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Jailbird

by Heather Huffman (Goodreads Author)

3.75 of 5 stars 3.75 · rating details · 918 ratings · 101 reviews

Neena Allen's life didn't exactly follow the path she'd anticipated. She couldn't have seen the twists and turns that would lead her to wander the woods, presumed dead by the prison guards. When Neena starts a new life in a little Arkansas town, she finds a contentment she never dreamed possible. The thing about skeletons in your closet is they always come back to haunt yo...more

ebook, 262 pages

Published by Leave Your Mark (first published September 23rd 2010)

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Jan 09, 2012 Krystal rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc

The reader will find him/herself right in the gritty portion of the novel from the start. Neena is in jail and breaking out. Her story will have a myriad of reactions from the reader. Neena has a very good reason for being in jail-she killed a man, not just any man either, but a prominent, wealthy one. However, before she committed the act of murder, he raped and tried to kill her. When she escapes she runs to a small town where she has a chance at starting over. She does not expect to find love...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Kendra rated it 2 of 5 stars

Oh man...this is going to be a difficult review to write. Overall, I didn't like this book. BUT, I know that a lot of people will like it and my reasons are more personal than the fault of the author. The only reason I don't rate this book at 1 star is because I liked it (just) enough to finish it.

I think this book should be rated as Christian Fiction...it is WAY too clean; I actually felt as if it were an after school special or network TV movie of the week. Ridiculously clean... I have many pe...more Oh man...this is going to be a difficult review to write. Overall, I didn't like this book. BUT, I know that a lot of people will like it and my reasons are more personal than the fault of the author. The only reason I don't rate this book at 1 star is because I liked it (just) enough to finish it.

I think this book should be rated as Christian Fiction...it is WAY too clean; I actually felt as if it were an after school special or network TV movie of the week. Ridiculously clean... I have many peeves but the biggest one was how often the main character was chastised for cursing when in reality all she said was damn. Seriously?!!

Example...the main character says, "I didn't know what to tell her about this whole damn mess." and the response is..."Would you watch your mouth? What is it with you two? Charlie threw his hands up in disgust. That sort of censure happens throughout the book and its distracting.

The characters in this book are either WAY too perfect or WAY too evil. I was literally rolling my eyes and scoffing at how every "good" character in this book was beyond unselfish. Even their flaws were perfect...it drove me crazy. This book is anything but realistic. The story and main character are supposed to be gritty but instead its all like a fairy tale...the pieces fall together WAY too conveniently. The good guy trumps evil in EVERY case. The trust and love between all of the characters is way too unconditional and happens way too quickly.

Another peeve that was very frustrating for me is the voice of a 10 year old main character in the book...She is 10 and although the story makes sure to mention that she is smart and mature for her age...her voice is way too mature. She continually makes comments that fit a teenage girl and it is over the top distracting.

I could go on and on...ripping apart every single character and their stories...but there's no point. If you're the type to enjoy clean, feel good, unrealistic stories that help you see the world in a better light then this book is for you...enjoy.(less)

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Apr 10, 2012 Cammy Hunnicutt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: tuff-chicks

I really loved this.
Kali/Neena is my kind of gal. She's not just daring and resourceful and tough, though, she's also very tender and endearing.
And the story is one of those that you are always eager to get back to, because you really want to see it working out.

It's far from a perfect book. Ms. Huffman has some grammar quirks and falls into a lot of cliches. The plot, which races along very nicely until the "third act" kind of ravels at that point. Lots of sitting around talking and lovey-dovey,...more I really loved this.
Kali/Neena is my kind of gal. She's not just daring and resourceful and tough, though, she's also very tender and endearing.
And the story is one of those that you are always eager to get back to, because you really want to see it working out.

It's far from a perfect book. Ms. Huffman has some grammar quirks and falls into a lot of cliches. The plot, which races along very nicely until the "third act" kind of ravels at that point. Lots of sitting around talking and lovey-dovey, lots of uncanny co-incidences drawing in big name people and ignoring logical consequences. And some early questions like how do you just start running and run out of a Louisiana prison and who got buried they thought was her, never get dealt with. But not as bad as Harlen Coben, where it turns out everybody is everybody else's love child or serial incest freak.

