The Girl She Used to Be

Story Description:

When Melody Grace McCartney was six years old, she and her parents witnessed a brutal act of violence - and then were lured into the Witness Protection Program. And so Melody lost her identity, her home, her family, and ultimately her innocence. She's been May Adams, Karen Smith, and countless others. But the one person she has always longed to be is Melody Grace McCartney.

Now, twenty years later and still on the run, she's stunned when a man calls her by her real name. Jonathan Bovaro, the Mafioso sent to find her, knows her, the real her. It's a thrill Melody can't resist, and she goes with him willingly, defying the feds. To the Justice Department, she's just a pawn in their war against the Bovaro family. But as dangerous as Jonathan is, he gives Melody the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to embrace her past and present, and choose a future all her own.

My Review:

Although 253 pages, I read this in one sitting, I couldn't take my eyes off the pages. Twenty-six-year-old Melody Grace McCartney was only six-years-old when she and her family were placed into the Witness Protection Program after they witnessed a horrendous murder committed by someone in the notorious Bovaro family. Melody has had many aliases over the past 20 years and is currently known as, Sandra Clarke.

Sandra is a high school math teacher living a comfortable life but decides one afternoon that she's tired and bored of being Sandra and wants yet another move. She phones her Protection Agent, one Randall Farquar, and tells him she received a phone call from someone with a New York accent who said: "Sing me a song, Melody." Of course this never really happened but Sandra wanted another new life.

When she arrives at the Federal building she is disappointed to learn that Randall is retiring and won't be handling her case any longer and introduces her to Marshal Sean Douglas, her new 'protector/locator'. After a long conversation and reading through her file, Marshal Douglas and Melody hit the road for another relocation. While staying overnight in a motel, Melody awakens to a male voice saying: "Melody Grace McCartney!" with a knife pressed to her throat. Who is this man and what does he want? She finally realizes the man is none other than Jonathan Bovaro, the Mafioso sent to find her. Melody is actually thrilled and she just can't resist and decides to go "willingly" with Jonathan because she's tired of running and never being who she was born to be. As dangerous as Jonathan is, he gives Melody a once in a lifetime chance - the chance to embrace her past and present, and then choose her very own future.

The writing was flawless in the novel and the story just flowed like a river. I absolutely fell in love with both Jonathan and Melody and really wanted them to become a couple, to be engaged and then to marry. How crazy is that? The man is a killer, his family killed her parents leaving her alone and with a lifetime of assumed names and occupations, but once you read this story, you'll understand where I'm coming from. Any woman would want the type of 'relationship' that Jonathan and Melody end up having.

The concept of this story, that a "protected witness" would willingly go with a "killer" is almost beyond comprehension, but believe me, it works. And who knows, in Melody's situation, with your feet in HER shoes all these years, you just might make the same choice. This was definitely one book well worth reading!