Lynn Emery, Soulful Strut

Soulful Strut

Lynn Emery

Harper Torch, December 2006, $6.99

ISBN: 0060731044

Monette Victor spent fifteen years in prison, claiming all along that then Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana DA Winn Barron falsified information that framed her. Now paroled because of new evidence that exonerates her, but not fully freed as she still belongs to Louisiana Department of Corrections, Monette vows to build a new life avoiding the mistakes that made her an easy mark for Barron. Having written a book, the media, including Couric make Monette a star, but she vows to herself not to let all the attention get to her head.

At New Beginnings where she is staying, Monette and Jayson Odum, owner of Quality Car Care Service, meet; the attraction is incredible as each feels the same desire for the other. They begin to see one another and fall in love. However, as her confidence grows in terms of her new foundation, Monette has doubts about relationships, as her partying youth made her an easy target to convict her on drug selling. Unless she can overcome her fears about her own nature, Monette will remain imprisoned in a jail created by her mind.

The romance between the lead couple seems unnecessary, as SOULFUL STRUT is more a deep character study of a person getting a second chance at life. Though Jayson is a nice person, the tale belongs to Monette exclusively, as she tries to balance the injustice she suffered from, with her own culpability's that led to making her an easy prey. Readers will root for her to make it as an underdog, thriving to prove to everyone, including herself, who considered her an unworthy loser.