And she avoids some traps other writers might fall into. For instance, Neena is a reservation girl. But she wisely doesn't wallow around in Native American rez-lit homilies: she sticks to her story. She either never heard, or was wise enough to ignore, the "Show Don't Tell" thing. She just tells the story,and it works just fine. Like it does if you have a good style and good story. She avoids painting grim pictures of Neena's life before escaping from prison. A few words, Neena's reaction, and your own imagination fill it in just fine. Havin a rapist's child in prison then having to give it up doesn't really need a lot of schmaltz slapped on it to make it hurt.

But don't let anything I say about the writing take the shine off this book. Any writing glitches are outweighed by her very live, natural, unstudied style. You believe Neena telling her own story, even when it gets so complicated you want to tear your hair and buy that poor girl a drink.

Ms. Huffman is obviously a writer who has no urge to put on literary airs or be anything else than somebody telling stories about young women coping with bad ugly trouble. And she does a bang-up job.

(less)

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Jun 24, 2012 Marina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Neena escaped from prison where she spent almost ten years. Officially, she was dead, eaten by the gators. Unofficially, she ran into a family of “angels”. The Torres family accepted her as a part of their own without asking any questions. In the small town, she meets Charlie and his daughter Cara, and soon they become a family. Life couldn’t be more happier for Neena.

But her happiness couldn’t last forever. She has skeletons in the closet. Ten years ago, she was ordinary girl in a reservation....more Neena escaped from prison where she spent almost ten years. Officially, she was dead, eaten by the gators. Unofficially, she ran into a family of “angels”. The Torres family accepted her as a part of their own without asking any questions. In the small town, she meets Charlie and his daughter Cara, and soon they become a family. Life couldn’t be more happier for Neena.

But her happiness couldn’t last forever. She has skeletons in the closet. Ten years ago, she was ordinary girl in a reservation. Until one day she was raped by someone who was member of a wealthy and influential family. She murdered her rapist, and sent to prison. There, she found out that she was pregnant. She couldn’t raise her daughter in prison, so she gave her to her brother to raise her as his own.

Now, her past is after her. Police is after her, reporters are after her, her nine years old daughter wants to meet her, the baby is on the way. She has to survive and fight for her life and happiness.

Jailbird is a warm story for survival. A story for hope, for family and friends. For people who stand by your side no matter what. Remember that saying: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”? Your friends and family are always there for you when you need them most. Neena was all alone in that wood. She found friends and a family when she needed them most. She fought her past, for her children, all three of them, for her family, for her right for happiness.

There were also some humorous moments. Neena’s daughter had to teach her how to silent the cell phone. Nine-year-olds are really smart. There were moments of laugh and joy, but also moment of fear, fear for the future, fear from the past.

I loved the narration of the story. Easy to read, floating. Characters were very well described. You can connect with everyone of them. I loved Charlie, and Conrad, and Cara and Gabrielle. It was so easy to love them all.

I’ve found Neena’s story very touching and inspirational. I will recommend this story for everyone. It’s a heart-warming story for all ages.
(less)

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Sep 01, 2012 Mochaspresso rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-cheap-reads-and-freebies

This review does contain some spoilers.......

This book has the foundation for a good story but it missed several opportunities to pull me in emotionally. Neena has a very powerful story to tell. She's an escaped convict who was wrongfully jailed for murdering her rapist. The problem is that she never really tells it. The reader gets the gist of it through bits and pieces of conversations that she has with other characters but we never hear her full story from her.

This is also one of those books...more This review does contain some spoilers.......

This book has the foundation for a good story but it missed several opportunities to pull me in emotionally. Neena has a very powerful story to tell. She's an escaped convict who was wrongfully jailed for murdering her rapist. The problem is that she never really tells it. The reader gets the gist of it through bits and pieces of conversations that she has with other characters but we never hear her full story from her.

