Past Due by Elizabeth Seckman (Coulter Brothers #1)-a review

Description: Release June 2012

Jenna Austin is a young, widowed artist raising a teenage son on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. As the costs of living in paradise rise, she struggles to make ends meet. Life isn’t easy, but she manages.

When her car breaks down, she trudges on. She assumes life can’t get any more complicated than it is. But it can…

Chance brings her nose to well-formed chest with Tres Coulter, the handsome, affluent aid to Governor Hunt. Jenna and Tres share a history; they also share a love they thought long lost. Their lives are about to be altered forever as the deceptions of the past transform the very foundation of the present.

The price of happily ever after may be too steep to pay once the past comes due…

Review:

Jenna Austin is one tough cookie, but she’s tired. She works tirelessly to try and make a good life for herself and for her son, Tanner. Without moral support from Maureen, Jenna’s deceased husband’s mother, she wouldn’t have made it this far. To say that Jenna has had it tough all of her life would be a gross understatement. She is estranged from her father, with whom she lived with after her mother died. And, boy, what a back story there is with that bunch!! And, things just seem to get more complicated when Tres Coulter comes to town.

Once Tres runs into Jenna, he knows that he’s in trouble. Even though it’s been years since he last saw her, he knows that he still loves her more than anything. But, in typical Jenna fashion, she pushes him away. Seems she’s been keeping a secret for 15 years that has the possibility of hurting everyone she loves and tearing apart what family she has left. And, once that secret is revealed, an avalanche of things happen that throws everyone and everything into chaos. Will the secret truly cost Jenna everything and everyone she’s ever loved? Or, will true love conquer all? You’ll have to read to find out.

I really enjoyed the world that Seckman created in Past Due. The real life struggles of a single mom trying to raise her child really hit home with me. It is set on the outer islands of North Carolina, a place where I have been many times myself. I could hear the gulls calling each other and feel the wind……. The one downside, at least for me, is that when the secret is revealed, it leads to more secrets and disclosures from numerous people and the details got bogged down just a little bit for me. The upside to that is that we get to meet some great folks along the way and I can’t wait to read more about Tres’ family, namely his two brothers, Craig and Trip. And, the boys’ mom, Barbara Coulter? Let’s just say she adds a whole new dimension to round out the Coulter clan. This is, in a nutshell, a story about life, love, family, hope and forgiveness. I have a feeling that the family dynamics in future books will be well worth the read!!

ORDER LINKS: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / The Book Depository

Copy supplied by the author.

Reviewed by Vickie M.