Lone Star Book Blog Tour: Slanted Light by Teddy Jones (Review)

“Too many choices are as hard to deal with as having none.”

Slanted Light by Teddy Jones is a gentle look at familial relationships and navigating the challenges and complexities of careers, marriage, parenthood, adolescence, and aging. Nothing prepares a person for hardships, especially within relationships, but how those difficult times are handled defines everyone involved. Claire and J.D. Havlicek are busy with their careers as a nurse practitioner and rancher, respectively, and closing down the channels of communication is rapidly eroding their marriage and home life. Getting back on track and mending what is broken will take plenty of effort, commitment, and love.

Teddy Jones presents a fascinating microcosm of life in the Texas Panhandle in and around the small town of Jackson’s Pond. Slanted Light is book two in the Jackson’s Pond Texas series, but it can easily stand alone. The characters, however, are so well developed and interesting that you may want to reach for book one, Jackson’s Pond, Texas, to get some backstory. The problems and challenges that these characters face in Slanted Light are not extraordinary, yet they are potentially damaging and life changing if left unattended. This intriguing story is soothing in its steady stream of life, love, and provocations within Claire and J.D.’s marriage and immediate family dynamics. The author beautifully and realistically portrays their ranch as a place of solace and healing as each character seeks answers and a safe haven.

Teddy’s writing is literary yet easily accessible, and the overall plot is relaxing, with just enough antagonism and tense scenes to keep the action moving toward an ending that falls conveniently and satisfyingly into perfection. Happy endings are wonderful, even if it is for just one optimistic day in the life of a fictional family that has faced both the adversities and the blessings in lives lived with honesty, affection, acceptance, and honor.