Heir to a Secret
Melinda Richarz Lyons, 2013
TreasureLine
201 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781617521614
Summary
East Texas native Addison Cameron is devastated after the sudden death of her husband of thirty years, Eric. Even more shocking is the discovery that she is an heir to a secret. On top of coping with deep grief, Addison must also face the challenge of uncovering the truth about Eric's hidden past.
On her journey Addison meets another widow, the colorful Miranda Jones, who helps unravel the mystery. But more important, Miranda's friendship encourages Addison to find life after death and have faith that it's never too late for happily ever after.
Their road to recovery takes them through the world of paper tripping and a dangerous encounter on a dark Texas lane. Along the way Addison and Miranda are entertained by boot scootin' cowboys, on-line senior matchups, rescue calls, "worth a second try guys" and jealous confrontations.
On Addison's quest to move ahead and embrace acceptance and forgiveness, she finds herself attracted to Private Investigator Todd Baker. His romantic nature and fabulous blue eyes have Addison wondering, "Is it possible to fall in love again and have hot sex after fifty?"
Author Bio
• Birth—July 31, 1948
• Where—San Antonio, Texas, USA
• Education—B.A., University of North Texas
• Currently—Tyler, Texas
Born in San Antonio, Melinda Richarz Lyons was raised an "Air Force brat," and lived in Okinawa, Oklahoma, Alabama, Colorado, and Oregon, where she graduated high school. She attended Kilgore College in East Texas (now University of North Texas), where, as a member of the Rangerettes, she had the opportunity to perform in places like the Astrodome, The Cotton Bowl and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
In 1968 she married her college sweetheart, Sid Bailey. The couple spent a few years on the road, temporarily living in Chicago, Canada, and Atlanta while Sid played professional football. His business career then took them from Texas to Denver, Memphis, Springdale, Arkansas, Oklahoma City, and ultimately Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where they settled in 1994.
Ms. Lyons suffered a devastating loss when her husband of almost thirty-eight years died in 2005. Determined to put her life back together, she moved to Tyler, Texas a year later. In 2007, she met Tom Lyons and they were married June 14, 2009. This union blessed her with something she always wanted but never had—children and grandchildren!
In her words:
I have actually been writing creatively since I could speak. My Mother said I would sit in my crib with one of my favorite picture books, babbling away as I turned the pages. When I was eleven, a prayer I wrote was published by a national children’s Christian magazine. I got paid a whole dollar! That thrilling experience made me realize that sometimes other people actually not only like what you write, they occasionally reward you for it. I wrote a book at the age of 13, and have penned numerous stories, poems, newspaper articles and even songs over the years.
I have enough rejection letters to paper a room, but I have also had quite a few things published. It is fantastic to see your name in print, and even better to get paid. But—like most writers—I don’t do it for the money (what little there is!). I write because I have to. It is what I am supposed to do. I write for the sheer joy of writing, and that wonderful feeling I get when I know words that came from my heart and my head touched someone else.
Discussion Questions
1. Did you find the book interesting right away, and why or why not?
2. Did you feel the friendship between the two main female characters is sincere?
3. Could you identify with the female characters in any way?
4. Is the mystery behind the secret believable?
5. Is the book exciting enough?
6. Is the book free of distractions like grammatical errors?
7.Did you find the romance between older characters fun?
8. Is that realistic?
9. Did you like the mystery or the romance better, or both? Why?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)