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Reviewed by Giselle Rivera for Readers' Favorite
After suffering a brutal attack in college, Sheila Marmion gets pregnant and decides to give up the baby for adoption. Many years later, Sheila hires a private investigator, Aaron Devlin, to search for the daughter she gave up. Not only does she have him look for her daughter, but everybody involved at that time in her life. The P.I. also searches for the man who was her support system, Matt Decker, and the two men that sexually assaulted her, Sean Holland and Barry Knight. They all live in Las Vegas, Nevada. For nine years, Bethani, Sheila's daughter, has been working as an exotic dancer at a nightclub called Verboten. Sean Holland happens to be the owner of the club. Will Sheila be able to get close to her daughter and tell her who she is? Will Bethani accept her mom back after all these years? Could Sean Holland be Bethani's father? Will Sheila ever get justice for the horrible trauma she endured so many years ago?
Diane C. Smyth's Verboten goes deep into topics and traumatic events that no one likes to talk about. Verboten has a plot that most people find difficult to discuss. So many people go through these struggles and sometimes will never share what they've experienced because of feeling guilt or shame. This novel was slower-paced but it flowed nicely in what the author was trying to convey through the subject matter. As far as action goes, there were a few little snippets here and there. The biggest scene for action was when Sheila had to get Sean and his cousin Barry to admit to what they had done. The relationship between mother and daughter was the most emotional for me. When Bethani shared how she found out she had been adopted, it touched my heart. Another relationship I loved was the everlasting love between Sheila and Matt. He was her whole support system through a very difficult time in her life. Once they saw each other after many years, their love still existed.
