TYLER O'NEILL'S REDEMPTION is the second book in Molly O'Keefe's Notorious O'Neill series. As the story opens, Tyler is back in Bonne Terre and appears to be as welcome there as he was when he was unceremoniously forced out of town. Now he's back and ready to settle down, and give up his life as a poker champion for something a little more sedate. However, are the residents of Bonne Terre ready to believe that the town bad boy has changed?

Chief amongst those who want to believe that Tyler has changed is Juliette Tremblant. As the young woman who was left standing in Tyler's dust when he suddenly left town, she has a hard time being willing to forget the hurt and anger. As the Police Chief of Bonne Terre, she has an even harder time believing that there is any good in Tyler.

It turns out that Juliette might be correct in not quite trusting Tyler since he has neglected to tell her that he's not the only person staying at the family home. His father is there as well. He's searching for gems that were stolen many years ago, and of which only one was ever recovered. He believes that the other two gems have to be in his wife's ancestral home.

It is the missing gems that tie all the books in this series together, but as I read I get the feeling that the search for the gems is almost secondary to the search for a better life that each of the Notorious O'Neills is looking for. What will it take for Tyler to prove to Juliette that he has changed? Will Juliette be influenced by her father's distrust of Tyler?

With the close of TYLER O'NEILL'S REDEMPTION, one more O'Neill is well on his way to distancing himself from a notorious reputation. With only one more book to go, I'm interested in how the story of the missing gems will turn out.