Lynda Coker's Page

Simply Romance Reviews

Rating: A

Payback in Wayback is one of those books that is difficult to review. Not because it’s bad, quite the contrary in fact. It’s difficult because it is totally opposite of what I expected when I began reading. The setup for the story is what you would expect for the “typical” erotic romance; wrongly convicted man runs into the woman that ruined his life and wants payback. But, instead of an erotic romance, Ms. Coker delivers that is poignant in its subtle message of a simple truth: There are three sides to any story, your side, their side and the truth.

Corey Donovan is very much the Alpha hero we all love to read. Thinking himself betrayed by the woman he loves, Tiffany Covington, he served his time in a Texas Prison and is now trying to rebuild his life. When playing at a local eatery he sees Tiffany in the crowd and beside her is the son he never knew about.

There are many moments that make you go “Ah Ha! The erotic content aproacheth.” Yet, Ms Coker proves the adage that a good story doesn’t require sex to be good. I found myself falling deeper and deeper into the town of Wayback and rooting for Tiffany and Corey to make it back to each other.

A wholly satisfying read and a heart tugging romance.

Stephanie

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Excerpt for Payback in Wayback
Part of the Wayback, Texas Series
Read more at www.lyndacoker.com

She was all elegance and grace, a Texas lady too good for the likes of him. Her daddy’s sentiments echoed through his head.

“Hello, Corey.” Her throaty voice spread over him like warm butter. “I’ve been expecting you.”

The familiarity of her smooth, southern tone pricked, as if barbed, when he remembered how many days and nights he’d lived on just the memory of it. He resented her calm graciousness, her social politeness, and most especially, the unspoken distance imposed in her manner.

She had no right treating him like a stranger. The least she could do was fake an ounce of remorse or guilt. A little begging for his forgiveness would be more in order. Did she honestly think he was going to stand there and play lap dog to her princess act? Now was as good a time as any to set her straight.

“How do you think your social set will take to the news that you passed off my kid as one of their own? I’m thinking it will hit every news channel in four states, maybe more.”

He watched her face flush pink, and then settle back to a pale, translucent ivory. She stepped to the side of the desk and rested a trembling hand on its corner.

“Please come in, Corey. Take a seat. Mrs. Stewart will be bringing coffee any moment. After that, we can talk without interruption.”

Her response proved how much she had changed, inside where it was hard for a man to detect. The girl he remembered would have run for cover at a remark like the one he’d just handed her. This was no girl. She was a mind-numbingly beautiful woman whose warm smile made him feel like a bad-mannered fool.

With a small turn of her hand, she indicated one of the leather, wing back chairs in front of the desk. He followed the gesture with his eyes, taking the time to take in the room’s dark, masculine furnishings. It was obvious that this had been her husband’s domain when alive. No woman would set herself against such surroundings by choice. Especially, if she realized that a petite, blonde-haired beauty dressed in yellow pants and white blouse would look like an ornament, a daisy perhaps. He reigned in his errant thoughts.

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m not here to have tea, Princess.”

“It ain’t tea, young man.” The voice came from behind him, and then passed him to sit a serving tray on one of the side tables. “It’s strong black coffee. The kind that’s good for keeping a man’s tongue civil, if you know what I mean.”

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