If we erase bad memories, what do we learn from them? Everything in life will teach you something, and the worst memory will haunt you, but you may learn a valuable lesson because of it. Mistakes you will never make again; things that have been done to you; or things you have done to others. Though I'm not sure if it is possible to erase them from your mind, there is one way to ease the pain, and that is through forgiveness and grace. In Beth Williamson's book, The Prize, Jack has to learn to do just that. The past always comes back to haunt you in some way, does it not?

Jack Malloy is haunted by memories that he has tried to bury, tried to forget since childhood. He has tried to escape all of the horror that meeting Rebecca Connor has dredged up, memories that have stolen his sleep for six months. When his sister Nicky asks him for help, he cannot deny her. Unfortunately for him, going out to Nicky's ranch offers him no escape. When the beautiful gray eyes of Rebecca Connor confront him, all he wants to do is run. Rebecca is at the heart of his nightmares.

Rebecca Connor is haunted by memories that have stolen her future. Memories that speak of a horror that she is unable to forget. She finds that Jack makes her want things that she knows she can never have. Nevertheless, she cannot help wondering what it would be like to have his hands on her body.

Jack's attraction to Rebecca is something that he finds harder and harder to fight. He wonders what it would be like to put his mouth on hers.

After Nicky and her husband Tyler, leave for town Jack is left to care for Rebecca and Noah, Nicky and Tyler's son. The three of them become stranded and snowbound at the ranch, fate pushing Jack and Rebecca ever closer together. They fight a blizzard, frostbite, a cougar attack, and their own attraction. Hand in hand, they face each other's demons and realize that life has given them a second chance if they are brave enough to grab it with both hands.

The Prize is the second book of the Malloy family series by Beth Williamson. This book grabbed me right in the beginning, and kept me hooked until the last page was turned. It is an intense emotional story dealing with the aftermath of both sexual and physical abuse, the shame and the guilt the victim feels for not speaking up sooner. Grab the Kleenex, women, because this is tearjerker. The Prize is a must read.

Reviewed By Tammy Adams
©June 2005