Customer Reviews

The Hellion

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Hallelujah! This time my TBR shelf produced a real winner - LaVyrle Spencer's THE HELLION. A touching story about lost love and wasted years. THE HELLION is simply beautiful!

As children, Rachel Talmadge and Tommy Lee Gentry were best friends; as teenagers, Rachel and Tommy Lee were lovers; and by seventeen, Rachel and Tommy Lee were parents. Teenage parents who, regrettably, gave away their child. A tough decision forced by well-meaning parents. Unfortunately, along with their child, Rachel and Tommy Lee also lost each other!

Time slipped away. Rachel Talmadge married another man and Tommy Lee Gentry lived life on the edge. He married other women, fathered more children, and drank! Now, twenty-four years later, Tommy Lee is divorced and Rachel is a childless widow and again destiny steps in. The ill-fated couple receive a second-chance, but can they control the golden moment?

LaVryle Spencer took the "Second-chance Topic" by the horns and ran with it! Oh how, the author moved me with this sensitive love story. Outstandingly, Ms. Spencer applied tenderness, longing, and gentle humor. And as I turned the last page, I felt fate had truly granted the characters that rare second chance! Rachel and Tommy Lee would finally have a wonderful life . . . together! And LaVryle Spencer - well she wrote a gem! So why not the perfect A+ (10)? Because throughout the story, one nagging question loomed - why didn't Rachel and Tommy Lee contact each other during their college years? A nagging question . . . but minor and it will certainly not influence my final decision . . . from TBR shelf . . . straight to Keeper shelf!
Grade: A

MaryGrace Meloche.

The Hellion is one of those books I find myself returning to again and again.

Although not one of her most sophisticated or complex plots - it is, as other reviewers here have pointed out, somewhat predictable - there is noone better than LaVyrle at creating genuinely likeable, engaging characters. Even if you can guess from the begining where Tommy Lee and Rachel are going to end up you'll want to go along for the ride!

It's the kind of story LaVryle does best - the rediscovery of love once lost. Two people no longer young, no longer innocent, discovering that love never simply disappears and that it's never too late to find out "what if".

And, finally, for anyone who ever fell for the "bad boy" Tommy Lee may inspire some wonderful memories!

This book brings Rachel and Tommy, who were high school sweethearts, to the present troubles of adult life. Lingering in the background are unresolved feelings from their troubled past together. This makes for such a story of love and forgiveness. This is a definate story for the Layrle Spencer fan. She never fails to take me into the characters heart and show me exactly how they feel.

I loved this book. It is wonderful when you can still get a great old fashioned romance. They are not fancy people. It is a great story about small town folk. The coming together again of Rachel and Tommy Lee will have you in your own little world. You will cheer and hope for their happiness. There is never a dull moment to let you relax. A truly great page-turner. Enjoy!!

This is one of my two favorite Lavryle stories, Twice Loved being the other. I like a guy who still loves his woman through thick and thin, 4 ex-wives, ship wrecks and what have you and will do whatever it takes to win her love back.

I was very disapointed that there was no final epiloge to tie up some of the loose ends......(Spoilers!)...

Does Rachel get pregnant? She is certainly not too old and I would love to know if she and Tommy Lee were ever able to share this experience..

Did they ever try to find the other "Beth"? What a great ending to have them be able to at least meet her and explain why she had been givenup for adoption.

Did Tommy Lee ever quit smoking? My God, he to to have tasted like an ashtray, and she had already lost one husband to cancer. She needed to insist he give up the the cigarettes NOW!

Did any of the parents ever apologize to their children for what they had done?

Would have given this one 4 stars if these issued had been addressed.(Plus they lived in Alabama but didn't have a southern accent!?!)

I have to admit this is my least favorite of all the books of hers that ive read. The story is sweet and the way Rachel has to go about making Tommy's daughter trust her is nice. Of course im always for a good sensual spark, and the way the they found each other and relearned each other was nicely written. Being from the south i automatically have a liking for southern relationships in a story, but the redneck thing was a little gaudy for my taste. Still enjoyed the book and everybody has a right to form their own opinions. I overall liked the book but some of the romantic flame between this book and her other books characters doesnt quite measure up.

This was my 2nd Spencer novel, Home Song was my 1st, so I only have the one story to compare this to. I liked this book and I liked how the story flowed. The only thing that I didn't like was the ending. The book just...ended. I wish there would have been an epilogue, but other than that it was a good read.

I only discovered LaVryle Spencer in the last few months and enjoyed so much the first book I read that I was reading one after another in quick succession. I have come to the end of her books because I know she doesn't write anymore and I will miss her work. I have enjoyed all of them except for one clunker (in my opinion) called Sweet Memories. Many of her books I have given 5 stars; she just knows how to capture the essence of family life, of romance, of everyday situations with that special touch. I would put this book around 3.5 stars. It was good, but certainly not her best, but it had the signature Spencer ingredients of lost love, family conflicts, resolution, and happy ending. In that respect it doesn't disappoint, but I wish she had made the book a little bit longer and provided more character development on the main characters.

This book takes you back in time to a day of innocence and growing up and a true friendship and love that is torn apart by others. It tugs at you heart thinking about the time that was wasted and what could have been. By the time the two reunite you can feel the passion of the past return and cheer them on to continue what was Meant to be! Great BOOK!