Missing (Mira)

Rating:
Summary: A Smorgasbord!!!
Review: A well-written romantic-suspense novel. Although, the love story most common in Ms. Sala's books took a bit of a back seat in this story it was still a page-turner. I found some points in it a little gruesome but it made the plot more realistic in a sense.
Ms. Sala's characters are more believable. She presents the human nature at its best and worst as shown in Wes and Ally. Both have major physical and emotional flaws, but at the same time Ms. Sala shows that flaws could be surmounted with endurance.

Rating:
Summary: A hillbilly story
Review: At book's beginning you'll expect a warfare-sad novel which will tell you what Wes's problems were and why he was absent almost all the time. When you see this is not the main plot of the novel you might be disappointed, but don't worry because the plot in the book is good enough to keep you in the story. I can't say that it is a thriller, but Storm's story with his new drug and Ally's love story are excellent. You will laugh several times during the diner at Ally's house. As many books, this one has ups and downs but is quite a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Missing.
Review: He survived Iraq, but a disaster at home is enough to send Wes Holden into a living death. When he begins to see the light at the end of his catatonic state, Wes hides that fact, which enables him to escape from a living Hades forced upon him by his so called family. His route takes him to the backwoods, a rustic world that seems to have changed little in the last century. There he will meet a young woman of great courage. Ally Monroe is bright and beautiful, despite having her childhood stolen to take care of her father and brothers and despite being club footed. No man has ever wanted her before, and she's not been interested. However, as her father tries to marry her off to a misogynistic hick, Wes catches her eye. Even as the two lost souls begin to find each other, something sinister is at work, bringing the threat of bioterrorism to West Virginia and forcing Wes to call upon his military skills to save the woman he loves.

*** Sharon Sala always captures readers' empathy in her heroes and heroines who turn their scars to stars with the magic of love. Even though at first blush, the situations seem unreal, before long the realism of her story will become apparent. ***

Rating:
Summary: She didn't miss the mark!
Review: I am always pleased to see a new Sharon Sala novel, and this one is a winner. It's a realistic story of life in our perilous times and the cost our protectors pay. In our world of terrorism, sometimes only a special person and place can heal a wounded heart. When Wes Holden walks away from his tragedy, he didn't expect a spinster in the backwoods to be the key to returning to life. An interesting cast of charactors and a deadly danger keep the pace lively. I wish she had filled out the lesser charactors a little more, but this is an enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: One of Sharon Sala's best books yet....
Review: I couldn't put this book down. It's one of the best romantic suspense books I have read all year. I love her characters they are so real and well-written. The story is woven so well it keeps you turning pages till the very end. Definitely one I will recommend at my store to my customers. Also one I will re-read again.

Rating:
Summary: WOW! Sharon Sala does it again!
Review: Let me start off by saying I love Sharon Sala's( and her pin Dinah McCall too) books and I always hold her to a higher expectation than I do others...and let me say she was delivered above expectation. I started reading this book and could not put it down until I finished it. It is wonderful and without going into to much detail I tell you this book made me cry, it scared me, it made me worry becuase I happen to live on a US military base and it made me belive in the power of love winning against all odds.A++++++++++++++++ Excellent!

Rating:
Summary: character driven thriller
Review: Special Ops Officer Wes Harden is spending time with his wife and son after an extended tour in a Middle East hot spot until a bomb explodes at the Fort Benning commissary, killing his family members. Wes breaks down suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. His stepbrother Aaron Clancy sees a chance to use Wes' military entitlement so he takes him back to Miami with him. After a few days, Wes leaves ending up in Blue Creek, West Virginia where Ally Monroe provides him food and shelter.

Abby's father worries that he done his daughter wrong by having her become the family matriarch for him and her two brothers when her mom died. He tries to hook up with a widower with three young children, but Abby refuses. As she brings Wes out of his shell, her brothers work for a chemist developing a new addictive illegal drug who wants the newcomer dead. Wes, feeling guilty for falling in love with Abby, refuses to allow harm to come to her, but the enemy is nasty and clever.

This is an engaging tale in which readers will feel the heartbreak and guilt that Wes endures after the deaths of his loved ones especially as he was saving his country at the cost of quality time with them (do not procrastinate when it comes to love). His guilt accentuates when he falls in love again. Ally is a terrific lead female who has no hope for her future until Wes arrives. The drug confrontation adds unneeded suspense though that helps Wes return to the living, but what moves MISSING is a character driven story in which love is the fabulous real healer.

Harriet Klausner


Rating:
Summary: Exciting Heartwarming, an emotional rollercoaster
Review: Wes Holden has been through hell. Literally, He has faced life and death in Iraq, he is a special ops soldier, who has finally made it home. Suffering from Post Delayed Traumatic Stress he is trying to pull his life togather. Suddenly his wife and son are killed in a terrorist attack in the commissary at Ft Benning. Wes shuts down. After almost a year the military releases him to his half-brother. They don't think he will ever come out of the catatonic state he is in. However, left to his half-brothers care, he suddenly realizes he will die if he doesn't escape. So When Aaron Clancy leaves him to sit in a chair alone without anyone to feed or care for him, he rises, packs a bag and leaves.

Walking and hiding from most everyone he travels from Miami to West Virginia.He has been on the road almost a year. His mind torn and shattered, he finally walks out of some woods to hear a sweet voice singing a hymn.

Ally Munroe is the 28 year old daughter of Gidion Munroe. She has a limp and has taken care of her family since she was 16 when her mother died. She has just about given up on her hopes and dreams when the tall, ragged, sad faced man walks out of the woods. At first a little afraid she still offers him food and finally offers him a place to stay. She has inherited her uncle's litte cabin hidden in the woods.

With care and warmth she reaches out to the wounded animal that Wes has become. And Wes fighting and wrestling with his own dreams, or rather nightmares, slowly begins to open the door to his feelings which have been locked up so long.

What neither see is the evil that has come to these mountains. An evil from the city, full of greed and ego. An evil they will both have to fight.

Sharon Sala has given us a novel of all the emotions. I cried, I laughed. And at the end I was humbled. Do not miss this book.

Rating:
Summary: Character is not enough, faith is not enough. . . .
Review: Yes, this novel has well-drawn characters (even the secondary characters), character development, and a fairly feisty plot that keeps rolling right along. But . . . as I read I wondered why it had not been classed on the back cover as an "inspirational" romance, because Ms. Sala uses a concrete deus ex machina, in this case a behind-the-scenes God, who appears to fix not only her plot but what ails her characters as well. This is OK, but for those of us who prefer the writer to fix her plot and characters herself, or who prefer not to read inspirational romances (which use faith-in-God as plot devices) at all, it seems like something is missing in the literary construction of the novel.