Beyond Circumstances
Gloria Joynt-Lang
Small Town Romance
Zak Tifour loathes violence, and who could blame him? Two years ago, it destroyed him. It’s one thing to witness death, yet another to be responsible for the carnage. To survive, he hides in a small town, but when an attractive doctor veers off the road, his self-imposed exile is threatened. Though drawn to the woman’s generous heart, Zak’s terrified his darkness will engulf her light.
Lexie Draden knows sacrifice. She has dedicated her life to medicine. But no matter how skillful she is, it’s impossible to save everyone. As a surgeon, she accepts this brutal truth—until it becomes personal. Relocating is tough, but when she stumbles into the arms of a handsome stranger who doesn’t pry into her history, life takes a turn for the better. The only downside, the man’s past may be worse than hers.
Will their secrets and broken promises destroy their budding romance, or will love heal their damaged souls?
Uncaged Review: A small-town romance, with two wounded souls and the beginning of healing from the past. Zak has come to Braxley, to get away from a brutal past. He has PTSD from being captured and tortured along with his undercover work for the NYPD terrorist unit. Getting away from it all is the only way he believes he can survive. Being in a small town, there is a lot of talk and rumors, but Zak keeps mainly to himself in a small cottage with his dog.
Lexie is the new doctor in town, with her own past tragedies. Losing her niece has taken its toll, so moving away from Chicago was a way to start over. Meeting Zak started to stir feelings she didn’t realize she was capable of or even deserved.
This is a nicely written story with a good pace and well-developed characters. Some of the nosy small-town people are even a lot of fun how they cleverly try to pry information from both Lexie and Zak at times along with the bigotry of a few small, minded people. There were a few slower areas in the book, but overall, this is a great story for the romance lover with people that could easily be anyone’s neighbor.
Reviewed by Cyrene
4 Stars
