Tough, wise-cracking, motherless, Jaycee Stevens wants out of her nowhere town, and a softball scholarship is just the way to do it. Without a backward glance, she ditches her “mama’s baby” boyfriend and her abusive father, aiming for a future in journalism. As this hard-as-nails teen shoots for her goals, things go a bit awry when she meets studly Bud Stanton. A troublemaking rich boy disinherited from his family’s fortune, Bud is attending college on a baseball scholarship - a scholarship that hangs in the balance, thanks to his numerous run-ins with the law.
As the school threatens to cancel all sport scholarships in light of the bad publicity Bud brings to it, Jaycee makes it her personal mission to curb his dastardly ways, thus salvaging her own academic plan. While she detests Bud’s rugged outer shell, she soon discovers the wounded child hidden within. It doesn’t take her long to realize Bud is a male version of herself. As this volatile relationship moves forward and love begins to bloom, Jaycee’s armor starts cracking. When demons from her childhood surface, Bud becomes her shining light. But when an incident of conniving manipulation pulls them apart, Jaycee makes an unplanned trip back to her hometown and finds herself face to face with the flesh-and-blood version of her nightmares. Will she live long enough to find out if Bud is her true soulmate?
Different Roads is Joyce Sterling Scarbrough’s second novel, and the main characters from her first book, True Blue Forever, actually cross paths with those in this one. Scarbrough is a strong writer and a fine storyteller, which makes her one to watch for in the future.