Michele L. Montgomery introduces herself beautifully as a first-time author in her suspenseful romance River of Tears. This modern-day drama chronicles the relationship of Abby and Caiden, a young couple who experience love at first sight and eventually marry and begin a life together. Abby narrates the story and relates a shocking tale of deceit, betrayal, and what appears to be abandonment. When her husband suddenly becomes missing and seems to have vanished off the face of the earth, Abby begins a quest to track him down and get some answers she desperately needs for herself and her three young children. Caiden's departure stretches into a period of years, but Abby never gives up.

The journey Abby embarks upon leads her back to Caiden's home state--Arkansas, and she reluctantly must face head-on the family from which she'd once before rescued her husband. Will she reach him in time, or is she already too late?

The book is not a particularly challenging read, written in a vernacular that is plain and understandable. Montgomery's writer's voice is very authentic, and her characters are easy to love and easy to identify with. The text is not without grammatical errors, but the depth of the story and the genuineness that the author conveys seem to outweigh any such minor flaws.

Montgomery is a natural story-teller, and she skillfully draws the reader into her fictional world of suspense and nail-biting drama. River of Tears will keep you up at night until the last page is turned, and it is for this reason I proudly award it five stars