You Made Me Love You [Paperback]

Rachel Wells entered the Federal Witness Protection program when she was seventeen years old. Her memories of a then budding romance is what has kept her sane for the past nine years.

She and her parents died in a boating accident, at least that's how the police report read. But the accident was staged after her parents testified against a mob boss. Rachel is now twenty-six, and everyone involved nine years ago is dead; and she wants her life back. Rachel returns to her idyllic home at Lake Como, New York, but everything has changed. Her high school sweetheart, whose fantasies kept her rational, has married and left the immediate area. Sam Harrison, a man she does not want to care about stirs emotions that rival any of her fantasies. But, Sam is in law enforcement, and Rachael has developed a strong aversion to lawmen.

Sam fondly remembers teasing seventeen year old Rachel, but this twenty-six year old woman evokes a different emotion, which makes him want to do more than tease her. Sam never shared his feelings about Rachel and he is even more determined now to keep the proper perspective where she is involved. However, when impending danger surrounds Rachel and they are thrown together, their resolve takes a back seat. Now they must decide if they will continue to live in the past or open their hearts to the future and whatever awaits them.

Shirley Haistock has a penchant for writing heroines who have had to realign their lives. With YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU, like with her novel Whispers of Love, she takes readers into the emotional side of a heroine trying to live again without the fear of looking over her shoulder. This is a warm, intense story.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

Nine years ago, when Rachel was 17, her parents had testified against a mob boss and therefore their lives were in danger. They'd set up an explosion on their boat to fake their own death. Rachel and her parents went into the witness protection program and changed their identity, 3 times. Now, nine years later, both her parents as well as the people they'd testified against were no longer alive and Rachel can finally leave the program. Goodbye Jane Dunston, welcome back Rachel Wells.

But life has moved on in Lake Como. It's too late to continue things as she left them years ago. Bill Hairston, her boyfriend at that time, is now married and a father. His brother Sam is now the head of the police force in Lake Como. Rachel is more than fed up with the police after all those years of hiding and lies and set-ups.

It irritates her the way Sam watches her when she swims in the lake at night. But he's just making sure she's safe in the dangerous lake. Rachel has to get used to the fact she's no longer in the program and people are no longer coming after her. But whenever she's near Sam she feels strange, she's nervous, doesn't know what to say. And it was like that even nine years ago when they'd first met. Sam became more quiet though, after his partner died and he almost didn't make it alive either. Sam and Rachel both have a past they don't want to talk about, a past they'd rather forget..

Do try out You Made Me Love You! I promise you it is NEVER boring, at times very romantic and constantly exciting. Shirley Hailstock said at the end of her book (a letter to the readers, very nice) that her readers could see movies in her books, they were definetly right! Bullets, highway chases, cops, black vans, watchers, love.. this book has it all! To write out action scenes like that in a book must be very hard, to make it give you the same sensation as it would if you were watching a movie, but Shirley Hailstock managed to do that very well! I could really see it all happening before my eyes. Also I liked the fact that she didn't follow the cliché of coming back years afterwards and picking up things with the long-lost friend. No she didn't do that. The guy has his own family now and I really liked that after reading too many stories where the lovers hooked back together. This one sounded more realisticly. I thoroughly enjoyed this story from the very first beginning until the very last line! I really hope that this author will write more romantic suspense novels, I'll definitely keep an eye out for them and will be one of the first to buy them!

› Go to Amazon U.S. to see both reviews  4.5 out of 5 stars