What do you think?
Rate this book
At 12, Vanessa defied her family to save 17-year-old bad boy Eric from wrongful imprisonment and, possibly, death. She'd hoped for a "thank you" from him, a kiss on the cheek, but before she could grow up and grow curves, he left town.
Fourteen years later, Vanessa is a celebrity chef at the 5-star Ozarks resort she built. Eric is the new Chouteau County prosecutor on his way to the White House.
Four hours apart and each tied to their own careers, their worlds have no reason to intersect until a funeral brings Vanessa back to Chouteau County, back to face the man for whom she'd risked so much, the only man she ever wanted--the only man she can't have.
Fourteen years later, Vanessa is a celebrity chef at the 5-star Ozarks resort she built. Eric is the new Chouteau County prosecutor on his way to the White House.
Four hours apart and each tied to their own careers, their worlds have no reason to intersect until a funeral brings Vanessa back to Chouteau County, back to face the man for whom she'd risked so much, the only man she ever wanted--the only man she can't have.
332 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2009
1 person is currently reading
501 people want to read
About the author
Moriah Jovan
18 books85 followersMORIAH JOVAN writes what her imaginary friends tell her to write. Thus far, they have shown up in the novels Dunham, The Proviso, Stay, Magdalene, Paso Doble, We Were Gods, Black Jack, Lion’s Share, 1520 Main, Twenty-dollar Rag, and Black as Knight, published by B10 Mediaworx. They will, most likely, continue to order her around until she hits on the right drug and dosage. Fortunately, her husband is very understanding of all the other people in her life.
Moriah has been doing this self-publishing thing since 2008 and has the war wounds to prove it. She’s a fair-weather Chiefs and Royals fan, half-assed planner, avid cross stitcher, dilettante crafter, and aspiring odalisque. She regularly thumbs her nose at her to-do list as if it has any authority over her at all. Her goal is to finish all the craft projects she has begun in her life.
All of them.
Moriah has been doing this self-publishing thing since 2008 and has the war wounds to prove it. She’s a fair-weather Chiefs and Royals fan, half-assed planner, avid cross stitcher, dilettante crafter, and aspiring odalisque. She regularly thumbs her nose at her to-do list as if it has any authority over her at all. Her goal is to finish all the craft projects she has begun in her life.
All of them.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
February 19, 2010
In Book Two of the Tales of Dunham series, Moriah Jovan confirms that she intends to stay just enough out of genre to confuse everyone. Having read both books, I would call them either (Insert your qualifier here)-Romance Novels or Mormon Bodice Rippers.
The good news for a manly man like me is that the book has enough value-added depth to make it eminently readable. In fact, within the first hundred pages, the book was promoted from an “on the bus” read to an “at home” read.
While Stay includes the original wrecking crew from The Proviso, the baton has been passed to a new generation. The Karate chopping, high-financing, power-brokering sextet of Book One are much more like Olympians this time around, looking down on the mere mortals slugging it out on the Trojan plane with the occasional god-like poke or wink to give assistance to favored combatants. The central characters are two spiritual orphans, adopted by the ubiquitous Knox Hilliard who despite his fire-breathing reputation, acts much more like a mentor or Dutch Uncle.
This is a perfect Book Two of a series. The pyrotechnics of the first book have been replaced with a more intimate conflict. While the personalities are still heroic, they are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs, because they each are slugging it out harder with their own selves than any outside enemy.
The domestic shift of this book is made clear when the patron saint of Book One, Ayn Rand, is replaced with Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is an elegant move. The internal personal debates and struggles become more powerful than the battles waging around them. Yet ultimately, despite the noise, the political, media and familial wars, this book is about healing.
The even better news is that seven pages out, I did not know how it would end and could not wait to find out.
The good news for a manly man like me is that the book has enough value-added depth to make it eminently readable. In fact, within the first hundred pages, the book was promoted from an “on the bus” read to an “at home” read.
While Stay includes the original wrecking crew from The Proviso, the baton has been passed to a new generation. The Karate chopping, high-financing, power-brokering sextet of Book One are much more like Olympians this time around, looking down on the mere mortals slugging it out on the Trojan plane with the occasional god-like poke or wink to give assistance to favored combatants. The central characters are two spiritual orphans, adopted by the ubiquitous Knox Hilliard who despite his fire-breathing reputation, acts much more like a mentor or Dutch Uncle.
This is a perfect Book Two of a series. The pyrotechnics of the first book have been replaced with a more intimate conflict. While the personalities are still heroic, they are fighting with one hand tied behind their backs, because they each are slugging it out harder with their own selves than any outside enemy.
The domestic shift of this book is made clear when the patron saint of Book One, Ayn Rand, is replaced with Laura Ingalls Wilder. It is an elegant move. The internal personal debates and struggles become more powerful than the battles waging around them. Yet ultimately, despite the noise, the political, media and familial wars, this book is about healing.
The even better news is that seven pages out, I did not know how it would end and could not wait to find out.
May 25, 2011
See the full review at my blog: Stay by Moriah Jovan.
This is the second book in what is known as the Tales of Dunham series by Moriah Jovan. The first was The Proviso, which I reviewed then accidentally lost in a database deletion here at my blog. Never fear, however – Moriah saved it at The Proviso website. Follow that link and scroll all the way down to the end if you want to read it.
