Backseat Saints

Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson

Summary from Goodreads

Rose Mae Lolley is a fierce and dirty girl, long-suppressed under flowery skirts and bow-trimmed ballet flats. As "Mrs. Ro Grandee" she's trapped in a marriage that's thick with love and sick with abuse. Her true self has been bound in the chains of marital bliss in rural Texas, letting "Ro" make eggs, iron shirts, and take her punches. She seems doomed to spend the rest of her life battered outside by her husband and inside by her former self, until fate throws her in the path of an airport gypsy---one who shares her past and knows her future. The tarot cards foretell that Rose's beautiful, abusive husband is going to kill her. Unless she kills him first.

Hot-blooded Rose Mae escapes from under Ro's perky compliance and emerges with a gun and a plan to beat the hand she's been dealt. Following messages that her long-missing mother has left hidden for her in graffiti and behind paintings, Rose and her dog Gretel set out from Amarillo, TX back to her hometown of Fruiton, AL, and then on to California, unearthing a host of family secrets as she goes. Running for her life, she realizes that she must face her past in order to overcome her fate---death by marriage---and become a girl who is strong enough to save herself from the one who loves her best.

My Thoughts

This is the second Joshilyn Jackson book I have read. I must say I like that her characters are well developed and most have a quirkiness about them. This cover caught my attention right off the bat. There had to be a great story as to why this woman would cut off her beautiful hair and hold it in front of herself while looking down. As I read and got acquainted with Rose Mae Lolley, I found myself having a love/hate relationship with her. There were times I wanted hug her and tell her everything was going to be all right. Other times she did things that were absolutely crazy. The story does deal with domestic violence and while it is a heavy subject, there were times I found myself laughing at some of the antics in the book. Rose Mae Lolley was quite the character and needless to say so were the people who were part of her life. This book took me on a roller coaster ride and in the end gave me one final twist which was a doozy! There are some pretty graphic scenes in the book, some sexual and some violent. Just a warning for those who don't wish to read that sort of thing. I hope to read more of Joshilyn Jackson's novels. I have all ready picked up a few more of her books.