Beyond Ordinary

Ordinary, Montana #4

by Mary Sullivan

Can you outrun your past?

Angel Donovan can't. The moment she crosses the town limits of Ordinary, Montana, she feels the weight of who she used to be looming.

But there's one person who sees beyond her former wild-child self—Timm Franck. Too bad he's also the one person she's wary of…with good reason. Thanks to his journalistic skills, the private details of her scandalous upbringing are a matter of public record.

Despite her efforts, avoiding Timm is an impossible task. The man has made it his business to stay close. To make amends?

Or to give them a shot at a relationship they never had? Whatever his motivation, Angel can honestly say this is the last place she expected to find something—someone— so extraordinary.

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romance

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 ½ Stars ~ This is Ms. Sullivan's note that appears at the beginning of the book and I think it best describes the heart of this story.

Dear Reader,

Most people wander this earth wearing hard outer shells to protect their vulnerable cores. But those exteriors don’t reflect who they really are. The problem is that the world assumes what they see on the surface is all there is. What a shame. I wanted to explore this idea and look at what kinds of problems it can cause.

Angel Donovan has been forced into a certain role by fate and, no matter how hard she tries, can’t get her hometown to see her differently, to recognize that she is not the same person on the inside as the beautiful face and killer body lead people to believe. I liked the idea of a woman breaking free of preconceived perceptions to show the world that she has depth, that the person on the inside is every bit as beautiful as the one on the outside.

Timm Franck has the opposite problem. He is a decent, smart, nerdy guy who was burned and still carries the scars. He has no problem showing people who he really is on the inside. He just doesn’t want to show them his chest full of scars.

I know of too many people who worry about their outer shell not being beautiful enough and fail to show that what they have in their cores is much more worthy than surface beauty. Revealing ourselves to others can turn out to be the best thing we’ve ever done! May you find the courage to do it.

Happy reading,
Mary Sullivan

I enjoyed Angel and Timm's journey to HEA. Ms. Sullivan has created a community of well developed characters that are easily to become invested in.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book really wasn’t for me. I found a great deal of the actions and decisions of the characters to be problematic; anytime I started to enjoy the story a character would think or do something that threw me right back out of it.

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one because of the author. Twenty years ago, a collegue told me she was going to write a Harlequin. I wonder if this is her fourth novel. I truly enjoyed the vocabulary and the writing style.

[Leisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book featured alot of different characters, and did a good job of telling each of their stories. I identified with the central characters who seemed to be one thing on the outside, but revealed their inner selves to each other.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Going Back

[mad4rombks]

Tried to read it, lost interest and put it back in the TBR to try again later.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Going Back