Lightning Strikes Twice
Katelyn HughesContemporary romance
Available from Triskelion Publishing
November 2006
| Second chances! When a couple is young and in love, no one sees the need for them! From age 11, they were best friends. At 17, they knew they loved each other. Their entire future awaited them. And then…. Luke Mitchell moved to a little place outside Tulsa with his mom and step-father. Life certainly changed for him then. He seemed to have lost his family connections, but he found Isabella McNeil who made up for all he had lost. Unfortunately, after high school, since his step-father had spent his college fund, Luke joined the Army. He left with a promise that "Bella" would wait for him forever, if it took that long. Deacon Brodhi, son of an Oklahoma senator, had different ideas!
Bella never liked Deacon or his sister, but he found her alone one night at a party, and after drugging her, raped her and, even though she remembered nothing, she was pregnant. His double personality immediately presented itself and he conned her father into a marriage between Deacon and Isabelle (whom he called Izzy, which she hated!) During the ten-year marriage, Isabelle withdrew from family and friends. She had two children, both conceived in rape; Deacon abused her physically and mentally. This was/is a fantastic book. I haven't enjoyed reading anything more in a long while. I cried several times; the story is so sad, almost hopeless, but it was the most riveting story I have read. Lightning Strikes Twice proves so many things about love and commitment and responsibility and the need to take charge of the situation to keep someone from injuring you. Isabella is so scared and so despondent that all she can think about is keeping her children safe. The way Bella and Luke are reunited is unbelievable and the way her children are treated and the openness with which her family (and his) opened their lives to each are astonishing. What happened not only at the end of the book, but within the center sections as well, will change your mind about true love and second chances. I recommend this book unconditionally.
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Reviewer: Brenda Talley |
