Trust in Me

Rating:
Summary: Great author, great book!
Review: I'm not going to sit and write about the story, you can read the editorial reviews for that. This is a great story, great characters and the author knows how to put it all together. I read her last book and I am very impressed with this author. Both her books are worth every minute and penny spent. She pens a good story and has a different way of writing then most of the "popular" authors that make her stories interesting. She is on my
list as a "have to get as soon as its out."

Rating:
Summary: strong psychological contemporary romance
Review: In Glen Oaks, New York, retired racing car champ Tucker "Menace" Quaid comes to town to try to revive the flailing track. He accepted the invitation of the town leaders because he feels guilty that ten years ago his driving caused the death of a local rival Danny Donovan. Danny's teenage son Ron hates Tucker and slashes the visitor's vehicle. The police arrest Ron for the vandalism, but his mom Beth and his Uncle Linc Grayson intercede. When Tucker learns who the teen is he wants to let him go because he blames himself for the lad's troubles. Shockingly, neither Beth nor Linc accuse him of negligence.

Tucker's presence leads to Ron spinning further out of control. Adding to his woes is that his mother and his father's killer are falling in love. The members of the Outlaws, a former gang of disenfranchised teens in the early 1980s, are divided with what Tucker did to one of them and the support he receives from their former leader Linc and his sister Beth.

This contemporary romance provides the audience with a strong psychological look at the surviving five members of the Outlaws, Ron, and Tucker. Each one of these seven characters carries tons of baggage with their ability to cope and adapt varying. That makes for a deep read, but the complexity of so much mental stress is difficult to follow. Readers will trust in Kathryn Shay to provide a thought-provoking novel that focuses on how nurturing makes the adult complete.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Shay seamlessly weaves three stories into a compeling tale.
Review: Kathryn Shay seamlessly weaves this tale of six juvenile delinquents coming of age and coming to terms with the past tragedies that shaped their lives. Beth Donovan is trying to recover from the untimely death of her husband and childhood sweetheart, Danny Donovan, while coping with her angry teenage son, Ron. The reappearance in town of Tucker Quaid, the race car driver who was blamed for cuasing his father's death, starts Ron on a downward spiral of vandalism and delinquency. Beth's brother, Linc, once the leader of the Outlaws is now the town's minister, who still loves his childhood friend Margo. Margo left Glen Oaks swearing never to return and though she loves Linc she hates the church almost as much. Joe and Annie married and started a family, but unknown to their friends he had been physically abusive throughout their marriage. After years apart and much counselling Joe returns to Glen Oaks to renew his relationship with his son. This seem like a lot to bring together in one satisfying story, but Shay succeeds at not only resolving all these issues but at creating real and very likeable charachters as well.

Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: The Outlaws consisted of six rebellous teenagers whom were best friends. Linc Grayson, the leader was fearless. He didn't fear anything from getting caught or the authorities. Margo was the girl he had loved since she was fourteen, who's mom constanly made her ask forgiveness from God for her sins. Beth Grayson just followed along with her brother since he was the only constant in her life, until she fell in love. Danny was the boy Beth had loved since she was thirteen, who rebelled from his parents who expected perfection from him. Joe Murphy just wanted to escape his abusive father and found just who could help him forget. Annie had loved Joe since she was a teenager and would do anything for him. Now it is fifteen years later, and everything has changed, except the friendship between the spectacular people.

Linc has turned to God and in the process lost Margo who hasn't believed in God since she was ten and she prayed for Him to save her when she was locked in the basement with rats. Linc has repeatedly tried to explain to her that his God is different from her mother's, but Margo won't believe any of it. On the fast track up the executive ladder at her company, the last thing she wants to do is go home to Glen Oak and be a ministers wife. Even if she will always love him.

Beth is now a widow with a fifteen year old son with a chip the size of Texas on his shoulder. It all blows up when Tucker Quaid, the man involved in the accident that resulted in Danny's death, comes back to town to resurect the racing industry. Her son Ron has always blamed Tucker and nothing she can do can change it. On top of that, she has to deal with her feelings for Tucker, which are far from platonic. Tucker on the other hand feels guilt that won't go away. For robbing Ron of his father, and for taking the husband of the woman he's fallen in love with.

