Customer Reviews

Glory Days (Zebra Debut)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!!

GLORY DAYS was very good. It had good description, uncomplicated intrigue, acceptable characters, and author Irene Peterson held me right to the end.

In their glorious youth, six friends spent one golden summer doing whatever and whomever. Sixteen years later, New Jersey PI, John Preshin opens his door to find Miss Carly Snow standing there, holding a list of six men - her "father" list - his name is at the top! John Preshin is a good man, he is a man of his word, and she is a good kid with a wonderful future ahead of her. As John begins his search for the truth, he wonders if he should just let sleeping dogs lie.

Ms. Liz Atwater was another complication in John's pathetic life. She was uptight and puzzling. Nevertheless, she was drawing him in and slowly creeping into his soul. They were two of a kind, two miserable creatures trying to forget. John knew he was getting in too deep. He was not some avenging angel. He was a man who usually hid inside a bourbon bottle or behind a protective wall of indifference.

Liz Atwater felt the loneliness begin to drain away the minute John Preshin smiled. His smile could heat the room. His kindness could destroy the anger. His arms could take away the hurt. Giving into him was easy - far too easy. Yet, he could help her forget the pain. Finally, she would be free from all the haunting memories.

With hardly a dull moment, Irene Peterson's GLORY DAYS marvellously clipped along. The author created charming characters and made good use of a gentle suspense theme. However, Peterson kept most of the romance on the back burner. Yet, even with this romance deficiency, GLORY DAYS was a very satisfying read.
Grade: A-

MaryGrace Meloche.

For starters, I still don't like contemporary romances. Especially, when they're set in places I've never been, and with characters that have difficult pasts. Add to this, an ex-FBI agent, a divorcee, a troubled teen, and the matriarch of the household with the heart of gold named Flo. I thought I was in for yet another "Lifetime-Special-Movie-of-the-Week" kind of plot.

Was I ever surprised! Irene Peterson's debut GLORY DAYS transcends every stereotype I've ever had of this genre. This woman had me by page 3, and never let me go. I can smell the Jersey Shore now, I can see the boardwalk, I can taste the soup the S.R.O. is serving, and I about died laughing when the duct-tape mystery was solved! That's how good Irene Peterson is.

This book is never leaving my possession. Truly. I only wish it had never ended.

This book was not anything like I expected. I read all types of books, so I was not dissapointed, but if you are looking for a light fluffy read this is not it!

The back cover of the book doesn't even come close to discribing the plot of this book. John Preshin is a former FBI agent who is now a Private Investigator. He lives and works in an office he rents from Flo. Flo's granddaughter comes back to live after a painful divorce and a tragic marriage. Both Liz and John are attracted to each other, but both hesitant to get involved because of their pasts. Carly is a 16 year old girl who was left with nuns by her mother when she was a baby, and hires John to find her Father. She has a list of names of who they may be, and his is at the top.

The relationships evolve as John investigates, and Liz tries to move on from her grief, and John has to decide if he wants a future with happiness or to confront the past and destroy his future.

This was a great book, but not what I was expecting to read when I picked it up. I really don't understand the marketing of this book. I actually put it down when I first started reading it, because I was expecting something different. I picked it up again and finished it that day. Unfortunatly, most people who buy the book because of the cover and the back description, will probably not like it. People looking for a more serious read, will not even pick this up. It is almost like whoever decided to market this book didn't read it.

The blurb on the the back is exceedingly misleading - this isn't really a romance in the traditional sense. Everyone in this book has an actual *gasp* job, and the characters are multi-faceted to the point where their skeletons in the closet all peek out at random intervals. Even Ms. Peterson's minor characters are three dimensional. In fact, most of them were kooky enough to have stepped out of the pages of a Stephanie Plum novel. (What is it about Jersey, anyway?) That being said, I thought that the writing style of the book was rather strange. I found myself wishing that the author would foreshadow to greater effect. At several points in the book, things are alluded to, but since only the author has the full picture, the glimpses the reader receives are frustratingly devoid of any real information. It's only when a character chooses to "spill his/her guts" that things become clear. There was also one other aspect of the book that wasn't to my taste: While I am willing to accept a certain amount of internal dialogue when a book is written in the first person, I find it dischordant in a story written in the third person, especially when it is undistinguishable from the surrounding story. Last but not least, while language doesn't bother me, especially when used to good effect, this book is lightly peppered with swear words. If that offends you, you may want to steer clear. If you enjoy this book, or the choice of venue in it, I would recommend reading the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich.

Glory Days was smart, believable, and funny with a splash of drama and suspense thrown in. I really enjoyed the book. Anyone from Jersey will catch all the inside jokes and recognize the setting easily. You might even smell the salt water of Asbury or the stench of the Turnpike. :-)I finished the book with a smile on my face, glad for a nice, neat, and happy ending.

Glory Days by Irene Peterson was a amazing buy. This is mystery romance novel that is not for faint of heart. John Preshin is ex FBI agnet and now is a private dick who has two women come into his life - both with secrets. I loved so much about this book - buy it and enjoy!

Though not a reader of romance books, I do have expertise in graphic design, and the cover of "Glory Days" with its low-budget, retro-perky look caught my eye for all the wrong reasons. What could be as shamelessly banal as such packaging promised? Not "Glory Days", and I venture here to add my comments because this debut novel and its author deserve a better intro to the market. Irene Peterson is a fine storyteller whose gifts could easily transcend the light reading genres. Her appealingly drawn characters include a former FBI agent turned private investigator, a wary, witty divorcee, and a waif in search of a father. They connect in the wintry streets of Asbury Park, NJ, an atmospheric but seedy resort town in the throes of renewal, and it serves as an apt metaphor for their struggle to rebuild their damaged lives. This is Springsteen country, poignant and gritty, but Peterson leavens a potentially dark tale with humor, deftly heightening reader suspense before bringing it to a gratifying conclusion. She writes with heart and a keen ear for dialogue, though "kiddo" is not to Jersey as "y'all" is to Dixie. While the shore town setting of "Glory Days" doesn't take on the character-like presence of Atlantic City in John Guare's script for Louis Malle's movie, I was reminded of that masterpiece, and the depth of Peterson's talent is evident in her elegiac descriptions of Asbury Park's crumbling casino and backstreet bars. I would certainly enjoy reading more by this author.