from a friend.
Romance. Young lawyer returns to her home from New York, She has worked long and hard to "escape", Comes home to take care of a family crisis, Has issues with a "flower child type" mother, Who never grew up. Her gran raised her and her sisters
and has taken in foster children,
Lawyer falls in love with local Sheriff, resolves family issues, Moves back home. SM Contemporary and compelling, the novels of JoAnn Ross draw their power from the laughter and tears that fill women's lives.
Now, after her triumphant bestseller A Woman's Heart, she makes a dazzling Pocket Books debut with a richly emotional tale of a woman struggling with her unconventional family.
. . and a deep longing for a love of her own, Fighting legal battles eighty hours a week has left Raine Cantrell burned out and empty, Although she once dreamed that success might make the father who walked away without a backward glance take notice, the highpowered bigcity lawyer now finds herself feeling very alone.
Then she gets an urgent call from three kids in trouble in her Washington state hometown, and suddenly Raine is returning to face unresolved feelings, unhealed wounds and an unexpected desire.
Sheriff Jack O'Halloran, a man with a tragedy in his past and a sixyearold daughter to raise alone, has three teens barricaded inside a house and the media clamoring for a story.
He isn't ready for Raine to invade his territory or his thoughts, And Raine isn't ready for anyone to touch her heart, Unable to deny their attraction to each other, their solution is adult, reasonable and totally foolish, They decide to have a simple affair, But they are about to discover that love is rarely simple and that lives can change forever in a single heartbeat.
A tender and deeply affecting tale, Homeplace will linger in your heart long after the last page is turned, Loved the characters and the humor, Raine and the Sheriff. Good book. Raine is a highpowered, workaholic lawyer, At the beginning of the book, she has just won a big case, but instead of the satisfaction she should feel, she just feels empty and beat up by the headaches and indigestion that come with the job.
In the middle of the celebration, Raine receives a phone call from one of her grandmother's foster children, Her grandmother is in the hospital, and the three girls are in trouble, Suddenly she's on her way back to the small town to help the woman who was the only stable factor in her life.
I admit I didn't like Raine much at the beginning, Her satisfaction at winning the case, at the expense of the retirees who were harmed by it, rubbed me the wrong way.
I applauded her immediate response to the call for help, but I didn't like the way she jumped to conclusions about what was happening during the standoff.
I got a bit of satisfaction when she arrived and found things were not what she expected, especially when it came to the sheriff.
I liked Jack from the start, His handling of the standoff was well thought out, I'm glad he was the one in charge, because the other law enforcement people who were there were a bit too gungho, especially considering they were dealing with three young girls.
He also won my heart when he was shown taking care of his daughter's nanopet at the same time, I loved his evenkeeled responses when Raine showed up and started throwing around accusations and threats, Things got a bit more complicated when they also had to deal with Raine's mother's antics,
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Raine and Jack, The sparks between them were hot from the beginning, but both tried to ignore them, Raine only plans to be in town for a few days, just long enough to straighten things out before she heads back to New York.
Jack is still grieving the loss of his wife two years earlier, so he's not looking for anything either, However, something about Raine stirs up things he hasn't felt in a long time, As circumstances forced Raine to stay in Coldwater Cove longer than she expected, she and Jack can no longer deny the attraction they feel.
I had to laugh when they decided that they could indulge in a nice, simple affair because I could already see that they'd passed that point.
Jack is already falling for Raine as he gets to know the passionate woman underneath the tough façade, I loved the way that he understood how the things in her past had made her need to always be in control.
Raine is a bit freaked out by the way that Jack gets under her skin, She never expected to be so drawn to him and his daughter, and tries to convince herself that it is just chemistry and proximity.
There were some terrific scenes of the two of them together, especially as Raine starts to lose her city edges, and Jack brings out an unexpected softer side of her.
I enjoyed seeing their feelings grow and ached for them both as they tried to figure out how they could make it work.
