Glory Days (Zebra Debut) [Paperback]

Irene Peterson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Zebra Debut | Publication Date: February 1, 2006

New Jersey PI John Preshin takes on all kinds of jobs. Discreet inquiries. Private investigations. Helping women find lost...articles of clothing from his office. Yup, no job too big or too small. Now, if only he could figure out how to convince the knockout redhead with the very large knife that he's not breaking into her grandmother Flo's apartment. No. He's Flo's upstairs tenant. In need of a serious cup of coffee. Yeah, so he's wearing only a towel. So what? Liz Atwater isn't about to take her eyes off this one - and not just because he's about six feet worth of smirking, hunky gorgeousness, either. She's had her share of bad luck with men, and some half-naked guy helping himself to your coffee, while looking you up and down way is not a good sign. Something's going on with Mr. John Preshin. And, Liz intends to do some discreet investigating of her own. He'd better hang on to that towel...

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (February 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821780107
• ISBN-13: 978-0821780107
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,416,765 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Irene Peterson is a women's fiction author from central New Jersey. She is a freelance editor, anglophile, and Godzilla fan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great New Jersey feel--wornout PI searches for a father/finds self, April 21, 2006

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Glory Days (Zebra Debut) (Paperback)

Since he got shot in a botched bust, ex-FBI agent John Preshin has worked as a private eye, finding people who have money coming, staking out people who don't want to be found, and finding and forgetting women. But when a cop shows up with a kid claiming he's her father, John's life is turned upside down. Not that he could possibly be her father--although his name is on the list she brought from the convent where she's lived all her life. But the other guys on the list aren't much to hope for--one priest, one dying ex-cop, one bartender in an S&M club, one wanna-be-hood, and one overworked refinery employee. None would be great fathers--and their wives are worse.

Still, John can't exactly turn Carly down--and she has nowhere else to go. He takes the case.

Beautiful redhead Liz Atwater is back home in New Jersey after finally escaping a horrible marriage and a horrible tragedy. When she discovers her grandmother's tenant, naked, in the diner her grandmother runs, Flo suspects he's a criminal and grabs a knife. And what's with that "Z" tattooed to his chest? When it turns out that her grandmother knows the guy--that he's a trustworthy ex-FBI type, Liz relaxes a little. But there is the little matter of just about every woman John runs into calling him Bourbon John and slapping him in the face.

As John investigates Carly's possible fathers, he realizes the poor kid doesn't have a lot of good options. What if it's the priest? Can he ask the man to give up his vocation to stay with a sixteen-year-old girl. As for the hood, he's as likely to abuse the child as he is to take care of her. Meanwhile, John has to fight the attraction he feels for Liz. Unlike just about every other woman, who's forgotten by the next morning, Liz stays on his mind even when she's not around. Getting her into his bed once doesn't cure him--in fact, it makes her want more. But John has a secret--and an oath. He's going to get his revenge on the man who killed his friend in that bad bust--and there can't be a happily ever after for him.

Author Irene Peterson delivers a compelling story filled with the atmosphere of a decaying New Jersey beach town, a hero and heroine who are so badly damaged that they are the only hope of each other's repair, and a sixteen-year-old girl who is just cranky enough not to be perfect. The story is as much that of finding the right father for Carly as it is finding matches for Liz and John. Although the answer to that question is clear from the start, getting there is definitely more than half the fun.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading but not what the cover/blurb imply!, February 16, 2006

By 

Deborah Wiley (Winter Haven, FL) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Glory Days (Zebra Debut) (Paperback)

This was definitely not the light-hearted romance that the cover and blurb made it out to be! Carly Snow is a teenager who has grown up in an orphanage believing her mother dead and her father nonexistent. John Preshin is a former FBI agent turned private investigator who has promised to avenge his former partner's shooting by a mobster. When Carly is asked to leave the orphanage at age 16, she learns that her stay there has been paid for and she steals a list of 6 potential fathers; John's name is at the top of the list and she hires him to find her father. Meanwhile, Liz Atwater has left a broken marriage after the loss of a child to live with her grandmother, who is John's landlord. Slowly, Carly, John, and Liz coalesce into a family while dealing with the darker emotions caused by their various pasts. Overall, this book was worth reading but it wasn't the uplifting story that the cover and blurb purported it to be.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, not your ordinary bubble gum romance!, February 23, 2006

By 

Angy "angyeliz" (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Glory Days (Zebra Debut) (Paperback)

I bought this book because of its low price and though "what the heck" from reading the description. I anticipated this to be just another fluff romance book, and was totally wrong. This book is written with humor, woes, family and love all tangled within the story; and written in a way you get caught up in the characters woes and have you rooting for them. In addition, the author gives the readers just enough information of a particular background story to make you anticipate knowing the full story. I found this to be a great read and a pleasant surprise!! Only suggestion - fire the company that marketed this book!!