Who is Emerald Monday?

The mystery spins on! Who Is Emerald Monday? The suspicions are there.Roz Denny Fox surely accomplished her objective in presenting a good character, as I couldn't stand Emmy-M. Her lack of moral conscience killed the romance and to wait nineteen years to do something about her lack of parentage? Nope, doesn't work.I thoroughly understood the emotional conflicts of Emmy and Riley but not how they tended to work them out. Little Alanna was one big saving factor. She did tie the couple together with an innocence accorded only to the very young.Must say Joleen Berber knows more than she is letting on and probably has a guilty conscience or a fear of being found out.The mystery is still on the light side but a very easy reading of a bit of old intrigue. And poor Josey and Cleon hanging on for ten years with no marriage in sight? Another misspent youth!Why did it take nineteen years and a murder mystery to finally get them to start straightening out their hang-ups?Ah well - my ratings -- Roz Denny Fox - her writing - a 4 Emerald Monday -- a 2 Riley Gray Wolf -- a 3 Dexter Thorndyke -- a 5 Sheriff Logan Fielder -- a 4 [he's still a stinker]Recommend for a follow-up read -- not one that will stay on my shelf

When she read about the finding of the remains of her beloved Franny Mom, Emmy Monday had just lost her job in Shreveport. She decides to go home to Uncertain, Texas to show her support to her foster brother Jed, who is the prime suspect in Franny's unsolved two-decade-old murder. However, Emmy also returns home because she needs to know the identity of her biological parents.Emmy learns that her once beloved Riley Gray has a precocious little girl and is a successful attorney. She turns to him for help with the local law and her parental search though she also tries to avoid him on an emotional level because her love for him still remains. As they work closely together, Emmy and Riley know they love each other even though they have not gotten any closer to her identity or solving the murder mystery.WHO IS EMERALD MONDAY, the second novel in the Return to East Texas trilogy, is an exciting romantic suspense work. While spinning its own entertaining plot, the novel remains true to the characterization and story line of the first tale (see K.N. Casper's THE MILLIONAIRE HORSEMAN). Readers watch the relationships between Emmy, Riley, and his little girl Alanna unfold even with the overly prejudiced Sheriff looking at them as if they are lepers. Fans will anxiously await the final entry, A MAN OF HIS WORD as Eve Gaddy continues the story by starring the archeologist who dug up Franny's bones and the other foster sibling Will.Harriet Klausner

I have to agree with the previous reviewer who highly recommends this title. WHO IS EMERALD MONDAY? kept my rapt attention the entire way through. There were no points where lagging occurred and I found myself really liking the addition of Riley's daughter into the mix. She was quite a little charmer. Kudos to Roz Denny Fox for another great book. I couldn't put it down and read it in one night. Keep up the great work!

Emerald Monday's custodian Mom Fran had often told the story of her discovery. Fran's best friend Joleen Berber had chanced upon Emmy at the back of an antique booth at Monday Trade Days, "Left like some garage sale item to be sold or traded." The infant was released from social services into Fran's care. Emmy adored her two foster brothers, Jed and Will. Their best friend Riley Gray Wolf had also stolen her heart, and when she was old enough, her kisses. Those years in Mom Fran's home had been the best years she'd ever known. They ended tragically, when Emmy was thirteen and Mom Fran left for work one day and never came home. Social Services abruptly jerked Emmy from school and the only home she'd ever known to dump her with strangers in Houston. After running away many times, the heartbroken Emily gave up on her foster brothers ever finding her.Emmy holds an unrelenting fear of marrying and having children because of the gaps in her ancestry. She fears what lurks in her genes that could emerge in the next generation. Even simple things like moving to a new town and visiting a new doctor for the first time proves agonizing, as she must leave all those empty space in the family history section. As Emmy happens to read an old newspaper, thinking about the next place to move, she finds an article about her beloved Mom Fran. Apparently an archeologist searching for Indian relics found bones identified as Mom Fran's. Emmy heads back to Uncertain, the name the town aptly describing her past, present, and future.Emmy almost immediately runs into Riley when she returns to Uncertain. Neither of them had been able to "forget the one that got away." Indeed, Riley fills every fantasy of what Emmy envisioned for him as an adult. His family descends from the Caddo Indians, but Riley has rejected both his family and his heritage following the death of his wife. His beautiful three-year-old daughter Alanna has never known any family but her father. As Emmy struggles to find her birth family, Riley longs to forget his. As dart playing and young Alanna draw Emma and Riley together again, the search for and the rejection of family becomes the driving tone behind their relationship.Roz Denny Fox has clearly established her talent for well-written contemporary romances and fans will find her newest release, WHO IS EMERALD MONDAY?, yet another success. In the midst of discord and tension, a tender love story unfolds, as the clever plot heightens the already tense situation and keeps the suspense building. In addition to writing a terrific story, It's evident the author has intimate knowledge when it comes to exploring one's identity. The story line is interesting as it delves into issues of identity as well as providing readers with a strong romance. I admit to having a high regard for the beautiful Emily Monday with her rainbow tatoo, and to building great sympathy with her issues of identity as the book progresses. Highly recommended.