VBT Review & Giveaway - Stella & Dane by Deanna Roy

Welcome to my stop on Deanna Roy's Virtual Book Review Tour for her book, Stella & Dane.  Please be sure to leave a comment or question below for Deanna as she will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift Card to one randomly drawn commenter during her tour.  You can follow her tour stops here.  

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Stella and Dane: A Honky Tonk Romance

by Deanna Roy

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BLURB:

Stella is one step from leaving her honky tonk town when bad-boy Dane roars through Main Street on his prized Harley-Davidson. Their dangerous romance keeps the locals talking, but when Dane is sent to prison for manslaughter after a bar fight, the couple discovers their love runs deeper than their reputations.

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Excerpt: 

They cut across the yard and pushed through a broken-down gate. Stella dug through her purse and pulled out her keys. Dane leaned the bike against the house. The moon slid behind a cloud, pitching them into near-blackness. Stella dropped the keys and cursed. He felt his way along the house, tripping over a coil of garden hose.

The landscape brightened again, and Stella fumbled with the door. “I don’t get it,” she said.

He came up behind her on the stoop. “Get what?”

“The key. It isn’t working.”

“Here.” He fished his own keys from his pocket and twisted a tiny light hanging on the chain.

“Sure it’s the right one?”

“I’ve been going in this door all my life.”

He shone the light on the lock. “It’s new.”

“What?”

Stella crowded in. “Oh my God. She changed the locks. My mother changed the locks.”

Dane squeezed her arm. “She’s upset, Stell, that’s all.”

Stella turned and leaned her back on the door. “She locked me out of the only place I ever called home.”

Dane could feel the trembling in her legs. “I’ll get you in. Not like a little lock can stop someone like me.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Deanna is the author of Baby Dust and Stella & Dane, interrelated books on the hardships we sometimes face while searching for that ideal love and looking to build a family.

Her articles and short stories have been published in many magazines including The Writer magazine, The First Line, and publications by SCBWI and the Writers' League of Texas. Her best work has been collected into a short story collection Single Edged Blades.

She lives in Austin, Texas, with her two daughters and new husband. They were married 6.9.12!

Twitter: @deannaroy
Facebook: http://facebook.com/deannaroy
Web site: www.deannaroy.com

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My Review: 

Living in a small town can be a wonderful experience if you're in the right town.  There's a sense of community, a group of hard working people and usually a willingness to help your neighbor or the older woman in town who's alone.  Unfortunately there are some small towns that give small towns a bad name - the ones full of prejudice, judgement and nosy neighbors.  Stella & Dane by Deanna Roy is set in one of those small towns, the kind you don't want to live in and want to escape if you were unfortunate enough to be born in it.

Stella is a young woman who hates Holly, Missouri, the small town where she's  grown up.  Plotting her escape is just one of the ways she spends her time between working and climbing the town's water tower.    The only reason Stella hasn't left town is because of her love for her Grandmother Angie; who's dying of cancer.  Stella can't get along with her parents, especially her mother Vivian, and her older sister has already married and fled town.  Her best friend, Janine, is her closest confidant.  

Just when Stella thinks it's time to formalize her plans, a new man arrives in town on a Harley and Stella's instantly drawn to him.  I'll admit I had a hard time liking Stella at first, she has a tendency to jump into the frying pan before she thinks and she's immature.  Her decision making skills are almost non-existent and she's pretty self centered at the beginning of this story.  Fortunately, Stella does a lot of character growth during the story - I was happy with the person she becomes by the end of the book.

Dane is a "Bad Boy" on a Harley, he's got a quick temper, falls in love too easily and acts before he thinks.  He's immediately drawn to Stella and will do whatever it takes to have her.  Deciding Holly is too small for the both of them, Stella and Dane begin to make plans for their departure.  Only Dane's insane jealousy, and bad judgement end up landing him in a world of hurt.  I'll admit I had issues with Dane's character too, he's really got bad judgement and he's never learned to listen to other's advice.  When a bad decision leads to him being placed in jail, Dane worries he'll not only lose the life he's dreamed of but also lose the woman he loves.

Will Stella realize Dane's the man she wants in her future forever?  And will she wait for him to become a free man?  You'll have to read Stella & Dane to find out.  If you like intense and emotionally filled reads, then this is the book for you!

My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars 

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Don't forget to leave a comment or question below to be entered in Deanna's giveaway.  You can follow her tour stops here.