One Summer [Large Print] (Paperback)

Johnny Harris is from the "other side of the tracks." Everyone said he was trouble just because of his last name was Harris- but it was "proven" when he was sent to prison for the murder of his girlfriend. Now 11 years later he is placed parole and granted a job in the town's local hardware store due to the grace of Rachel Grant, his "old" English teacher from high school. (She always did doubt his being guilty of murder.)

Boy, does Johnny cause a stir in the town when he arrives and it doesn't help his having a "bad-boy" attitude. Rachel is constantly getting him out of scrapes. But he starts revealing his hurt to her, allowing her a look within his heart- while he also reveals the feelings he has always had for her going back to when she taught him in high school. He is no longer the fine lookin' "bad-boy" in school, but is now the strikingly handsome man from prison and, remember, there is a 5 year age difference but does that really matter now? And he sure isn't what Rachel would have considered "her type" of man but what about those feelings Johnny is now making her acknowledge as having?

Then another murder takes place- eleven years later with all of the same familiarities of the first one. How is Johnny connected to it? It gets very unrealistic towards the end- hey, it makes for a good story... I would definitely rate this one as being an "oldie but goodie!"

Only Rachel Grant, his English teacher, believed that he was innocent. When her former student was put on parole, he came back to their small town to accept the job Rachel offers him in her family's hardware store.

As Rachel expects, Johnny creates quite a stir in town. What she does not expect is that he just isn't a boy anymore, but a man she is attracted to.

Like everyone else who's written reviews, I find that Johnny Harris is the BEST hero I have ever read about in a romance novel. I find myself reading this book over and over. Rachel Grant isn't so bad herself, and her actions are usually believable and real.

Although this book seems to have less going for it in the mystery department, it's still a good book and worth buying.