Sulphur, Oklahoma - Present Day

Tired, emotionally bruised and contrite, Dee is back home at Roxie's Bed & Breakfast, after her seven-year marriage is annulled. Taking a deep breath, with her head held high, Dee walks into the only home she has ever known. Dee's grandmother, Roxie, warned her before she ran off and married Ray that it was a mistake. Expecting a heavy dose of "I told you so," instead, Dee finds only love and support.

To say that Dee's family is eccentric is putting it mildly. Dee's older sister, Tally, is in jail for trying to pass bad checks; Dee's mother, Mimosa, is a trucker who is more at home on the open road than with her children. Her grandmother, Roxie, is a rifle toting, high-heel wearing, aging Southern belle who always has a mixed metaphor handy for any given situation; and Bodine, Dee's precocious eleven year-old niece. Then there is Jack, the boy next door and Dee's best friend since they were kids. He too had tried to talk her out of marrying Ray. Dee can't help but notice that Jack, once a tall and gangly kid, has become quite handsome. But romance is not in the cards for Dee, she trusted her heart once, and it lied to her. Dee is not going down that road again, especially not with Jack -- a broken marriage she can get over, but not losing her best friend.

Sometimes writers play into readers' beliefs...certain stereotypes they may have about the South and Southern women. After all, there can be some truth in even the worst of stereotypes, but in TO TRUST, Ms. Brown plays into our stereotypes while still managing to rise slightly above them, creating characters with depth. There are some really nice lines in TO TRUST, and Jack is a loyal man who has the patience to wait for Dee until she sees what is right in front of her, a man who loves her no matter what. There are a number of times in the novel where a character's emotional state or physical whereabouts changed quickly with no signals given to the reader to explain why or how, which results in some confusion. For example, almost out of the blue, Dee would state that she was angry, with no logical reason given. However, I think most readers are willing to overlook these inconsistencies.

TO TRUST is a charming, sweet story about family, love, and learning to accept and trust that little voice inside of all of us.

Nickole Yarbrough