As a preface to this review, I have to say I read my first Sandra Brown novel while I was in nursing school and she quickly became a favorite. I am now a 29-year veteran of my nursing career, and she is still at the top of my “must read” list. I don’t need to read the back of the book to see if I’m going to like it…when Sandra Brown releases a new book, I already know I’m going to LOVE it!
The year is 1920 and Prohibition has just gone into effect, shortly after the war’s end. Laurel Plummer and her husband Derby, an Army soldier, have gathered up all of their meager belongings, along with their infant daughter and packed them into their used Model T for a journey to Derby’s fathers homestead in southwest Texas. Upon their arrival to a home that’s little more than a shack, Laurel realizes that Irv, Derby’s father, didn’t know about her and Pearl. That evening, an unexpected event brings sudden change to the fledgling family…
Thatcher Hutton is riding a train as a boxcar hobo along with three other men, whom he knows are prepared to jump him during the night. Biding his time, with darkness as a cover, he leaps off the train, and finds himself in the middle of nowhere. After a nap, he starts walking hoping to find a town nearby. Soon he stumbles onto the property where Laurel is staying, and she gives him some water and directions into town. Thatcher barely settles into town and finds some work when Doc Driscoll’s pregnant wife goes missing, and Thatcher is accused of involvement in the disappearance.
Laurel quickly catches on to her father-in-law’s moonshine distillery and sales, hidden by his ‘local handyman’ status and decides to help him expand the business. Under the guise of selling homemade pies to area families and establishments, Laurel & Irv rapidly expand their clientele, much to the displeasure of other bootlegging families in town. Soon, the unrest spills over into violence as each family scrambles to destroy those who threaten their success. And Laurel must fight her ongoing attraction to Thatcher, a man now on the opposite side of the law…
I couldn’t put it down! Sandra Brown weaves her magic into every page of this novel and has created rich, in-depth characters and vivid, colorful prose that brings a long gone era back to life as each page is turned – I would love to see this become a screenplay. Give it a read, you will NOT be disappointed…that’s a promise!!
I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy from #Netgalley & Grand Central Publishing in exchange for an objective review.
Tropical Delusions...... 