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Small Town Secrets
EVERYONE DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE...
Finally back on her feet after a nasty divorce from local cop Foley Blue, Lea Webster was getting ready to adopt the baby she'd always wanted. But Foley was stalking Lea and his once-idle threats were escalating to violence. Her cries for help went unheeded -- no one wanted to cross the town's favorite son.
Then Zach MacKenzie moved in across the street, and Lea found herself irresistibly drawn to his protective strength and quiet faith. Yet Foley's jealousy built dangerously, threatening Zach's freedom and Lea's safety. And she had to wonder whether their newfound love -- and trust in each other -- would be enough to save them both.
Finally back on her feet after a nasty divorce from local cop Foley Blue, Lea Webster was getting ready to adopt the baby she'd always wanted. But Foley was stalking Lea and his once-idle threats were escalating to violence. Her cries for help went unheeded -- no one wanted to cross the town's favorite son.
Then Zach MacKenzie moved in across the street, and Lea found herself irresistibly drawn to his protective strength and quiet faith. Yet Foley's jealousy built dangerously, threatening Zach's freedom and Lea's safety. And she had to wonder whether their newfound love -- and trust in each other -- would be enough to save them both.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2006
1 person is currently reading
95 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Mignerey
20 books19 followersSharon Mignerey holds an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. She has been a long time member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. She writes contemporary romance and women's fiction. Sharon is a frequent speaker at writer's workshops on the craft of writing, especially as related to character and plot development, She credits her love of story to who mother, who read her bedtime stories as a child. She is the author of 12 novels, and has several others in process.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 26, 2020
This book just made me angry. I couldn’t stand how slimy her ex husband was and even her own family, talked down to her and didn’t believe her. They should have apologized in the end but they didn’t and were still in her life 🙄 I didn’t like that. There was no suspense since we know who the bad guy is, so just irritation by how everyone treated her and believed the worst in her but the best in the guy openly stalking her. Blech.
August 6, 2022
Such a great read, I love the characters and the town.
September 1, 2019
actual rating 1.5.
I had to rewrite this review because goodreads didn't save it the first time, so this version is a lot more ranty then the original. I apologize in advance.
Lea is divorced from the town's golden boy cop, Foley Blue. What people don't realize is that Foley is two faced and has a very antiquated view on a woman's place in the world. He seems to see her as property and has taken to breaking into her house when she's not home and leaving her cards. He even assaulted her which resulted in the lose of their unborn child. In public he's charming and affectionate, but unable to take a hint and asks her to remarry him daily at her place of business.
The Town's folk and her meddling aunts aren't helping the cause. Her aunt tells her she's incapable of raising a child alone and even goes so far as to tell Foley of the adoption process Lea is going through. The town's people cheer whenever Foley asks her to marry him again. Honestly, the whole place needs a stern talking to about minding their own business. Why does Lea stay? Well her grandmother gave her the house she lived in and Lea opened a restaurant/catering company in town and so she couldn't possibly leave. But her ex scares the crap out of her... I would have gone back to the big city to resume my successful cooking career if I was her...
Enter Zach MacKenzie, fresh out of prison after serving a Drunk Driving causing Death (or whatever they call it in their state) he's working on his aunt Sadie's...farm? Hobby farm. As a maintenance and cattle guy. Eight year's Lea's senior and a sober alcoholic of 3 years, he tells himself to mind his own business until he's off parole...but she's so pretty!!! Ehm.
Sadie is Lea's friend and often lets her stay over when her ex-husband comes to haunt her house. But Sadie decides to take Europe by storm for 6 weeks so when she leaves, she gives Zach access to the house and heads off! Lea forgets and makes a late night stop at Sadie's because her husband was in her house...again (Lea never gets after her cop uncle or makes a big deal out of the fact HER EX IS BREAKING INTO HER HOUSE and that really bothers me) and meets Zach. Zach is super nice and immediately becomes protective and enthralled with his neighbor.
From there it's a classic "I need to stay away from her...but I can't!" type story. Zach was really nice, and I didn't mind him or his aunt Sadie, once she comes back. My real issue was EVERYONE ELSE...
*The town's people all pressure Lea to remarry Foley when she keeps saying no.
*Her aunts tell Foley all of Lea's business (why does she talk to them?) and also tell her she's not good enough without a man at her side...especially when it comes to raising a child.
*Her uncle loves Foley like a son and fails to tell people when he finally clues in that Foley may be unhinged to his plans. His only redeeming quality is that he is the one person from the town who actually listens to Lea's concerns and tries to rein Foley in a bit
*Lea doesn't press charges on her ex for repeatedly breaking into her house. Or call the actual cops, just her uncle at home, where she gets her aunt and caves. And if the cops in your area won't listen, why not seek legal advice? Just a thought.
All in all this book wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the horrible portrayal of narrow minded, small town busy bodies and conceited aunts and police who don't do their job because they work with the perp. Instead it's up to an ex-offender to try his best to help the idiot woman while trying not to break parole.
Oh and they only know each other for...7 weeks and there's a marriage proposal, which she accepts. Thank god they waited until Zach's parole is over to get married or I would have REAL blown a gasket...ugh.
