(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Eighteen-year-old Lireinne Hooten has always been on the lowest rung of the ladder. Abandoned by her mother, Lireinne lives with her stepfather in an old trailer on Million Dollar Road. Every day she walks the long mile, through a canopy of live oaks, to her job at the world's largest alligator farm. Shy and overweight in high school, Lireinne has become lean and resilient from months of hosing out the huge cement barns. And just like Snowball—the enormous, all-white alligator she feeds illicit treats every day—she's hungry to be free.
Lireinne's boss, Con Costello, is powerful, attractive, and used to getting exactly what he desires. Now that he's noticed Lireinne's haunting beauty, he wants her too. But unlike Con's needy second wife, Lizzie, or Emma, his still heartbroken ex, Lireinne isn't interested. Undeterred, Con's growing obsession will upend all their lives—compelling Lizzie to confront the hard truth about her marriage, pushing Emma past her self-imposed isolation and back into the world. And for Lireinne, it will lead to an unexpected chance to redefine herself, far away from her past and from Million Dollar Road.

What a stunningly wonderful coming-of-age novel. From the blurb, it sounds like a married man chasing a young girl...and the "if and how" she escapes him...but it is so much more than that...

Every single character in this book plays an integral part in the ultimate resolution of this novel. The focus of the story, Lireinne, is a beautiful teenager (she is eighteen) who has so much on her plate, it isn't funny - abandoned by her mother, living in a trailer with her step-father, shy and overweight, issues at school when she was there...her only solace is her job at the alligator farm. She dreams of being free of her current situation...

Then there are the characters that affect her life: her boss, Con, who notices her growing beauty and thinks he should have it for himself. He is a bit of a womaniser but I never got the impression that he was mean or sleazy - he was a complicated character that really bloomed the longer the story went.

Then his current wife, Lizzie, (who is a bit of a needy, clingy type), and his estranged first wife, Emma, bring a whole different aspect - not just to Con's life, but also to the events that shape Lireinne's life.

Thrown in the Louisiana setting, a great side-story of the alligator farm and wonderful writing, this book is a definite recommendation!


Paul
ARH

Enjoyable. Beautiful cover. Good read. I will reread!!