Meander Scar - a review

Meander Scar won last year’s ‘Grace Award’ for women’s fiction and now I know why. This book was nothing short of wonderful. Author Lisa Lickel has crafted an unorthodox romance fraught with complications and intrigue that draws the reader in almost immediately and keeps you guessing right until the very last page.

Ann Ballard is an older woman caught in emotional limbo. Her husband went missing years earlier without a trace. He left behind a thriving business but unfortunately his mother, an insensitive, controlling woman, will not release Ann or any of the company’s finances, leaving Ann to struggle to make ends meet. Ann’s grown son Ritchie has also struggled to let go of his father’s memory, but he is now married and about to become a father himself.  Enter Mark Roth, a former neighbor who was in high school when Ritchie was a child and whose brother Trey was Ritchie’s best friend. Trey died tragically in an accident and the family left town, but now Mark is back and is a successful lawyer. Although he is eleven years her junior, Mark and Ann fall in love and thus the complications really begin.

Mark and Ann face opposition from every angle. Neither of their families approve of the relationship, which is compounded by the fact that Ann’s husband might still be alive. There seems to be some kind of mysterious cover up when it comes to his disappearance and Ann risks betraying everyone she loves in pursuit of the truth. There are plenty of surprises as this story ‘meanders’ its way through one complication after another. Just when we finally think everything will work out for Mark and Ann another unexpected twist occurs. The ending took me by surprise – not unpleasantly, but it was certainly not what I had expected.

This book deserves all five stars and more!