And Throw Away the Skins

PEARL RULE #003 @ 85%

Rating: 2* of five

The Publisher Says: Bec Robertson is starting over. She's broke, recovering from breast cancer, and lives in a rundown cabin in northern New Mexico. Her husband is deployed in Afghanistan as a chaplain, and can't stand to touch her.

The people she meets, her villagers, are batty if not wacko, and her hawk Amelia can't keep up with the mice. She lives next door to a dubious veterans' center. As if she hasn't invented enough problems for herself, she has a love/hate connection with an unstable Marine. Being Bec is tough, but survival is in her bones—and she lives under the numinous skies of New Mexico.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: That is not a typo above. show more Nor am I a complete nutter. I threw in the towel at that late, late date because it was clear that Bec was a man-centered fantasy girl, one whose marriage being sexless was hurtful to her so she starts a sexual relationship with a wholly inappropriate man. One whose damaged mental health should have warned her off ANY intimacy. More especially since she is involved in the care home he is living within.

CWs for past rape, PTSD, breast cancer used as a Plot Point only. show less

When we meet Bec, she is in many ways a broken woman. Her move to New Mexico seems to be a fresh start, and not just because of the move. New people, new relationships, and new opportunities. The story is real, raw, and at times emotionally hard to read. I really enjoyed reading Bec’s story, and watching her reclaim her life just when she thought she had lost everything.