Shelter from the Storm by Peggy J. HerringShelter from the Storm by Peggy J. Herring is a second chance, life span romance with a hint of coming of age in a small southern town.

Nora Fleming is a highly respected nurse in Dallas. She’s the senior nurse in the Emergency Department with great working relationships and a real talent in her career. She’s been seeing Sally, the emergency room physician, and unsuccessfully trying to break things off. When Nora gets the call that her mother’s health is declining, she readily accepts the opportunity to flee the city and her relationship to head back to Stockdale, Texas.

Nora has always had a close relationship with her family, so the transition home is a comfortable one. She soon finds her place helping her mother and catching up on town happenings. She’s familiar with her mother’s routine of being the town Egg Lady, selling produce at the local farmers market and working on farm chores. As expected, she finds herself easily reconnecting with cousins who were as close as siblings as kids.

Nora expects to tend her mother and to the farm, but she never expected to run into the woman who ran away with her heart over twenty years ago.

Darcy Tate has spent the last twenty-two years serving the United States Army. Even before her army enlistment, Darcy had long since called Stockdale home. Her relationship with her parents, now only her father remaining, has always been cold. Despite years of tension, Darcy’s sense of duty means she’ll tend to her father and the family business at her own expense. Now forced to confront the shame she’s been carrying since the incident that changed her life forever, she meets Nora again and they both must revisit what happened.

Decades have passed and yet Nora and Darcy still feel an instant spark when they find themselves face to face. Although they are both busy with responsibilities as caregivers, they begin to see more and more of each other. Nora and Darcy have the rare chance to bring closure to what happened all those years ago and explore their future with new vision of what could be. They’re no longer the wide-eyed teenagers they were that summer. The connection they have is undeniable, if they choose to acknowledge it.

The past doesn’t let go easily. After years in the military requiring discretion in all of her relationships, being open isn’t something Darcy is comfortable with. She’s dated several women but she’s been selective and chosen only women who also want to keep things quiet. Nora’s free lifestyle is a curveball she didn’t see coming.

Nora’s past isn’t quick to let go either. Sally, her former girlfriend from Dallas, has shown up at her mother’s house unannounced with plans to stay for the weekend. She’s taken a job a few days a month at the local hospital where Nora is working and made herself at home with Nora’s family. Sally is convinced that their relationship isn’t over and she’s intent on proving it to Nora.

The past, present, and future collide. Darcy and Nora each must decide where to go from here. Can Nora and Darcy move past the incident and create a future together? Is there really such a thing as a second chance?

The Characters

Nora is the girl next door, right down to the long blonde ponytail. She grew up in a small town with a supportive family behind her every step of the way. Having a safety net to rely on has helped her to grow into the expressive, open, and fiercely protective woman she is today. She’s never afraid of doing what she believes is right, and she always has ideas about what is right and wrong, though she sometimes sees it with a bit of tunnel vision.

I loved seeing Nora with her easy, straightforward problem-solving skills. She tries to support those she loves but she doesn’t always see the struggles they’re having beneath the surface until it’s too late.

Darcy has a soft, kind heart. It’s second nature to her to help when she sees someone in need. She gives easily when it comes to friends or acquaintances, but when it comes to lovers, it’s a different story. Her years of enduring a glacial relationship with her parents and her career in the Army have done nothing to open her emotional tap. She’s not used to being uninhibited and laid back, like Nora, and when she does open up in times of vulnerability, she quickly closes herself again.

She’s no ice queen, but she can frost over in a split second. Darcy’s responsibilities won’t be ignored and in order to move in any direction, she has to consider what could happen.

I wanted to cry for Darcy and her struggles many times as the story went on. She’s such a good person that it’s impossible not to wish her a happy ending.

The Writing Style

This is the first of Peggy J. Herring’s books that I’ve read, and I’m delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

Her descriptions of the scenes and the characters are thorough but leave enough creative license for the reader to expand without having to start from the mold. Each sentence is written with purpose, each scene having relevance to the big picture.

While definitely a romance, there is a lot of focus on the implications of family dynamics, coming out, and coming of age.

The supporting characters are an integral part of the story and I appreciated how well Herring made sure they all fit.

The sex scenes were few and relatively short, but they were sensual and satisfying enough.

My Favourite Parts

I love the idea of revisiting first loves. They are often passionate, unrequited, and they set the bar for all future romance – even if it’s only so in memory. The opportunity to say and do all of the things you might’ve missed the first round is alluring, but more than that it’s finally getting the answer the age-old question: what if? That’s my favorite part of the book – finding out what might happen with a second chance.

Heads Up

Heads up, violence and abuse are described in one scene and referenced throughout the book and homophobia is a central theme of the story.

The Conclusion

If you’re looking for a sweet, southern, small town story with plot twists and humor, this is for you. I found myself waiting for the end of the day to come so I could sit back down in Stockdale to see what was happening with everyone.

Shelter from the Storm was not at all predictable and I found myself surprised more than once. Although the ending was the only bit I felt could have used a little more development, it evoked a lot of introspection on my part. It’s not often that a storyline lingers so long for me, so I have to say I recommend it.

Excerpt from Shelter from the Storm by Peggy J. Herring

Darcy had only thought of Nora once since moving home to help her father. Her first day back in town she drove by the high school where “the incident’ had taken place. Most of the horror and humiliation had long since passed, but a twinge of embarrassment lingered. That morning, Darcy had gone into town to get feed for the guineas when the name “Fleming” jumped out at her as she stopped at Flemings’ Feed and Seed store. She had forgotten that one of Nora’s uncles owned the place. Now she couldn’t get Nora and “the incident” out of her mind.

The incident, Darcy thought again with another shake of her head. Nora’s courage that night was still astounding to Darcy even after nearly twenty-three years.

Get It Online

When you use the links in this review and buy within 24 hours of clicking then we get a small commission that helps us run the site and it costs you nothing extra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


[tweetthis]I just read this review for Shelter from the Storm by Peggy J. Herring[/tweetthis]

Bits and Bobs

  • ISBN number: 1594930678
  • Publisher: Bella Books

If you enjoyed this book then you should also look at

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: No money was exchanged for this review. When you use our links to buy we get a small commission which supports the running of this site