You don’t have to read The Proviso before you read Stay. Some of the characters overlap, but Jovan has done a wonderful job of letting the characters from one enter into the next book without the need to read the first book. Oh, you might want to go back and read The Proviso anyway because you’re going to fall in love with Knox (don’t worry – everyone does, apparently), so you’re going to want to know more about him – and The Proviso is his story. But it isn’t essential before you read Stay.
Here’s what I liked most about The Proviso – the characters. And that goes ten times over for Stay because now those characters are combined with a much better (in my opinion) story line and writing. Not that the writing in The Proviso is bad – it’s good – but Stay is better. Again, my opinion. Because I don’t want to give away any of the story, I’m going to mostly talk about the characters and the setting and the writing. If you want to know what the story is about – get the book and read it!
This is the second book in what is known as the Tales of Dunham series by Moriah Jovan. The first was The Proviso, which I reviewed then accidentally lost in a database deletion here at my blog. Never fear, however – Moriah saved it at The Proviso website. Follow that link and scroll all the way down to the end if you want to read it.
You don’t have to read The Proviso before you read Stay. Some of the characters overlap, but Jovan has done a wonderful job of letting the characters from one enter into the next book without the need to read the first book. Oh, you might want to go back and read The Proviso anyway because you’re going to fall in love with Knox (don’t worry – everyone does, apparently), so you’re going to want to know more about him – and The Proviso is his story. But it isn’t essential before you read Stay.
Here’s what I liked most about The Proviso – the characters. And that goes ten times over for Stay because now those characters are combined with a much better (in my opinion) story line and writing. Not that the writing in The Proviso is bad – it’s good – but Stay is better. Again, my opinion. Because I don’t want to give away any of the story, I’m going to mostly talk about the characters and the setting and the writing. If you want to know what the story is about – get the book and read it!
Read
July 28, 2014Received as a Goodreads Giveaway, signed and with extras. Thanks!
So glad that I entered for this giveaway! Moriah Jovan's stay, though part of a series does very well as a stand-alone as well. It's a story with alittle bit of everything: love, politics, sex, humour, religion, justice, redemption, humble roots, and so much more.
I was very impressed with Moriah's insertion of religion into the story with it coming accross as over-bearing or forcefull. In past novels that touch on religion (of any sort), I've found myself put off as I've only ever known religion as something being pushed onto me by people around me, but Moriah's subtle use of it as a background element is soft enough to keep me comfortable and even pique my curiosity about Mormonism.
Stay is filled with elements that make you stop and think, really think. Religion, politics, human rights and more brought together with incomparable characters and charming wit.
Far better by any standard than the Fifty Shades Trilogy, Stay incorporates a little bit of spice in to an actual story line, enough to attract various readers and give the novel a little 'oomph', but not so much as to detract from what is really happening in the storyline.
I loved stay, it had me laughing, crying, sighing and dying to read more. I will definitely be picking up the rest of Jovan's novels the first chance I get.
So glad that I entered for this giveaway! Moriah Jovan's stay, though part of a series does very well as a stand-alone as well. It's a story with alittle bit of everything: love, politics, sex, humour, religion, justice, redemption, humble roots, and so much more.
I was very impressed with Moriah's insertion of religion into the story with it coming accross as over-bearing or forcefull. In past novels that touch on religion (of any sort), I've found myself put off as I've only ever known religion as something being pushed onto me by people around me, but Moriah's subtle use of it as a background element is soft enough to keep me comfortable and even pique my curiosity about Mormonism.
Stay is filled with elements that make you stop and think, really think. Religion, politics, human rights and more brought together with incomparable characters and charming wit.
Far better by any standard than the Fifty Shades Trilogy, Stay incorporates a little bit of spice in to an actual story line, enough to attract various readers and give the novel a little 'oomph', but not so much as to detract from what is really happening in the storyline.
I loved stay, it had me laughing, crying, sighing and dying to read more. I will definitely be picking up the rest of Jovan's novels the first chance I get.
December 28, 2011
I absolutely loved book 1 and 3, and while book 2 is yet another delicious installment, I didn't love it as much as the other two. Perhaps because to me, the two main characters of this book were not as intriguing as the rest of the Dunhams. I still enjoyed it immensely, however, and read straight for a week to make it through the book because I couldn't put it down. If you read one, you have to read them all!
November 16, 2013
Stay is a love story not just a romance book. It is a refreshing and compelling read. Ms. Jovan has a way of making you fall in love in love with her characters. I have not read the other books in The Tales of Dunham series but thanks to Stay I now have a new series to jump into.
I won this book through goodreads.
I won this book through goodreads.
February 24, 2014
I won this book as a First Reads. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely read another by the same author. Stay captured by attention from the very beginning. I then found it a little slow, but the ending was excellent.
March 22, 2010
I like this one a lot as well. I think I would have liked the ending to be less orchestrated by the other characters; but hey, I got my HEA!
January 2, 2011
So far, I'm liking the premise of this story. Will Vanessa become bitter because Eric never said thankyou? Or will he be just too hot for words? This has potential
February 16, 2013
Loved the moral stance and the sacrifice issues. A little too sweet and predictable at the end.
December 1, 2013
I liked it a lot!!
November 6, 2013
This book was great and can be read out of order for the most part. I would have read them in order though.
November 14, 2013
this was awesome, loved it
AAAAND I WON THIS IN A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!
THANKS MORIAH JOVAN..
AAAAND I WON THIS IN A GIVEAWAY!!!!!!
THANKS MORIAH JOVAN..
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews