Nikki Dougherty is blinded by her love for Dee. Her friends caution her that he is no good, but she just can’t see it. She is so in love with him that she simply can’t imagine him doing anything truly wrong—even when he involves her in a crime and asks her to lie to the police. She is convinced that she has a future with him, so she is willing to do anything he asks.
Dee is clearly unfaithful, violent and dangerous, but Nikki is determined to see only the good in him and remain faithful to him. She loses the trust of her own friends and family, but still she hangs onto her relationship with Dee. Even after she is arrested for being party to a murder and experiences the humiliating process of being booked, she can’t quite bring herself to face up to the truth.
In this troublesome, gritty portrayal of misplaced love, Terra Elan McVoy paints a jarringly realistic picture of a young woman who confronts very real consequences for her loyalty to the wrong young man. The images of life inside prison are particularly devastating, and Nikki’s genuine agony as she fights to come to terms with the reality surrounding the man she loves is quite tangible.
Readers will feel sympathy for and anger toward Nikki. She is so pitifully delusional that the only possible relief is for her to wake up and see her beloved Dee for what he really is. Readers won’t be disappointed, and the story along the way is absolutely riveting.
Emily Booth Masters reviews from Nashville, Tennessee.
