If Wishes Were Horses

An outstanding first novel by Ms. York. Emily Converse survived an abusive childhood at the hand of her stepfather, Senator Domenico. Her brother turned to drugs to deal with his abuse and their mother died when he was a toddler. Now Emily has returned to Tamarack, Colorado feeling strong enough to face her past. Her first non-meeting with retired Navy SEAL Michael McCandlis is hilarious as he had attended a bachelor party and celebrated a bit too much. The next time he officially meets Emily is at her friend’s wedding to his teammate. Emily is not prepared for someone like Mike and their attraction burns out of control. She is determined to help her brother and finally stand up to the man who made their childhood a living hell. A well-rounded story that will keep you reading until the exciting end. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)

#If Wishes Were Horses#Bet Galley
This is a new author to me. It opens with Emily Converse returning to Tamarack, Colorado whet she never wanted to return too. The p!ace has bad memories for her and her brother's because of a evil stepfather who is a powerful United States Senator.
While there she almost runs over a retired navy seal. They meet again at a wedding and the sparks fly into a fire.
She confronts the Senator as he attracts her brother, and the navy seal tries to watch over her and protect het.
Things go from bad to worse and in many different directions
that will keep you reading to a surprise ending.

Emily Converse and her brother Ian survived an abusive and hellish childhood after their mother died in a tragic car accident. Emily escaped from the house of horror with a scholarship to college and never looked back. Now twenty years later she's back in her hometown for a friend's wedding. When she meets the best man Navy Seal Mike, sparks fly, but her cruel step-father Ray, a US senator, shows up and pushes Ian's buttons and a brawl ensues. Unfortunately, Ray knows how to bait Ian's feelings of self-worth and Emily faces the nightmare of waiting to see if her brother will survive his suicide attempt. She blames Ray for Ian's suicide attempt and wants revenge. Can Mike convince Emily to stand down and make a plan to take Ray down?

This was a surprising book that takes the reader on a journey of self-doubt, hopelessness, despair, coming to terms with an abusive childhood and finally reconciling to the fact that things don't always turn out like you want them to, but somehow you survive. Without any spoilers, this was a difficult book to read because of the stark facts of the abuse Ian and Emily suffered at the hands of sadistic Ray. There were a few surprising twists and turns along the way and kept me turning the pages to the end.