Beauty is only skin deep. Appearances aren’t everything. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. Blah, blah, blah. At thirty-two, Jen Malone knows one thing – life isn’t worth anything if you’re not wanted. And how does she know this? Because the only person she’s ever wanted no longer wants her. To Jen, image is everything. And five years ago, after a public divorce from a handsome and famous … from a handsome and famous artist, that image was torn to shreds. The man whose career she helped build is now nothing but a memory, a thorn in her otherwise perfectly honed exterior. A piercing little sliver that needles and festers whenever she looks at their daughter. The daughter who reminds her of the husband she couldn’t hold on to. The daughter who was the reason he left in the first place.
When Jen’s vehicle breaks down and puts her in the path of mechanic Miles Wright – a person who is her polar opposite – she finds it hard to relate to his laidback attitude. Miles could care less about his image or what people think of him. Being around him puts her on edge, because a man who judges people by their insides isn’t going to find anything pretty when he looks at hers. Then again, she could care less what a blue-collar grease monkey thinks of her. Right? Right…
Just as Jen begins to reevaluate everything she thinks she knows – about life, about love – her past comes calling, leaving her to decide what’s more important: her image or her heart.
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Found in Silence is Book #2 in A Prairie Tale series by Lisa Sorbe and it is a contemporary romance novel. It is the story of a 30 year old woman named Jen Malone who lives in Cedar Hills, Iowa, is a single mom of a 5 year old daughter named Emilia, is divorced, unemployed, and lives in the guest house at her parents’ house. Jen is beautiful and used to getting any man that she wants, not because she cares about him, but because she likes the attention it gets her and the things he can give her. Jen also admits to being a terrible mother to Emilia because she’s let her own mother, Emilia’s grandmother, be more of a mother to her than she has been. Jen would describe herself as having a “bitchy” personality, and would not apologize for it; she says whatever is on her mind. Jen was very badly hurt by her ex- husband, Julian. Julian was her college Art professor when Jen was a freshman in college. He controlled Jen during the many years they were together, not wanting her to have a job other than being his “muse”. When Jen told Julian that she was pregnant, he became furious; for the first time in their relationship he became violent, yelling at Jen, “How could you let this happen?”, and then throwing her against the wall. After that day Julian didn’t touch Jen again during the remainder of their marriage. After Emilia was born he ignored her completely, and a short time later he kicked Emilia and Jen out of their home and sued Jen for divorce.
The guy in the story is Miles Wright, the owner of Wright Auto Repair. Miles takes Jen to the local soup kitchen to deliver her mother’s pies and then puts a new tire on her car after Jen’s Range Rover’s tire blows out on the way to deliver those pies earlier that day. Miles also takes Jen to pick up a sick Emilia from the babysitter’s house later that same night, after he runs into Jen at a local bar after she receives a phone call from the babysitter saying that Emilia is very sick with the stomach flu, and that Jen needs to pick her up and take her home. A few weeks later after Jen convinces Miles that he needs someone to work as a receptionist in his auto repair shop, he hires Jen to work as his first employee.
As Jen and Miles get to know one another, Jen also gets to know Miles’ friends and acquaintances who are genuinely kind and good people, and so unlike the fake friends that she usually hangs out with. Will Miles and his friends influence Jen to become a better person, and more importantly, a better mother to Emilia? What, if anything, will happen between Jen and Miles?
I loved this book! I read the first book in A Prairie Tale series by Lisa Sorbe, and really enjoyed it, but I believe that I enjoyed this book even more! The characters and the backstory that Lisa Sorbe has created in this book are so wonderful, and they add so much depth to the story that you can almost forgive Jen for her horrible behavior! It’s so inspiring to read the changes that Jen goes through from
the beginning to the end of the book, and the lessons that she learns, that it made my heart swell. It’s a great story, and I certainly hope that there are more books in this series. I highly recommend this book to all lovers of romance novels
HOLY BUTTERFLIES!! This book is amazing!!!
After her divorce, Jen Malone has become a bitter woman. She thinks it’s definitely better to be a “cold bitch instead of a naive fool.” She knows how to use her looks and fake smile to get what she wants and is used to manipulating any situation. Until the day she gets a flat tire and finds herself at the mercy of a mechanic who isn’t mesmerized by her good looks.
Miles has learned to not judge anyone by their appearance, that it’s what is on the inside that counts. Even though Jen is beautiful on the outside, Miles isn’t going to be persuaded to do her any favors when he sees her insides aren’t pretty at all. When Jen finds herself rebuffed by the “lowly mechanic” and in need of his help more than once, she decides it might be time to take a look inward and what her life has become. But will it be too late to make a change?
This story was fantastic!! When it started, I wondered how I could read a book if I couldn’t stand the main character at all. But once I met Miles, I knew I was going to love this story and I most certainly did!! I devoured this book as quickly as I could because I felt I just had to but now I’m sad that it’s over. I love discovering new authors and Lisa Sorbe is definitely one I will follow from now on. I highly recommend this book!!
***Read and Reviewed for Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews***.