I wasn't too surprised by the solution they came up with and loved their big moment at the end, The epilogue was terrific.
For Raine, being back in her hometown forces her to face the demons of her past, mostly her relationship with her mother.
Lilith is quite the free spirit, and it was easy to see why the two butted heads for so long.
But with distance and maturity, and the help of three teenage girls, Raine starts to see a different side of her mother.
It's not a miraculous, hearts and flowers kind of thing, but more like Raine being able to see that she and Lilith had two very different views on their mother and child relationship and Lilith recognizing that she had made mistakes but wanted to do better.
I also enjoyed the storyline with the three teenage girls, Their actions at the beginning were a bit extreme, but they were motivated by Ida and what she told them.
The situation became more difficult thanks to Ida's age, and then Lilith's actions at the court hearing, I liked the fact that Raine was willing to step up and be the responsible adult to keep the girls out of a more desperate situation.
I especially liked Gwen's story and the realistic portrayal of the issues surrounding teen pregnancy, I ached for Gwen and her
struggle to decide the best thing to do, Lilith's openness about her past actions went a long way toward helping Gwen, as well as Raine, The resolution was heartwrenching and heartwarming, as everyone came together to help Gwen make the choice that was right for her.
wonderful story Loved it, ive read it over and over again, Excellent bookgreat writingcomparable to Linda Lael Miller and/or Nora Roberts, Cant wait to read more of hers, I picked this one up hoping I was discovering a contemporary romance on par with my beloved, Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
It was all there in the set up: successful small town girl made good in the big city with her own demons to outrun and parental issues to sort through is pulled back home to her sleepy, gorgeously green hometown where her spitfire grandmother has taken in three runaways and has told them to batten down the hatches and not let any of the police into their home which has created a huge stakeout led by the local sheriff who just happens to be tall, dark and handsome and the said hometown's former hellraiser turned good guy when his wife died of cancer leaving him in charge of a mouthy and charming six yearold girl.
I was reeled in by all of it,
But the delivery didn't match the expectation,
This author could have done SO much with these pieces, Really gotten into the family chemistry without sacrificing an electric love story, Taken us into Coldwater Cove and made it impossible to leave, Get into the guts and pain of Jack's heart without straying from his dreaminess, Make us care so much about each of them that turning the last page is both satisfying and heartbreaking,
I experienced that with a lot of SEP books, Dream a Little Dream comes to mind, I envy those who haven't read it yet, and just wanted to find something like it again, But alas, it didn't hit home for me, Was it an enjoyable read Sure, I was in the mood for a romance that didn't fade to black but wasn't all about murder and running from psychos.
I wanted a family drama, And this was that but just weaker. Resolved quickly without really ever getting complicated, Joann Ross is an amazing writer, She always captures my attention with her vibrant and funny characters, I think over all I have read more of her books than any other author, I didn't intend for it to be that way, it just happened, This book is a really touching story that will have you laughing and crying through out the book, Definately aout ofstars, Another great read by JoAnn Ross, This time we met Raine Cantrell, a big city lawyer, who has come to Coldwater Cove, Washington to help her Grandmother out just for a short time but ends of helping herself instead.
Sheriff Jack O'Halloran was not looking for love but the minute he met Raine, his whole world was turned upside down and so was his daughter's.
It took three teenagers to make Raine stop long enough to see what she really wanted wasn't in New York but here at home.
This was a tear jerker!! I would highly recommed this one to anyone who is looking for a good read!.
This was an wonderful story,
A workaholic lawyer comes home and is struggling with her unconventional family, Raine is also dealing with her own passionate longing for a love of her own, She finds it in the county sheriff, Jack,
This also deals with teen pregnancy and with the help of the Cantrell women, they help Gwen to make a tough choice about her baby.
The attraction between Jack and Raine heats up and decide to have a simple affair, But love is rarely simple and lives can change forever,
This is a lovely story from a great Pacific Northwest author, .
.