Customer Reviews

Trust in the Wind

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4 star:		(1)
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Twenty one year old Joanne is fiercly independent and wary of trusting others. She's become this way due to events in her past that allowed her to see the true colors of those she was closest to--her parents. As a teenager, Joanne thought she was in love, and found herself pregnant. Rather than offer her any support at all, her parents chose to send her away to avoid the emberassment of having a pregnant teenage daughter.

Now Joanne and her four year old son Joey are getting by. Joanne convinces herself that she between her job and her son, she leads a full life. What she doesn't realize is that part of her is missing. Until she meets Roy. From here the story takes on the stereotypical boy meets girl theme.

The story itself is well written and filled with strong characters. Both Joanne and Roy are stubbornly strong, and both have been hurt in the past and are terrified of letting anyone get close enough to ever hurt them again. As I was reading the book, I couldn't help but think it reminded me of a Nicholas Sparks book...nothing earth shattering, but at the same time, you can't put it down, because you desperately want these characters to figure things out and be happy.

The back of the book states that Taylor creates strong women characters, and I definitely can't argue that. The character of Joanne is strong and fiercly independent. While you can't help but respect her for her triumphs and solitary successes, you also can't help but feel sympathy for her; for all she's missing out on through the majority of the book.

If you're looking for a simple, sweet and touching story, I've found it for you. It's a pretty quick read, and moves along steadily, never really allowing the reader to get bored. This is one of my recommended beach reads..

Reviewed by Audrey Hauser for Reader Views (9/06)

Vicki Taylor starts her story "Trust in the Wind" with three women folding clothes in the laundry room of their apartment complex in a bad part of Tampa. An unruly group is assembling outside and it looks as though there could be trouble. The older woman, Sadie, tells the other two to lock the door behind her when she leaves and be very careful on their way back to their apartments. Sheila, the 30s something widow of a firefighter is trying to talk 21-year-old Joanne into coming over to her place that evening when the crowd outside begins to pound on the window. As the two younger women leave the building, they are accosted by the drunken group and are struggling to get away when the police arrive, called by Sadie of course. Officer Roy Bonham feels an immediate attraction for Joanne and helps her take her baskets of laundry to her apartment, getting a surprise when the young woman stops at another apartment to pick up her three-year-old son. Joanne has no room in her life for a man. Her son Joey is her world. When Roy lectures her about living in this part of town, she cuts him short telling him it is all she can afford.

Joanne might have dismissed Roy from her mind after that first meeting, but after he stopped by her building several times to check on things, she finds he is on her mind more often. She is also receiving threatening notes on her door because she has "brought" a policeman into the complex. Meanwhile Sheila, Joanne's good friend, talks her into going out for a girl's night out. It turns into a disaster when Sheila goes home with a man she's met at the club and leaves Joanne to find her own way home. A friend, or so she thought, that she had made that evening offers her a ride home. When she fights off his advances, he dumps her out of the car, and while trying to walk to a place to call a cab she is approached by a man thinking she is a prostitute. She ends up getting arrested and this once again brings Roy to the rescue. The relationship for them seems doomed. She was an unwed mother at 17, was disowned by her parents, and has made it this far on her own. Roy is a 37-year-old veteran police officer whose wife and son were murdered five years earlier. However, each finds that despite all their friends well meaning advice, they are deeply attracted to one another. Joey is crazy about "Woy" and Joanne sees that her son needs the male influence so she lets Roy keep coming for visits. Roy starts spending more and more time with Joanne and Joey. Eventually he is there more than at his own home. Love blooms and while Joanne is afraid that she and Joey will be hurt because of Roy's dangerous profession she needs him in her life.

The depth of the love comes out when Joey and four other children who are in the apartment complex park are kidnapped by a man living there, who becomes deranged after learning he and his wife cannot have children. Joanne is terrified something will happen to Joey and perhaps to Roy, who is part of the hostage bargaining team. After hours of negotiations, the kidnapper agrees to let someone from the police in to his apartment to check of the safety of the children. Roy is that someone. What happens after that was predictable but heartwarming at the same time.

I thought the story was well told and it kept my interest. I liked the way the warm human relationships unfurled. The characters were well portrayed and you could picture the story as it was happening. Having been married at 17 and a mother at 18, I could identify with some of what Joanne was feeling. The main conflict in this love story is the age difference between Joanne and Roy. It is left to the reader to form their own opinion of how that will work out. I very much enjoyed reading "Trust in the Wind."

Book received free of charge.

Trust in the Wind - Chosing single motherhood in her teens, Joanne lost everything, including the support and love of her family. Pregnant and alone, she makes the decision to go forth with her life. She trust no one and firmly locks the door of her heart. She vowed to become independent, trust only the wind, and to never let love break down the barriers surrounding her heart. That is . . . until she met Roy. I finished reading Trust in the Wind and realized that once again Ms Taylor convinced me to "latched on" to her characters with a vengance. I can honestly say that if harm had befallen certain ones, she would not have been forgiven.

Strong characters, suspenseful, and a love scene that massaged my heart. This was one time where the romance was beautiful; a gift . . . in a sense. As I read parts of it, I found myself saying, "I want that kind of love!" Every scene, every exciting movement, and yes, even the kisses exchanged, were given to me in such a way that an artist could not have painted a better picture for my senses to enjoy.

Ms. Taylor, we have a winner.