Good Wood by LG Pace III & Michelle Pace

A compassionate, contemporary romance with a little of everything and a whole lot of love – lessons learnt from the pages helped to see that just because you are a victim of the uglier side of relationships does not define the love you deserve and ultimately receive in the long run.

Sometimes life can be a cruel mistress and as a bystander looking on as painful situations are unfolded across the pages is not easy but it is a brave way for an author to show us how someone can cope with the hand they are being dealt.

This was the way I felt when I first opened Good Wood.

The whole situation with Joe when I first read it was so sad – my heart broke for him – I mean how on earth does someone survive, this scenario with not only their heart but sanity intact.

I suppose the truth was that Joe didn’t survive – he existed. He stopped living his life and was going through not only the motions but women too by the sounds of it...

Friends with Molly’s brothers, life has little to offer but work, drink, sleep and sex when the need arose but all that changed when a blast from the past turned up again in the shape of Molly.

Molly is one tough cookie, returning to town to be close to her family after spending years away and finally managing to get away from her controlling partner.

This book certainly does not shy away from some tough scenarios – they are dealt with, not with kid gloves but with sensitivity and understanding - well done!

Both Molly and Joe had reason to hide their pasts, to bury themselves so deep that they were slowly sinking into their own oblivion but neither of them knew that when they met again they would have a chance to pull back the curtains that enveloped their darkness and finally live again.

Molly was a feisty, bolshie determined woman, who had been treated appallingly by her previous partner but refused to be defined by what he had done to her.

She not only stood tall but she did so on her own two feet – She refused to be broken by him and to hide away from a future that she knew would be all the better without him in it.

She was a delightful character, she had fight, spirit and humour – she did not suffer fools gladly and  her temper was a quick as her wit but she had finally set herself free and was determined to not be anyone’s doormat.

Joe had a lot on his plate but had to find his feet again to be the man that was worthy of Molly’s time and attention.

His therapy/counselling sessions may have been compulsory at one point but I think it was a positive to show that therapy is a viable option – it was brave of the authors to show that men need the opportunity to vent their pain. Using Joe to show that it is Ok to need that help was a fabulous twist.

While the back story to both Joe and Molly was one that could have made for a very intense read – the story itself was actually remarkably heart-warming – it gave the chance of a happy ever after to two people who never thought they would get one but deserved it have it after all they had been through.

I am already looking forward to the next instalment in the series