The most touching part of this story is that of Joe and Annie. Joe has returned after six years of intense therapy for reformed batteres. He can finally look himself in the eye and believe that he has the right to be a part of the lives of his two children, one of whom he had no idea exsisted. Annie on the other hand can't look past the ugliness of the years her and Joe were married. When she finally realizes that people can change if they desire, she finds the way to forgiveness.

Kathry Shay delievers a heartwrenching and extremley emotional read in Trust in Me. These people are all battling with demons from their past and are trying to find out if love will prevail. It proves that people can change and friendship will last through the boundries of time.

Don't miss it!

Rating:
Summary: Another Hit for Shay
Review: This is definitely another hit for Kathryn Shay. The story is well written and easy to follow--even with all the different characters and subplots. The story involves some very deep issues which some authors may not cover quite as well as Shay does. The characters are very real, likeable, compassionate and understanding even with the issues they are faced with. Although I loved Tucker and Beth, Margo and Linc's story was my favorite--having to work through some serious issues to be together, but being able to depend on their love through it all is great.

Although it is not tied to this book, if you haven't read "Promises to Keep" you should--it is a wonderful book too and Shay also tackles some serious current issues with her great writing skills.

Keep it up K. Shay--you are on your way to being on my must read list.

Rating:
Summary: Enriching, emotional and poignant
Review: This triptych of a romance marks yet another triumphant attempt by under-rated writer Kathryn Shay. Earnest and constantly moving, Trust In Me tells of the struggle of the rebellious Outlaw gang growing up in Glen Oaks after the group was disbanded and reunited a decade later. Much have occurred: Joe Murphy returns as a reformed husband and seeks forgiveness from ex-wife Annie who is traumatized by his past abuse. Linc who is now a pastor is afraid to marry Margo who swears anathema to God and his beliefs - an imprint left by her pious mother. Tucker Quaid, a retired NASCAR racer decides to mitigate his guilt of causing Beth her husband in a racing tournament by developing the industry in Glen Oaks. He faces the wrath of her son Ronny but gains unexpected solace and a chance of love in the widow. Under-rated Kathryn Shay sculpts her characters with emotional delicacy and packs compelling human drama to deliver an enriching story of love and its healing power.

Rating:
Summary: Bravo Mrs. Shay
Review: This was a very moving book of love and hate. How the charecters came over the justified hate of the people who have done them wrong is wonderful. This kind of forgivness is very moving, even if it is fictional. 5 Stars.

Also Recomended:Promises to Keep,Kathryn Shay

Rating:
Summary: Bravo Mrs. Shay
Review: This was a very moving book of love and hate. How the charecters came over the justified hate of the people who have done them wrong is wonderful. This kind of forgivness is very moving, even if it is fictional. 5 Stars.

Also Recomended:Promises to Keep,Kathryn Shay

Rating:
Summary: A good book, but each should have had their own story.
Review: Years ago, a group of young people formed a group called the Outlaws. Time and trajedy have separated them. Now, they are coming together again.

Linc had been a bad boy, but found God and became a pastor, in the process separating himself from Margo, the love of his life. The longing for each other has never faded though, and now they both will face a critical moment where their relartionship to one another and to God will have to be resolved.

Beth's husband died in an auto racing accident, leaving her son fatherless and troubled. The man responsible, or who rather felt responsible, has returned home, and represents her son's best shot at having the help he needs. What lies between them is another thing.

Finally, Annie find that she has to face the man who abused her and almost caused her to lose her child. Joe Murphy claims to have reformed, but has he? Does he stand a chance with his fragmented family or not?

*** Although each story would have been better served in its own book, each one of them is a moving tale of friendship, the truest form of love. Linc and Margo's story particularly will appeal to fans of Father Greeley, where God is the most interesting character, and the one with the best sense of humor. ***

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore.