J. L. Cole

Lena Martin's life couldn't be more tragic. So far in her twenty-seven years she has buried her best friend, her husband, and, subsequently, what little enthusiasm she had for life. Eveyln, a passionate elderly widow is the opposite. Opinionated and slightly obnoxious, she hasn't met a problem she couldn't fix. When an unlikely friendship blossoms between them, it seems to be exactly what each of them need-except one is harbouring a dark secret, and the other a troubled past that sends the duo spiraling into a world where right and wrong isn't black and white, but a shade of grey with red pooled beside it.
I really felt like this book was mislabeled genre wise it was labeled as a mystery/thriller type book, but honestly over 90% of it didn't even have content that would read that way. Instead the majority of the book is about Lena and Evelyn both working through the grief of losing their husbands; both in two separate ways. Lena is dealing with a lot of grief surrounding losing a childhood friend and her husband, and to be honest her methods aren't all that healthy. In sweeps Evelyn, who has a healthier coping mechanism, but who is hiding a pretty big secret. The two slowly become friends and help each other to open up to new experiences in life, and the potential for love, when old flames reappear.
To be honest everything in the book was pretty predictable. It became obvious early on what the secret was that Evelyn was hiding, and then it was just annoying that the book didn't just flat out say it for another like 30 chapters. I struggled with this book because it had some very big triggers (abuse and attempted sexual assault) which were not addressed and just kind of dropped into the story. The last like 10% of the book is the "mystery/thriller" plot point and it's not done well at all. I think the book would have been better off without that element and just being a story about two women developing a friendship and working through their grief.… (altro)

I thank Black Rose Writing for providing a copy of J. L. Cole’s Silver Heights, in exchange for an honest review.

Silver Heights is not your typical romance where a girl (Rayna Parker) and boy (Ethan Miller) meet, spend most of the book trying to deny their attraction because they hate each other, and find true love at the end. Rayna Parker and Ethan Miller are emotionally damaged individuals who impulsively agree to marry soon after they meet. The story chronicles their struggles to overcome the issues that haunt them and build a mutually rewarding marriage.

Ethan is universally loved by everyone in the small Canadian ranching community where he grew up. After high school graduation, his lifelong sweetheart destroyed his plans and ability to trust his feelings for a woman when she cast him aside for a future in the city. Rayna feels trapped in a psychologically damaging family. Her abusive, alcoholic parents belittle her and battle constantly. She has nowhere to go and feels powerless to effect change. Ethan impulsively proposes marriage to rescue Rayna from her family. She accepts, desperate to escape her present life, and harboring fantasies about the life of a rancher’s wife on the open prairie.

Trouble occurs almost from the start. Rayna is an outsider in a tight-knit community where everyone thinks Ethan made a mistake in marrying her. Insecure, and aware of the community attitude, and makes little effort to fit in. She senses that Ethan married her out of pity and will soon seek a divorce. Ethan’s mother is cold and hostile and badgers Rayna to conform to her view of the kind of wife Ethan deserves. Ethan realizes Rayna is unhappy, ill-equipped to help on the ranch, and disinterested in the social community. He doubts her affection for him and is desperate to make her happy. When his efforts show little likelihood of success, he withdraws and buries himself in work.

In a sense, the plot nicely parallels the ups and down of a real marriage. Moments of success and happiness are interspersed among rough patches. At times it is hard to root for either character. The plot moves forward at a slow pace, and I resorted to reading a couple of chapters at a time. It took a conscious commitment to stick with Silver Heights rather than move on to something more promising. Nevertheless, the premise was interesting. I genuinely wanted the characters to find happiness. Silver Heights gives a glimpse of what can lie beyond when a couple works their way through the rough patches.… (altro)

This book is way more than a typical boy meets girl and they live happily ever after book. This is a book about living in a totally new and unwelcome environment while you learn more about your husband and his family including the new mother in law who makes no secret of the fact that she feels you are not the right wife for her son.

Rayna had a horrible childhood. With both of her parents alcoholics, she often had to act like the parent and take care of them. When she meets Ethan on a trip to the ranch owned by her friend's family, they are drawn to each other and end up getting married very spontaneously. Rayna has so much to learn - she's never been a wife or a daughter in law, she has no idea of the work that is involved in keeping a ranch running and she has no friends in the community to help her find her way. She begins to wonder if she made a mistake by marrying Ethan and moving to such an alien environment as Ethan is wondering if he made a mistake. Will the trials that they face bring them closer together or end their marriage?

This is a debut novel for J L Cole and I see a lot of potential in her writing. Her characters were so well written that I was hoping that they would make the right decisions with their lives. She does an excellent job with writing the environment of ranch life and the work involved. After reading Silver Heights, I look forward to her next book.

Silver Heights is a novel about the love between husbands and wives but also the love between parents and children. It's about learning to adjust and being accepted into a new environment. It's about the rocky road to achieving a good marriage. Most importantly - it's a book about LOVE.… (altro)