This is also one of those books where unrealistic things magically happen that conveniently wrap up the story in a neat little package. For example, she's an escaped convict and while on the run she meets a family that take her in with absolutely no questions asked. She also meets a lawyer in town, a single father raising a young daughter, who also accepts her with no questions asked. Not only that, he marries her after a whirlwind romance. When she tells them the truth, it doesn't matter to any of them. Her 10 yr old daughter, who was born in prison and then raised by her uncle, has never seen or known her real mother. When she is reunited with her, the girl accepts her and even runs off with her to hide from the authorities. These people are a little too good to be true, in my opinion.

Then there is also the notion of how a person who is wanted is able to live such a public life for so long without being caught. I can understand being able to hide out in a small town, but she is also in constant contact with her loved ones (by cell phone and in person) and she even goes out in public to dine. I found it hard to believe that the authorities were not watching her brother and therefore would not have been led straight to her very quickly. I like the idea of redemption and love with no strings attached...but it has to be within a believable context. This was more like a fantasy. Having said all of that, one thing that I think that the book does do well is suspense. The parts where she was on the run were suspenseful and very well written. I just couldn't get past the unbelievability of the rest of the story. (less)

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Oct 28, 2012 Renee rated it 5 of 5 stars

First I will say I have sort of an author crush on Heather. I bought all of her other books because when I read two of her books I new I had to read the rest.

This story was a thriller! It opens with Neena escaping from jail. She is on the run, climbing through the forest, swimming the swamps in the bayou and scaring the crap out of me.It takes a while to find out why she was in prison. That is a BIG part of the mystery, it makes you turn the pages faster. At the end of her journey you will live...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book from the start when a young native american woman escaped from jail where she had been wrongly imprisoned for 10 years. She works her way north from Louisiana and finds herself in a small town with small town drama. She falls in love with a local lawyer and begins such a tender romance that it is touching. Then of course things heat up in an expected way. She is found out and has to run but the bond between the two characters is strong. Won't tell too much so you must...more

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Aug 03, 2011 Sandra rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: freebies, own-ebooks, flowers-and-chocolates, nailbiters

Neena aka Kali is in prison because she killed someone. That someone took her into the woods and attacked her, raped her and would have fed her to the gators if she hadn't hit him over the head with a tire iron which sent him to the fiery place he belongs. Unfortunately, he was the son of a very rich and very prominent mayor and Neena/Kali is a half-breed. Apparently, that is sufficient to send her to prison for murder. (insert heavy sarcasm here)

The book starts with Neena/Kali escaping from pri...more Neena aka Kali is in prison because she killed someone. That someone took her into the woods and attacked her, raped her and would have fed her to the gators if she hadn't hit him over the head with a tire iron which sent him to the fiery place he belongs. Unfortunately, he was the son of a very rich and very prominent mayor and Neena/Kali is a half-breed. Apparently, that is sufficient to send her to prison for murder. (insert heavy sarcasm here)

The book starts with Neena/Kali escaping from prison and presumed dead. She ends up in a small Arkansas town and slowly builds a new life for herself, falling in love with the town's attorney along the way and marrying him.

But the skeletons from her past and his will not be content staying in the closet. Neena has to run again and figure out how to clear her name and reclaim the life that was stolen from her. Thankfully, she has her new husband plus friends and family on her side to help her.

This is one of the most courageous, strong and tenacious line-up of main characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading about. Ms. Huffman delivers another story of likable, believable and realistic characters in a plot that has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader invested in this book, turning the pages with bated breath until the end.

There's romance, there's intrigue, there's family, love, adversity and overcoming it, evil - the list goes on. Strong dialogue, never sappy or contrived, but written with much emotion and gusto. The writing is so perfectly descriptive that you can almost smell the scents of the woods, the bayous, so descriptive that you feel like you're right there in the middle of things.

