WHERE THERE’S SMOKE
ANNA LEIGH KEATON
ISBN# 9781600880902
January 2007
Cobble Stone Press
www.cobblestone-press.com
E-Book
$6.99
212 pages
Contemporary/Suspense/Interracial
Rating: 5 Cups

Kate Darby runs the Irish Pub her father owned before he died the year before, leaving it in debt. With her business acumen, she should be running it for profit soon. She has done well for herself except in one area of her life; men and dating.

Toby Angel is a local bad boy turned firefighter and even the last ten years with the Cooper Valley Fire Department he remembers being that teen delinquent, until Kate’s father helped him straighten out his life with a job at the pub.

Kate cannot believe that Toby always had an effect on her; first at twelve, and now at twenty-eight; she hates to admit Toby affects her physically. In the three years she has been back since she was raped and sent her rapist to jail, only her father knew the story and about her problem around men. Now Toby has guessed her secret and wants to be a friend, and more, he understands since his sister went through something similar years before.

This is about rape victims and how women deal with it after. With luck they can go on with their lives, but some remain affected forever. Women can learn to empower themselves and not remain a victim, but it takes a strong person to rise above it and allow another into their life romantically. This may include a husband, boyfriend, or partner who understands completely. It is an emotional and empowering tale; rape is an act of violence, not sex. Stereotyping the victim as asking for it is ludicrous since victims are male and female now with rapists and pedophiles living nearby. Remember, rape is an act of violence. The victim is not in the wrong, the rapist is, and please remember that.

Lainey
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance
Reviewer for Karen Find Out About New Books