Regret


Fiction - Womens
442 Pages
Reviewed on 10/02/2014
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Regret is a contemporary fiction novel written by Timothy Allen Smith. Julie Gallagher fast-tracked through an Ivy League education and law school, and became a partner in a law firm in record time. She lost it all, however, including her marriage, and now works two jobs to pay the bills and keep her daughter Ashley in private school. Her husband was able to extract some fairly large concessions as part of their divorce, and if she’s unable to support her daughter, he will gain custody. When the IRS garnishees her salary, it seems like all is lost. Her daughter’s school is demanding past due tuition payments which she pays, knowing the checks will not clear, and then she borrows the money from her friend and boss’s cash deposit. It all seems to be going down the tubes when Julie suddenly gets the impulse to kiss the young hip-hop choreographer standing at the entrance of her office.

Timothy Allen Smith’s contemporary fiction novel, Regret, is the fast-paced and entertaining story of a forty-something woman’s desperate gamble to regain her life and keep her child. I really enjoyed reading it -- it’s fresh and funny, and Julie and Preston are marvelous characters. Regret fits into a number of different genre categories including women's and contemporary fiction, but there’s also definitely a legal thriller aspect to it that runs throughout the story as Julie gets into the money laundering business and then must find a way out of the legal morass she finds herself in as a result. Smith's writing is smooth, and his plot is tight and well-constructed. Regret is an excellent read and is highly recommended.

Tina Gibbons

Regret by Timothy Allen Smith introduces the reader to Julie Galloway, former prominent attorney who is no longer allowed to practice law. Divorced, a single mother with a crappy cubicle job that doesn't pay the bills, she has hit a new low. She makes some poor decisions, justifying them with the well-being of her daughter and making sure they stay together. Poor decisions turn into downright stupid ones as she falls deeper into a pit of her own making, and people she cares about are endangered by her choices. She has to generate a plan to outwit the person who wants to control her, and come out on the other side with her health and sanity intact, and her loved ones safe.

Timothy Allen Smith creates a character in Julie Galloway that is a shadow of her former self. She is flawed, broken, and reckless, but beneath that she is strong and intelligent. She is a fighter, and even though she makes some incredibly bad decisions, she has what it takes to get back on top. A variety of interesting characters - several of them different shades of criminal - makes the cast in this book entertaining and believable. Some sexual tension is added, and when Julie takes a dip in the internet dating pool, the results are almost comical, if not so sad. When her love life finally sparks, it throws a new excitement into the story. Regret is a suspenseful tale involving corruption, crime, drugs, sex, and politics, and you never know what will happen when Julie finds herself in over her head.