Mrs. Ford, or Susan, looks back on her life when she was a young woman just before she was to head off to college. The story flips back and forth between then and now, and the feelings and thoughts she had and has. She is now a widower who seems to be floundering just a bit. She was likable enough, as was Jack, her stepson/friend, but her friends when she was a young woman were a bit harder to like. Maybe it's because of the turmoil of the times, of what they were going through trying to figure out their lives, or they were just jerks. In any case, things were done, and some of them can't be undone. It was hard to follow along a few times. In fact, there were at least four times I thought we were at the end of the book, only to check to see, oh, no, there's still an hour left. 42 minutes left. 38 minutes left. 16 minutes left. I am completely making up those times, but not the feelings behind them. I don't know if it was the soothing tone of the narrator or the general feel of the story at those points, but I really did keep feeling like we could have been done several times. Even at the true end of the story, I had to check to see that was real and not just another fake out. But a good read nonetheless. 4 stars. ( )

Trivia: Remember Erica Kane’s sister, Silver, on “All My Children”? She was played by Deborah Goodrich Royce, author of FINDING MRS FORD.

Review: FINDING MRS FORD Is about two girls in their 20s, Susan and Annie, who become friends while they both work at a women’s clothing store. Together they leave that job for waitress jobs at a disco, which is where their troubles begin. It is 1979.

Cut to 2014. Susan is living a cushy life in New England, in a very large “cottage," with two little dogs and a housekeeper. Her life is ideal until visitors from the FBI question it.

The first half of FINDING MRS FORD alternates between these two years. In 1979 Susan and Annie become involved with Middle Easterners, and Susan finds she must still deal with them in 2014. Is there no escape?

At the end of the first half, right about the midway point of the book, comes a twist. Everyone loves a book with a twist, and this is the high point of FINDING MRS FORD.

The second half of the book explains what happened between 1979 and 2014. Although one aspect of FINDING MRS FORD seems implausible to me, the twist along with the circumstances in 2014 make for a lot of suspense. No doubt, this book will make you anxious to read Royce's next, coming in 2021.

By the way, the names and places in 1979 suburban Detroit are accurate. I'm just about the same age as Susan and Annie, and I also lived there then. The book even mentions the store across from my high school, the church I attended for 17 years, and the cemetery where my uncle is buried. ( )

Why would the FBI want to talk to her?

Susan is pretty sure she knows why and didn't want to think about.

We meet Susan Ford whose life was changed when she quit her job in a dress shop to work in a night club, Frankie’s Disco, and met Sammy Fakhouri.

Now it is coming back to haunt her, and she has questions of her own.

Does she know the answers, though? She might need to make sure she does because others have questions as well.

Susan spent the summer of 1979 always worried about working at Frankie’s Disco and who was working there. It actually was a dangerous place to be.

Frankie's Disco actually changed Susan's life and not in a good way until she met Jack Ford.

Jack saved her, but he didn’t know she hadn't finished college or where she worked the summer of 1979.

The year 2014 brings things crashing down as the FBI wants to interview her, Sammy is looking for her, and her stepson finds out things she has lied about to him and his father.

The beginning and middle chapters of the book give us background information on the life of Susan Ford in 1979 and currently in 2014.

There is a twist in the middle that will have your jaw dropping and have you staying up late to finish the book.

Ms. Royce’s novel had a unique way in terms of a time line.

ENJOY if you read FINDING MRS. FORD - I am quite sure you will. 5/5

This book was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Flashing back between Detroit in the summer of 1979 and Rhode Island/New York in 2014. the story of Susan Ford is revealed. Susan Bentley, a serious college student and Annie Nelson, a wilder free spirited woman, meet in Detroit at a summer job in 1979. While they seem like an unlikely pair, they get involved with some unsavory types at the disco where they work. In 2014, Susan Ford, a seemingly polished and well off widow in her late fifties, is confronted with her past. The life that she created after her work friend is killed in an automobile accident, forces her to come to terms with what she knows. ( )

Susan has a perfect life. She is rich, she has several homes and a pretty good family. But, all this falls apart when the FBI show up at her door. They ask her about an Iraqi named Sammy Fakhouri. All of a sudden…her past is back to haunt her!

Flashback to the 70’s. Susan and Annie become very good friends while they are working at a disco. It is a fast paced job with some unique situations. (You will have to read this to find out! ). Annie starts to go off the rails. Susan does all she can. But, Annie is in over her head and taking Susan with her.

When this story first began I found the writing a little blunt, sort of choppy. But as I found my rhythm, I actually enjoyed the shortness in the tone. The story moves quickly and has a good deal of intensity. Plus, I was constantly wondering where this tale was going to lead. And it sure did not end up the way I expected!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. ( )