"Friendship, Love and Trust"

The six teenagers were the best of friends. They had all come from dysfunctional homes but they were each other's support group. The only problem is they called themselves the "outlaws" and they were hell on wheels. Linc and Margo were crazy about each other as were Beth and Danny and Annie and Joe. Margo's family had been so-called Christians that humiliated and beat her "for her own good", Linc and Beth were brother and sister living with their unconcerned grandparents and Joe's father was an angry man who beat him.

We pick up the story twenty years later. Linc and Margo are still crazy about each other but when Linc becomes a minister and returns to their hometown, Margo wants nothing to do with religion. Linc talks to God; he is lonely and wants a wife and family. Danny and Beth had married and have a sixteen-year old son, Ron. Danny always wanted to be a race driver and was killed while racing. Now Tucker comes to town to race at the track. He feels tremendous guilt about causing the death of Danny. He is attracted to Beth but Ron hates him with a passion blaming him for his father's death. Annie and Joe married and had two children but he became a batterer like his father. They are divorced but six years later he comes home after a lot of counseling and is convinced that he is a changed man. He wants a relationship with his children but Annie is afraid of him and afraid for the children.

TRUST IN ME is a book about trusting God, about believing in yourself and learning to trust others after a traumatic childhood. It is also a book about giving up hate and accepting love and trusting in that love. Friendship plays a huge part as well as faith and forgiveness. Kathryn Shay does an excellent job of writing this soul-searching novel. It leaves the reader with a good feeling when everything comes together for these engaging friends as they become pillars of the community. Doc is a great secondary character who has always been there for Tucker and manages to have his own romance in TRUST IN ME. Excellent job, Ms Shay. I will be looking forward to your next book.

Reviewed by Marilyn Heyman
Posted March 19, 2003

Summary

As teenagers, they were called the Outlaws and they kept the police of Glen Oaks on their toes. Though the tight- knit group has left their checkered pasts behind, time has not been kind to the six friends. Beth Donovan is now a widow raising a teenage son alone. Linc and Margo are living proof that sometimes love is not enough. And Joe has hurt Annie as badly as a man can hurt a woman...

But now, the man blamed for Beth's husband's death is back in town. Three-time Winston Cup champ Tucker Quaid has come to try to revive Glen Oaks' flagging racing scene. His very presence sends Beth's already troubled son into a downward spiral. With her friends rallying around her, old grievances—and passions—flare. Just when they thought their crazy days were over, the Outlaws are about to discover that no one can predict what lies around the next turn on the track...