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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Read, December 1, 2006
This book, by Joyce Sterling Scarbrough, is a winner. I admit it is not in my usual genre, but I found myself turning pages long after my allotted reading time each night.
Joyce writes with an energy and passion that shines through in all her characters.
Jaycee, the main character, the product of a dysfunctional family background, is a load to handle and she makes me want to pull my hair out sometimes. Her growth toward maturity is not easy, but is evident.
Joyce has crafted a realistic adventure of two young people on the way to adulthood along a rocky road. There are both smiles and frowns along the way.
I strongly recommend this book as a "must read." It's well worth the time.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sexy, funny, exciting, and touching...., September 19, 2006
Jaycee Stevens is a girl who has outrageous behavior down to a fine art. At age six she lost her mother. From that point on she fended for herself, growing to adulthood with a brutal, alcoholic father. By the time she's off to college, Jaycee has learned to lock her childhood fears and subsequent nightmares behind a tough, outspoken façade. She leaves her father and old boyfriend behind, marches to her own drummer, focuses on her goal of becoming an investigative journalist, and God help anyone who gets in her way.
Enter the sexiest set of male legs on the planet, topped by a phenomenal physique and smile that would melt granite. When Bud Stanton, privileged playboy extraordinaire, and Jaycee collide, everything you can imagine and then some hits the fan. She resents Bud's wealth, his gorgeous maleness, and his lack of interest in education. Bud ignores her angry barbs and goes after the one female who could transform monogamy into a positive experience. He adores the feisty girl he nicknames Firecracker. When Jaycee finally stops fighting her sexual attraction to Bud, the results are explosive, funny, and poignant. The tough young woman who's afraid of the dark feels safe with Bud because he has childhood specters of his own to deal with. Their battles are as heated as their lovemaking. Both have found their match. But will Bud's wealthy family accept a poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks? Will
loving Bud ruin Jaycee's future goals and plans? And will Bud ever settle down and become anything but a spoiled rich kid with a killer smile? Believe me, the outcome of this book is worth the read.
Jaycee and Bud are strong, charismatic characters. Characters forced to circulate in their wake are interesting and well developed. I particularly liked Mack Stanton, Bud's father, and Jaycee's raunchy co-worker, Francie, but all characters enhance the story in various ways. The plot is sexy, funny, exciting, and touching. Recommended for mature readers due to strong language and sexual content.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Edgy, Fast-paced and Colorful, August 27, 2006
The two main characters, Jaycee and Bud, share similar emotional challenges, but were raised in very different environments. Both are extreme narcissists, egocentric, self-indulgent magpies with no likeable qualities. Both lost their mothers when they were very young, and both complain of fathers who do not love them.
Jaycee was born and raised in a small Alabama town. She grew up poor and quickly learned to fend for herself; her father was to busy with booze to take care of or even notice her.
Bud grew up in a very affluent environment in Florida. But Bud felt neglected; his brothers all took after their father, playing football, and running the family business. However, Bud was more interested in Baseball and college. These two unpleasant misfits meet in college and quickly realize they were made for each other. The story follows Jaycee and Bud as they make a life together and each learns to love and act selflessly.
The book is well written; however, there are several places (primarily at the beginning) where the author's voice breaks into the narrative, to fill gaps. For example, in the first chapter, Jaycee's character and brief history are delivered point by point in a couple of paragraphs. This reader would prefer to learn about the characters, from the characters, let the history unfold as needed.
Also, the book suffers from `bad blurbs'. When I first read the back cover, I was very turned off of the book; however, the story is edgy, fast-paced and colorful.
The ending is a bit of a let down, a little too fairly-tale perfect. The story overall has a hard-hitting edge and the smell of reality, but late in the story, Jaycee has several `near death experiences' that push the story into the realm of fantasy. So if you are turned off by Christian mythos or spirituality then skip those parts, they don't add to the story or characterizations anyway.
Overall, Different Roads is an entertaining book. I will recommend it and plan to look for more by Joyce Sterling Scarbrough.
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