And it's a free book to boost. Ms. Huffman gives them away and only asks that you support her favorite charity, World Vision, which uses its funding to fight against slavery and human trafficking and provides ways to help women and girls after they have been freed from their captors. If you have downloaded this book, please consider donating. You can find more information on Ms. Huffman's website at www.heatherhuffman.blogspot.com.

Kudos to you, ma'am.

TMOT(less)

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Aug 21, 2012 Erica rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book started out so well. It was suspenseful and intriguing in the beginning. I was excited because it was one of the free Kindle books on Amazon, so I thought I had lucked out. As the story went on it just got more and more cheesy and unrealistic.

This is another example of a "no consequence" book. Everything worked out in favor of the protagonist, no matter how many people she hurt, laws she broke, lies she told, etc.

Then add an unrealistic love story that got annoying because she physica...more

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Feb 26, 2012 Kat rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was surprisingly addicting. The characters were very strong and likeable and it was hard to put down. If I had to compare it to a movie, it would be Taken. In the moment, I was really into the storyline...after it ended I found myself thinking "Why did she do that? That wasn't really explained. Why is she going there? how is that possible?" The ending also felt really rushed and too simple. This had the potential to be a deeper, complex novel but the author chose to keep it in the shal...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Esa rated it 2 of 5 stars

This was a quick read and I am thankful that I got it for free on my Kindle. This story had a great baseline to it, but was poorly written. It jumped around quite a bit and lacks a lot of detail. The ending was almost as if the author got sick of writing and just said "I'm done, end of story" without any real closure. Had there been more time taken to write the story with the detail it needed, this could have been a great book. It was like someone was in a race to write a book and ran out of tim...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Victoria rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reads-in-7th-grade-mp-3

This book is about an escaped felon who runs away from jail and finds her way to a smalltown and is accepted into a small little family. She falls in love with the town sheriff and they have a baby. During the story, she reunites with her brother and her daughter, Gabrielle. At the end of the book, she manages to be set free from jail because her case is re opened and she is found innocent. Overall, it was a really interesting book but there was too much romance in it for me and because of that...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Jailbird opens in the middle of a jailbreak. Her story comes out bit by bit and I found myself captivated, unable to put the book down because I needed to know more. I found it to be a quick read. The story telling is very straight forward. This could have been a dark book, considering the topic, but it is filled with humor and light moments. Neena is a very strong, determined character and she spends most of her time pushing forward, doing what needs to be done, instead of dwelling on the hopel...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book - it starts with a bang and keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout. My only criticism is that I felt like the history the main character's wasn't fully explained - just vague references to what had happened. It didn't detail the event that put her in jail, only gives a passing explanation as to how she escaped from prison, and her very strong relationship with her cellmate isn't explored or explained. That said, the storyline is interesting and while the supporting chara...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Christy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Neena/Kali breaks out of jail where she has been the last 10 years serving time for a crime she was wrongly accused of committing. After spending around a month in the woods she comes across a woman who helps her out. In this town she meets Charlie a small town attorney that falls in love with her. I could go on and on about the story but I don't want to ruin it. The characters are great and so is the story. A really enjoyable read!!!

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Aug 29, 2012 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another great book by Heather Huffman. Great and smooth-flowing storyline with realistic characters you can't help but want to get to know more. Great suspense with the right amount of romance (since I am NOT a romance reader, I like that she keeps it light in that category). I love page-turners and she is notorious for writing them. I am looking forward to starting the next book, Devil In Disguise, today!

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Apr 26, 2013 Sandy rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was a good story about grace-- being forgiven for past wrongs even if undeserving. I don't think this book is classified as Christian fiction but it should be. The story about Neena, an escaped convict, kept my attention but there was a lot about the story that was too far fetched even for me and the biblical references seemed awkward. But I did enjoy the book!

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Mar 11, 2012 Ruth rated it 3 of 5 stars

This certainly was a different topic than I generally read. The book was enjoyable and fun but very unbelievable. I read for entertainment and I was entertained. I grew to like the characters in the book but they did become rather predictable. I was pretty certain of the happy ending by the time I had finished the 3rd chapter or so.

