Claire Knows Best by Tracey Bateman

Has your home ever been damaged by a natural disaster?

In this slightly humorous book told in the first person, Claire Everett’s life gets more chaotic when a tree falls on her house during a storm. She must uproot her family and relocate to another home while her house is getting repaired.

In the meantime, Claire tries to make sense of her chaotic life. A divorced mother, she’s dating Greg, a hunky man who has a leadership role in her church. When Greg announces that he wants to become a pastor, Claire freaks out – she’s NOT pastor’s wife material.

Meanwhile, she struggles to raise her children while living in their temporary home while she pens Christian romance novels.

She also struggles with her feelings of animosity towards Darcy, her ex-husband’s new wife. Darcy is pregnant, and she struggles to make Claire love her as a friend. Can Claire put her animosity towards Darcy aside?

I enjoyed reading this novel. I also liked how the heroine was divorced. I don’t see many divorced women in Christian fiction nowadays. I also felt that the problems that Claire faced were extremely realistic. Teenagers and younger children are hard to raise, and having to do it without the help of a live-in husband is a something that many Christians face. Overall, this was a light, enjoyable read.

I read the first book in this series, Leave It To Claire, awhile ago.

So, has your home ever been damaged by a natural disaster? How did you cope? Where did you live while your home was being repaired?

I wanted to tell my blog readers about two sweet romances that I just finished reading. Both are from Harlequin’s Heartwarming line. Although they’re not Christian books, they are sweet and Christians can read these stories without being offended.

Hometown Sheriff by Cheryl St. John

Ryanne returns to her hometown and moves into her mother’s empty house – right next door to Nick, her childhood good friend. When Nick walks into her mother’s house, thinking she’s an intruder, Ryanne shoots sparks of fury toward her former good friend. Now Nick feels apprehensive around Ryanne – why can’t they be comfortable and close as they used to be.

Ryanne has some secrets, one of her secrets is she’s broke. Her former husband has stolen the funds from their business and has disappeared, and now Ryanne is stuck re-paying the IRS for back taxes. Hopefully, if she stays at her mother’s house, rent-free, maybe she’ll be able to find a job and come up with the cash for the Feds.

Nick has his own secrets. One of his secrets is, he suffers from insomnia, and he’s still grieving over the loss of his brother. While dealing with his problems, he’s raising his young son alone, feeling bad that his son has no mother.

I really liked this book a lot. It was a sweet, heartwarming story that’ll touch your heart. Ryanne initially seems like a tough gal in the beginning of the story, but, as you get to know her, you find that she’s soft and lovable, and you want her heal from her past experience and move on. I also loved Nick. He’s such a strong man and has so many problems to overcome. He loves his son, and it’s great to see him interact with his child.

I highly recommend this book.

A Little Learning by Margot Early

Rory is hired by her father to be an instructor in his Mountain School. She’s desperate to prove herself to her dad, after all, he was never around when she was growing up and she craves his approval. Rory has a hard time keeping jobs because she has a smart mouth – she speaks before she thinks – and as a result, she’s gotten fired from a lot of former jobs. She wants to keep this job to prove she’s a competent employee.

However, Rory’s competence is put to the test when she’s assigned Seamus and his four children as her students. She’s smitten with Seamus, and Seamus finds Rory attractive. However, there are certain things about Seamus that make Rory wary – he’s distant from his children, not having a close relationship with them. His behavior towards his children reminds Rory of her own father’s behavior towards her. Also, Seamus is still reeling from the violent death of his wife. Can he move on, raise his children, and get over his wife’s death.

I thought this book was kind of interesting. I thought it was unique that Rory was a fire dancer. I also thought it was kind of neat seeing a hero who developed manga characters for comic books. I liked seeing Rory interacting with Seamus’s children, building a relationship with them. Overall, it was a good, sweet romance story.

The Face Of The Earth by Deborah Raney

What would you do if your spouse were suddenly missing? How would you cope?

When Mitchell Brannon returns home from work, he’s eagerly awaiting his wife’s (Jill’s) return from a conference. She’s left a voicemail message, stating she’s looking forward to coming home. However, when Jill fails to return, Mitch is stunned. Where could she be? Reaching out to his kids, his beautiful next door neighbor (Shelley – Jill’s best friend) as well as the rest of his community, he begins searching for his wife. She’s missing – he has to find her.

His situation becomes more complicated when he enlists Shelly’s help even further. He finds himself attracted to Shelley, but, he feels guilty. Jill is still missing. He feels he’s being unfaithful to his wife by having a strong attraction to Shelley.

This book grabbed me from the beginning and wouldn’t let me go. It’s a real page-turner as the mystery of Jill’s whereabouts is unraveled. In spite of Shelley’s and Mitch’s emotional and physical attraction, you do feel sympathy for them. Both are grieving for their lost loved one – they have no idea if Jill is dead or alive and not knowing about someone you love makes it emotionally hard to cope day after day.

I believe this is the first Deborah Raney book I’ve ever read, and I’m determined to read more.

So what would you do if your spouse were suddenly missing? How would you cope? How long would you search for your missing spouse?

~Cecelia Dowdy~