For the Record

Regina Jennings is an author with enough of a resume to tickle anyone's fancy. Her latest offering, For the Record, pits a young lady, Betsy, trying to earn her own author stripes against a deputy sheriff, Joel, trying to keep his badge.

Betsy knows she's a drain on her uncle's budget and she's in the way at his house, and since he married her friend, Sissy, he has no need for Betsy to continue helping him with his children. Betsy wants to be a writer, but all of her submissions to other newspapers have been rejected. So she decides to write a serial novel. She follows Joel around collecting things he says, ways he walks and talks, and breath-taking descriptions of him.

Joel has been called in to quell a vigilante group from riding through the town at night and scaring the residents. At first, he's a bit perturbed about Betsy's presence, but eventually, . . . well, let's just say they come to an understanding.

Regina has a way of writing that includes humor as well as pathos in her plots. She uses the setting only to further the movement of the plot and her characters stand well on their own. This is a solid four star book.

My thanks to Bethany House for allowing me to read and review this book.