Book Review: This Violent Reckoning

 

He never stopped loving her.
She never stopped believing she didn’t deserve it.

Sheriff Henry Wilder holds together a town full of broken lives and bitter secrets, but none of the damage cuts deeper than the woman who lives just thirty-six yards away—who hasn’t dared meet his eyes in ten years.

Louisiana Wright never left Thunder Ridge. She left him.
Because she’s convinced she’s poison—a barren woman with nothing left to give, a heart hardened by pain, a future shattered before it began. She’s convinced Henry deserves better than her broken pieces.

But when Henry finds Dallas—a kid standing on the same ground where his own family damn near fell apart—everything cracks wide open. Dallas isn’t marked by bruises, but by desperate silence—waiting for someone to fight for him, to claim him, to not let him vanish.

In a move no one saw coming, Henry claims Lou as his fiancée. One lie. One ring. One reckless gamble to hold on to the only family they have left.

Now they’re forced together in the wreckage of their past—under a town’s watchful gaze, with a boy who sees too much, and a slow-burning rage between them that never really died.

Every glance is a battle. Every word, a knife-edge. Every touch threatens to shatter the fragile peace they barely hold.

This isn’t about forgiveness.
This isn’t about closure.

This isn’t about second chances.

It’s a slow burn soaked in gasoline.

And someone’s bound to strike the match.

This Violent Reckoning is a brutal Southern slow burn—about grief that lingers, family that’s found in fire, and a love that never died... just waited for the right moment to explode.

My Review

The emotions are running very high in this book! The feelings are raw and real between Lou and Henry. I felt for both of them. I could see things from both of their perspectives but this does not mean it made things any easier.

"She was never broken.

She was built to survive.

And she's mine.

She's always been mine."

Lou pushing Henry away, not because she did not love him but because she LOVED him so HARD! She only wanted the best for him. Yet, what she did not realize but came to later on is that she is what is best for Henry. I love that Henry fought so much for Lou but without trying to overwhelm her. The addition of Dallas was great. He is just what Lou and Henry needed to help give them that nudge to bringing them closer. 

"You fight me so damn hard because you love me, wildflower."

It was great to see Evie and Maddox again from These Jagged Edges, book one. I loved their story so much and to see them now living their best happy life is great. Love Aunt Joe and her nonsense attitude. Get ready to have your heart wrecked with this book!