Book Review - Until Now by Denise Skelton

Just when Terry Meyers thinks nothing else can possibly go wrong or get worse in her life, it does. In Until Now, Denise Skelton, gives us Terry, a feisty sarcastic, quick tempered and equally quick witted single mom. Her ex-husband is a deadbeat who has remarried a virtual child. A woman who is determined to make sure he doesn’t live up to his financial responsibilities to Terry and their two sons, age 7 and 14. In addition this new wife is determined to make sure he has nothing what so ever to do with his children. This causes a further emotional strain on Terry, who now has to be the mom and the dad as she tries to make up for their missing father. On top of all that her oldest son has gotten in with the wrong crowd at school, her car is falling apart and she has just lost her job. Although we feel her desperation, Skelton makes she we don’t pity Terry by making her a fighter who won’t give up. Maybe that’s why there are dubious men always vying for her affection, when the last thing Terry wants in her life is another man.

Enter sexy undercover FBI agent, Wade Nelson. Wade is posing as a new high school teacher to uncover a drug and weapons ring. Not only is Terry’s son one of his students, but it seems every time Terry is at her worst or lowest point, Wade just happens to be around. Most men would run from a woman whose middle name seems to be drama, but Wade finds he can’t resist her feisty charms. Will he be able to quench her fire or will he too be burnt by the flames?

Skelton has done a wonderful job of bringing her characters to life and making them three dimensional. While she throws a lot of obstacles at them she never goes overboard and leaves the reader going, “yeah right.” The tension she builds between her romantic leads sizzles while remaining realistic. I don’t read a lot of straight romances, so I had my doubts when I picked this up, but Skelton has combined romance with not only mystery and suspense but with a healthy dose of humanism. Add to that a hot cover and you can’t help but root for this one. Four out of five stars.

Read the first two chapters here.

This book was provided by the author and will be given to one lucky commenter.