Rock House Grill (Impact Book 1)

Shannon “Shay” McDowell survived a devastating divorce and rebuilt her life one day at a time thanks to hard grit and great friends. She volunteers part time as an EMT and full time as Front of the House at a local fine restaurant — until the fateful evening her ex’s vengeful girlfriend gets her fired. Now Shay is starting over again, armed with a "can do—will do" attitude. Aden House is on top of the world. He’s a chef with a successful fine dining restaurant, a budding acting career on a reality TV cooking show, and soon he and his twin sister will be opening their second restaurant. He is a man who is going places … until the night of the wreck that leaves him wheelchair bound. 

This is a fast-moving story with complex, whole characters. D.V. Stone nails the original premise and characterization. The story falls a little flat with descriptions of people and places since both factor so strongly into the story. Characters seem to assume things from others frequently within the story, particularly the motives of a certain detective, and some dialogue was rehashed during the last one-third of the book. Still, there is no denying Shay is an in-control heroine who can do it all. She can calm a scared accident victim one minute and take charge as Front of House during her interview. Readers will cheer her successes, cry at her challenges and feel their racing heartbeats at the slow-burn chemistry between Shay and Aden.

Emerson Matthews