and tedious to me, but I kept on reading.  As with the prior books though, once the story took off it became a knuckle gripping roller coaster. 

Beth’s development from a frightened young woman on the run to one who was going to stand her ground no matter what was nicely done.  And Bodey’s realization about why he drove himself to extremes time and time again was evenly paced and presented in a natural way.  He wasn’t the dare devil one day and Mr. Settled the next.  Together they found their way and a realistic way in a wonderfully told story. 

Having had a special needs sister, not because of the same thing that happened to Barry, but with many of the considerations the brothers needed to help him I appreciated the gentle, compassionate and realistic way Bingham developed this character.  He is not a character who will grow up and fall in love so I don’t see how the author could write an adult romance for him – yet with Bingham’s ability to tell a good story I fully expect Barry to also have a happy ending.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

RENEGADE by Lisa Bingham

Publisher:     Penguin      

Published:     January 5, 2016

ISBN:        978-0425278536

Genre:       Contemporary Romance

Format:     Print

Obtained via:  Publisher  

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

THREE -1/2 HEARTS

 

Jace Taggart may be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, but somehow he makes it look easy.  He runs the family ranch and business, he cares for his younger brother, Barry and looks out for his neighbors.  He also has a part of himself he struggles to keep hidden, tucked away until some future time when the world isn’t quite so heavy.  The last thing he needs is to become in involved with a woman…and fall in love.  But when he comes across Bronte Cupaceck sitting in her broken down van in front of her grandmother Annie’s house, all his good intentions seem to fall by the wayside.

Bronte is on the run.  Having had enough of an abusive marriage with a drug addict husband she’s packed up her two girls and headed west to her grandmother, Annie’s.  Trying to hide the real reason for fleeing her life in Boston she’s taken her daughters, Lily and Kari to some tourist spots across the country, but now it’s time to confront her demons.  Arriving at her grandmother’s she is at the end of her rope when she discovers that her grandmother has taken a fall and is in the hospital. Not willing to trust another man after her struggles in her marriage she cannot help but let Jace in – just a little bit.  But there is something about the man who keeps showing up every time she needs someone to be there for her that touches her broken heart.  But like Jace, Bronte has a full plate…too much to handle and a struggle to balance her needs and those of her children.

How can they find a way to make peace with the roadblocks in their lives and let their hearts have their way?

On the surface Lisa Bingham’s RENEGADE, book 2 in her Taggart Brothers series, reads like your average sweet romance.  Through twists in their lives Jace and Bronte find each other.  Their relationship seems doomed because of Bronte’s daughters and Jace’s younger brother.  As I said, that is on the surface.  As you read more deeply into the story Bingham takes on some of life’s more difficult challenges and through her characters she meets them head on with compassion and genuine human emotion.  The challenges are none that anyone would willingly seek, and you hope you never have to confront.  Bingham doesn’t toss out any easy solutions, but step-by-step her characters realistically confront their demons and find real resolutions.  She clearly writes from the heart.

There were a few times I felt like telling her to “get on with it,” but those seemingly tedious moments are not all that different from the roadblocks we have in our own lives.  As the book ended I felt like I was parting from some people I would like to know in my own life.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.