West of Nowhere by KG MacGregor

Publisher:       Bella Books

Disclaimer:  There is a character that briefly appears in this story that is named for me.  The character was part of a prize in a charity auction in which KG MacGregor participated.  The only part I played in the production of this book was to ask KG, if she decided to kill off the character, not to make it too horrible.  I’m happy to say the character survives.

West of Nowhere is a romance plus a story about the ability of people to change.  Amber Haliday is an immature twenty-five year old woman who thinks she has found her place with her musician boyfriend, until he dumps her at a truck stop during a tour.  She is rescued by Joy Shepard, a Navy veteran who is on her way home after leaving her daughter Madison with her ex-partner, Madison’s mother.  This is the beginning of the lesbian edition of “The Odd Couple.”

Amber is self-centered, unfocused in her life and careless with herself and other people.  No matter how hard she tries, she can’t be on time or complete a task without making a mistake.  Joy is obsessive about tidiness and follows stringent rules that she imposes on every aspect of her life.  Her redeeming factor is that she’s as hard on herself as she is on other people, but that’s not very comforting to Amber.  Joy intended for Amber to be a momentary intrusion in her life, but, to everyone’s surprise, Amber gets along well with Joy’s father who is an invalid and needs help taking care of himself.  Reluctantly, Joy agrees to hire Amber as a caregiver and everyone’s lives begin to change.

This is a classic story of people who have a lot to teach each other. Joy needs to loosen up and Amber needs discipline.  Their opposite personalities working on each other eventually produce two better people.  Amber, because she is more willing to bend, will show the greatest change; however, she shows her own strength, especially when Joy finds herself involved in a difficult child custody case.

West of Nowhere is an entertaining story.  KG MacGregor knows how to spin her characters so that they aren’t annoying and her craftsmanship is impeccable.  A reader doesn’t have to worry about wasting money when it’s one of her books.