Running on Empty

by Ken Casper

NASCAR crew chief Hugo Murphy could never forget Sylvie Ketchum, especially since he only had to look at her daughter--their daughter--to be reminded of the woman he'd loved. But she'd deserted him and Kim without a word, shattering their hopes and dreams. Nothing could fill the void--except NASCAR.

Years ago, Sylvie had loved Hugo with all the fiery impetuousness of youth. But she'd had a secret that had torn them apart. Now she had a chance to atone for her mistakes...and save the life of the child she'd left behind. But doing so meant dealing with her ex-husband, Hugo, again...and having the strength to finally tell him the real reason she'd left him and the world of NASCAR behind.

Genres: Romance

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 28, 2008

About the author

Ken Casper was born and raised in New York City. After graduating from Fordham University with a degree in Russian, he joined the Air Force, was stationed in the Far East, served in Vietnam, and lived five years in Germany. He also earned a Master's degree in Education from the University of Southern California. Ken retired from more than 33 years of government service in September '97.

Now a transplanted Texan. He and Mary, his wife of 34 years, own a horse farm in San Angelo. Along with their Border Collie, Chief, they have a Golden Retriever, Casey, two house cats, four barn cats and eight horses. They also board and breed horses and Mary teaches English riding. She's a therapeutic riding instructor for the handicapped, as well.

Life is never dull. Their two granddaughters visit several times a year and feel right at home with the Casper menagerie. Grampa and Mimi do everything they can to make sure their visits to Little Oaks Farm will be lifelong fond memories. After all, isn't that what grandparents are for?

Ken figures his writing career probably started in the sixth grade when he was ordered by a teacher to write a "theme" explaining his misbehavior over the previous semester. To his teacher's chagrin, he enjoyed stringing just the right words together to justify his less than stellar performance. Fortunately, she forgave him.

Since then, he's had short stories published in a popular men's magazine and was working on a mystery when his critique partners, three romance writers, suggested he try their genre. He had his doubts ("Me? Write romance? Are you kidding?), but he decided to give it a try, anyway. His first-chapter romance submission won honorable mention at the Southwest Writers' Workshop contest in 1993. Ken revised it...and revised it, then entered the Golden Triangle Writers' Guild contest in '95. This time he took first place in both mystery and romance. The romance entry later became his first sale to Harlequin Superromance. A MAN CALLED JESSE was published in October '98. Since then he's written more than a dozen other Superromances, including the First Family of Texas series, contributed to two trilogies, a six-book series set in the police department of Houston, Texas, and he's currently involved in a five-book series set in the beautiful hill country of central Texas. His October 2003 Super, THE WOMAN IN THE NEWS, was a Holt Medallion finalist.

Ken Casper previously wrote as K.N. Casper

Reviews

[Christine]

I loved the story. The characters were well defined and their situation in the story thought provoking. Ok so where is the story on a just in and the Gross girl? Would Kim be able to carry a baby to term or will she and Wade decide to adopt?

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Running on Empty by Ken Casper
Harlequin NASCAR Library
Secrets And Legends Series Book 14
Hugo Murphy is the crew chief for his nephew Justin. He had raised Justin and his sister Rachel along with Kim, his stepdaughter who he always considered his own daughter. Especially since her mother had deserted them when Kim was only four. Hugo never gave up looking for his ex-wife or wondering why she left. Someone had come forward to give Kim the kidney she needed to live and Hugo had to believe it was Sylvie.

Sylvie Ketchum Murphy had a pretty rough life. She loved her husband and daughter so much that her only choice was to leave them. Thirty years later she heard the plea for someone to come forward to donate a kidney for her beloved Kimmy. Someone with the rare blood type she shared with her daughter. She tried to be anonymous but Hugo found her. She told the truth about the past and Sylvie didn’t have much hope for herself in the future, but at least she could give her daughter a new chance at life.

This book was full of emotions and the author did an excellent job of bringing them to life for the reader. The mystery of what happened to Sylvie has been solved along with other questions. The racing season is coming to an end now but there are still a few things that need to be settled. Book fifteen is Extreme Caution and it brings back Maeve Branch. A woman trying to keep her social standing and make it another day as her world as she knew it crumbles around her.
http://justjudysjumbles.blogspot.com/...

[Cecelia]

Nothing too spectacular. Good solid writing and story line. It did a good job incorporating charachters from other books. I felt like it wasn't very suspensful though, or really exciting.