Review: "Tenacity" by Bob Stidham

Review by Melissa Cornwell

Here's the blurb from Amazon:
Jeff Prince is in Dallas and becomes embroiled in a fight that ends with a death. He quickly becomes the prime suspect and is jailed. Prince unwittingly uses an attorney with a conflict of interest and draws a two-year sentence for manslaughter. His injustice grows within his mind like a festering sore. Known as stubborn and unyielding, he returns to the scene of his downfall when released. With help from a club waitress, he locates a witness to the fight scene. An actress, present at the fatal fight, refuses to get involved. Stymied temporarily, he seeks help from a member of the Dallas Homicide division. The old cop admits that a crime mob does exist and is growing. He must move with care in dealing with the mob, as they may have infiltrated the police department. Events unfold that provide a rosier view. Jeff's name could be cleared, his future looks brighter and love is in full bloom.

This book was very interesting and very easy to follow. I absolutely grew to love the character of Jeff Prince in his quest to prove his innocence. I cannot imagine what it would have been like to be in prison for two years knowing you are innocent. There was such a huge, complex cast of characters, and I have to say bravo to that. Jeff finds allies in unexpected places, such as Olin Miller and Katy. I like the romantic twist to the story. Jeff definitely deserved to have something good happen in his life.

The novel was very realistic and very well written. The complex story plots fit together very well. It was interesting to see the process by which Jeff went through to accomplish his goal; being in the thick of danger, but not afraid to keep pushing ahead. I think one of the biggest things I got from this novel was that if you want something bad enough, you will do anything to get it. It also means that you probably shouldn't get caught up with the mob. Very good image of what the mob does and it was a very interesting twist to the story. Out of everyone, I didn't see the mob as the ones responsible. Thank you for a very interesting read!

Exciting Changes at Book Talk

Please bear with us as we take a mini vacation this week and next. We'll be back with an excerpt and contest on Friday, November 13 and will return with our interviews on Saturday, November 14.

Jessica and I have been talking for months about upcoming changes at the blog. When we started this blog in November 2007 (hey, we're two years old!), we were just going to talk about some of the books we liked and offer reviews. Then in June 2008, we decided to see if we could find a few authors who would agree to be interviewed for a little variety on the blog. We posted our first interview in July and the response was overwhelming.

Nearly a year and a half later, the blog continues to grow, but changes are necessary to keep the blog fresh. The biggest change is that starting February 1, we're revamping the whole blog. We'll be moving to a new web address and more than likely switching from Blogger to Wordpress (don't worry, this will hopefully be a smooth and seamless transition for you). Along with this move, we'll debut a whole new look for the blog. Our name will be changing as well as our focus. And last, Jessica is stepping back to be our web designer (after all she went to school for it).

Last month we held a name the blog contest. We thank everyone who offered their suggestions to us. We ended up coming up with our own blog name, but did chose a winner (Lulu) for offering a name that, when adjusted a little, will become our backup. The name we decided to go with is Romancing the Book. This reflects our new focus of the blog: a place to feature books of the romance (and related) genre.

As the debut of the new and improved blog draws closer I will keep you updated on the upcoming changes. Oh, and check out the poll in the right had side bar and offer your opinion...

Contest winners

Here's another update of winners in the last couple weeks.

Susan St. Thomas book, Meltdown: T., L.M
Joselyn Vaughn's CEOs Don't Cry: Tracey
Sheila Roberts' Angel Lane: Cheryl M.
Tamela Quijas book, Blood of the Beast: Amy S.
J. Hali Steele prize package: Z, Robin
Name the Blog contest: Lulu

Many thanks to everyone who's stopped by the blog and supported our authors. We currently have two contests running. We will be on a promo break for 2 weeks and will be back on Friday, November 13 with an excerpt and contest. During these two weeks, we'll post some blog updates and a couple reviews... and who knows, maybe give away a book or two.