The Ties That Bind (Book One in the Family Ties series) by Jansen Schmidt is a thrilling romance novel that follows a woman on a journey that leads her to discover family, love, and self-acceptance. Shiloh Ferguson has a notorious reputation for getting into trouble with the law. She returns to her hometown of Twisted Fork, Arizona after leaving ten years ago. With a thief on the loose, and very few people willing to give her a chance at building a new name for herself, she finds herself having multiple encounters with a cop, Luke Wainwright, who used to bail her out of trouble a decade ago. Following the funeral of her estranged father, and the emotional tug-of-war with her sisters, Shiloh is reminded yet again why coming back home was not a good idea. After getting an inheritance she didn’t know about, Shiloh is torn between saving the livelihoods of the people of Twisted Fork whom she believed hated her, or escaping the decade-long traumatic events the town kept reminding her of. But, a love she felt inadequate to receive found her, further conflicting her.

Author Jansen Schmidt has taken the everyday lives of regular people and gave them a unique allure that is bound to keep readers glued to the pages of this exhilarating love story. She skillfully balances seductive romance with action-packed scenes. This is the main reason why I kept coming back to this book time and time again. The sweet emotionality of some scenes juxtaposed with the suspenseful action made for a unique read.

The Ties That Bind takes readers through the emotional spectrum – anger, fear, frustration, joy, understanding, and excitement. It circles around some heavy subject matter such as abandonment and loss, but it’s all handled with an authenticity that feels genuine and thoughtful. The development of well-rounded characters, beyond the hero and heroine, with their own motives jolts you back to reality and casts out the typical utopian universe that is characteristic of most romance novels. Also, the perceptive and positive manner in which Schmidt handled the subject of mental illness and tending to people with special needs is also quite insightful, even instructive.

Letting go of certain trauma is never as easy. By artfully telling the story of Luke Wainwright and Shiloh Ferguson, Schmidt entertains while offering a way to find love and acceptance of self and others, even healing from your trauma like the heroine.

Pages: 390 | ASIN: B0B761X8K7