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Oct 10, 2012 Anna Marie rated it 1 of 5 stars

It starts with a jailbreak that is completely unexplained and unbelievable, with the heroine running from dogs (and not being caught) until she gets to the edge of a swamp in Louisiana and there are gators, but in spite of the running/panting and dog barking, a deer just happens to wander up - oblivious to dogs, escapee, and gator - to get a drink from the... swamp?... and *SNAP!* gets eaten by the gator... so it's her chance to swim away to the conveniently place chain link prison fence that ha...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-ebook

This book had everything I love in a book! Mystery, romance, and I really loved the sarcastic banter between the main characters. Very well written and I loved it! Just a note: I wouldn't call it "squeaky" clean, but it was a fairly clean romance. Couple of married couple intimate moments, but NO details... just enough!

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Oct 09, 2011 therices1 rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy Heather Huffman's books. I know they are a bit farfetched. But I enjoy losing myself in the story and enjoying how a woman finally has a happy ending after so many years of misery. (I'm just glad I got the brief version of the misery while most of the book focused on the happy ending.)

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Jul 12, 2011 Tammy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a very good romantic suspense novel. I really enjoyed it. I like the strong main characters, but I also like how the other characters bring familiarlity and passion to the story.

There is a love for people shown to strangers and everyone quickly becomes as close as family and I really like that in this book.

I recommend this one to romance readers out there, and I plan to read other books by Heather Huffman.

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Mar 06, 2012 Kristina rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am shocked at how much I loved this book. I got it free from Amazon and had low expectations, but was hooked instantly. characters could have been developed a bit more I think, but overall the writing style was nice and straightforward and the plot moved quickly and smoothly. pleasantly surprised indeed.

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Aug 19, 2011 Natasha rated it 2 of 5 stars

This isn't really my kind of reading. It had a very strong female protagonist, but the plot seemed a bit far-fetched for my taste. Everything fell into place a little too easily at the end. It isn't too bad if you are into romance novels and happy endings. The reviews I read on it were great, but it just wasn't for me.

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Aug 19, 2012 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting premise. However, I have two complaints: (1) the plot gets a little far fetched, and (2) the relationships have no depth. They develop out of nowhere in the space of a couple chapters. It's an entertaining enough read, but not great.

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Mar 26, 2012 Amee rated it 4 of 5 stars

I can't lie, I downloaded this book for free from Barnes & Noble. I am glad I did though, it was a pretty good read. Hard to put down for the most part, and at the end, made me wish there was a sequel. I'd definitely recommend it!

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Oct 30, 2011 Ashley Elliott Shaw rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was an amazing book. This was the first one that I read by Heather Huffman at the urging of my best friend who read it first. I could not put it down. I immediately downloaded every book I could find for my nook that she wrote!

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Jan 21, 2012 Nicole rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: bookfriendme, nook

Awesome premise to a storyline -- my only complaint was the rush to have Neena and Charlie fall in love within three chapters. That just took something away from the overall storytelling for me that I couldn't get past.

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Aug 27, 2012 Anna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Awesome story about a woman convicted of a crime she did out of self defense and how she escaped prison and found a new life and love. Shows the strength of a women who has been abused and how she moved on in her life.

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Aug 20, 2011 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars

The second of Heather Huffman's books. Again, this is undeniably a romance, and is an enjoyable read with a very serious understory. Another bonus is that this book is available for free on all the major e-readers!

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The Indie Exchang...: Win 3 ebook of Jailbird by Heather Huffman	1	2	May 23, 2012 12:12am
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About Heather Huffman

Heather Huffman writes romantic suspense with strong female leads who refuse to lose hope. Though her stories never shy from looking into the world’s darker corners, they don't dwell there. Heather shares with her resilient heroines a passion to make a real difference and so donates a portion of her book royalties to organizations that fight against human trafficking.

Heather was born and spent her...more

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