Rating: 5 🌈
There’s certain authors you read because you know what you’re going to get in terms of characterization and narrative structure. It’s a happy satisfying feeling of familiarity combined with a love for the manner of storytelling the author puts forth.
Short version? It’s a book hug. You know what you need and the author gives you it, wrapped up in lovely words and warmhearted feelings.
That’s a Mary Calmes story at its finest.
Wayward by Mary Calmes brings together all those Calmes literary elements , the flawed man who’s seen as a hero. He will forever change for the better a small town and its inhabitants lives by his arrival. There’s a probability he’s a bad man with a heart of gold,unknowingly loved by many, and who finds his HEA in this new life. This will inevitably will include small children and adorable animals.
Here Calmes throws us into the world of the Russian mobs, specifically one criminal family that includes Maksim Lenkov, son of the boss. It’s an ugly, sordid dark place that Maksim lives in and runs the crime part of his family’s business.
The casual cruelties, the brutality, and the dehumanization is very well written. That Maksim is able to still get across as less a monster than those around him is astonishing. It makes the transition all the more believable.
Because transition he does into a small town in Oregon. One where the oddest people live next door, weird animals abound, the smallest of them up and adopts you, and you end up finding a home and love.
Honestly, all the characters here were marvelous. From Misha,the tiniest of Morkies to the fabulous Ada and her crumbling mansion of marvels, to the man who captures the heart of Maks, that’s Gale, the police officer in Rune, Oregon. Plus all the others we meet and wish we could spend much more time with. Turns out Rune is a very interesting place to explore.
I could see several books there. Plus I love the couple.
When it was all over I was completely satisfied with the ending. The threads and threats had been dealt with, their futures settled and I was so excited about what was in store for them and the small group of found family going forward. Misha included.
That’s why I read Mary Calmes and that’s why I loved this book. And why I’m recommending it.
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Description:
Maksim Lenkov is certain he’s not a good man. His father isn’t, and since Maks is his second in command, then certainly, he’s just as evil. The list of sins is long, and there’s no getting around that. What’s messing him up is that despite all that, in the midst of life and death, his only friend tells him he’s been a blessing; law enforcement is treating him like he prevented more bloodshed than he caused, and everyone is concerned with doing right by him. Why? And how is Maks supposed to figure out who he is, when everything he thought he knew is suddenly turned upside down?
It only gets weirder once he begins his new life in witness protection. Because if he’s a guardian angel of women and children, dogs, and one eccentric heiress, can he really be a bad man? Added into the mix is a handsome, loyal deputy chief of police, who lives next door and thinks Maks hangs the moon. Is it possible that living in hell never actually made him into the devil? Perhaps it was only a wayward life, and now it’s time to chart a new course.
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 