I had to rewrite this review because goodreads didn't save it the first time, so this version is a lot more ranty then the original. I apologize in advance.
Lea is divorced from the town's golden boy cop, Foley Blue. What people don't realize is that Foley is two faced and has a very antiquated view on a woman's place in the world. He seems to see her as property and has taken to breaking into her house when she's not home and leaving her cards. He even assaulted her which resulted in the lose of their unborn child. In public he's charming and affectionate, but unable to take a hint and asks her to remarry him daily at her place of business.
The Town's folk and her meddling aunts aren't helping the cause. Her aunt tells her she's incapable of raising a child alone and even goes so far as to tell Foley of the adoption process Lea is going through. The town's people cheer whenever Foley asks her to marry him again. Honestly, the whole place needs a stern talking to about minding their own business. Why does Lea stay? Well her grandmother gave her the house she lived in and Lea opened a restaurant/catering company in town and so she couldn't possibly leave. But her ex scares the crap out of her... I would have gone back to the big city to resume my successful cooking career if I was her...
Enter Zach MacKenzie, fresh out of prison after serving a Drunk Driving causing Death (or whatever they call it in their state) he's working on his aunt Sadie's...farm? Hobby farm. As a maintenance and cattle guy. Eight year's Lea's senior and a sober alcoholic of 3 years, he tells himself to mind his own business until he's off parole...but she's so pretty!!! Ehm.
Sadie is Lea's friend and often lets her stay over when her ex-husband comes to haunt her house. But Sadie decides to take Europe by storm for 6 weeks so when she leaves, she gives Zach access to the house and heads off! Lea forgets and makes a late night stop at Sadie's because her husband was in her house...again (Lea never gets after her cop uncle or makes a big deal out of the fact HER EX IS BREAKING INTO HER HOUSE and that really bothers me) and meets Zach. Zach is super nice and immediately becomes protective and enthralled with his neighbor.
From there it's a classic "I need to stay away from her...but I can't!" type story. Zach was really nice, and I didn't mind him or his aunt Sadie, once she comes back. My real issue was EVERYONE ELSE...
*The town's people all pressure Lea to remarry Foley when she keeps saying no.
*Her aunts tell Foley all of Lea's business (why does she talk to them?) and also tell her she's not good enough without a man at her side...especially when it comes to raising a child.
*Her uncle loves Foley like a son and fails to tell people when he finally clues in that Foley may be unhinged to his plans. His only redeeming quality is that he is the one person from the town who actually listens to Lea's concerns and tries to rein Foley in a bit
*Lea doesn't press charges on her ex for repeatedly breaking into her house. Or call the actual cops, just her uncle at home, where she gets her aunt and caves. And if the cops in your area won't listen, why not seek legal advice? Just a thought.
All in all this book wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the horrible portrayal of narrow minded, small town busy bodies and conceited aunts and police who don't do their job because they work with the perp. Instead it's up to an ex-offender to try his best to help the idiot woman while trying not to break parole.
Oh and they only know each other for...7 weeks and there's a marriage proposal, which she accepts. Thank god they waited until Zach's parole is over to get married or I would have REAL blown a gasket...ugh.
September 11, 2014
1.5 stars LIS--Zach is just out of jail. Lea is being stalked by her ex husband. Nobody does anything about it. Bleah.
February 27, 2023
Easily relatable and the characters were portrayed sensitively. Its not often that a stalkers pattern is so clearly displayed, the gradual escalation and the mental instability of the perpetrator are shown so clearly along with the courage of the victim, who is not believed even by her own family members. While not a literary masterpiece I would recommend this book to others who have experienced domestic violence or even to the friends of those people so they can understand a little more about what it feels like to be in a relationship with a master manipulator and how his public face is very different from what he shows in private. This was a tough topic and very well handled. The heroine is portrayed as strong rather than as a victim, and you get the feeling that with the help of her friends she will move past this and rebuild her life
November 4, 2025
See I didn't realize this was a Christian romance when I picked it up, and the beginning did not bleed religion. It did get gradually worse from there, which made me like the book a bit less. I did really like the plot, it was so frustrating how everything panned out for her life, and it was really giving the book Safe Haven, so I liked that. However, I cannot vibe with the ending. I don't care how popular and loved this man was. He literally kidnapped, tried to rape, kill, and broke soooo many laws, and were honoring him? Absolutely not. I would go crazy that people were still not over his death. No one felt remorse or guilt (beyond a single line of mentioning it) toward facilitating and standing by during this harassment. Sadly, I think this book is very realistic about small-town living and standards.
March 24, 2021
It's actually really good. My mom gave it to me and I wasn't expecting to like it. But I actually know an ex-cop who is a narcissist and so it hit home for me. It's like a real true horror story plot. Narcissists are so evil and they make themselves look so good to other people... it can be too late when the truth is revealed. There's not much you can really do! I'm glad it had a happy ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 15, 2022
Really good will checkout more by this author soon!
May 14, 2011
The black moment is perfect with the scene of hurt and anguish leaping from the page.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews