Always a Mother (Everlasting Love, Book 1) (Larger Print Harlequin Superromance, No 1499) [Large Print] [Mass Market Paperback]

Linda Warren (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2008

They've loved each other all their lives

At eighteen, Claire and Dean were already planning their future. Until they suddenly found themselves parents. With Dean on the road pursuing a football career, raising their daughters became Claire's first priority and full-time job. Now, with the girls grown, she can finally pursue her long-deferred dream of going to college.

Then she gets the news: she's going to be a mother again.

Coming to terms with her midlife pregnancy means confronting her hopes, fears and choices she's made. Through twenty-five years of joy, struggle and near tragedy, the one constant was Claire's love for Dean. Is that love strong enough to weather the biggest crisis of their marriage and help them embrace the future--together?

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Harlequin; Lgr edition (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373782446
• ISBN-13: 978-0373782444
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,778,258 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Linda Warren loves happy endings. The Rita® nominated and award winning author has written 26 books for Harlequin, including SuperRomance, American and Everlasting Love. Drawing upon her years of growing up on a farm/ranch in Texas, she writes about sexy heroes, feisty heroines and broken families with an emotional punch all set against the backdrop of Texas. She lives in College Station with her husband and spends her days doing what she loves--creating unforgettable love stories--with happy endings.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good characterization, melodrama, inaccuracy, October 14, 2010

By 

Rocky (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Always a Mother (Everlasting Love, Book 1) (Harlequin Superromance, No 1499) (Mass Market Paperback)

Always a Mother
By Linda Warren

This book addresses many of the problems of motherhood. Although each problem was presented realistically, there were too many for my taste. The combination was melodramatic. Characterization and the relationships between spouses, parents and children, and among children were realistic. I was shocked, however, by the author's presentation of inaccurate birth control information.

The central conflict in the book - whether to keep an unplanned baby and forgo ambitions, already put aside in order to raise other children, I imagine is one many mothers face. I did. It is a difficult choice. There is no "right" answer for everyone. Like the main character in this book my deceased husband of 46 years and I jointly solved most problems. For the same reasons as Claire, I felt I had to solve this problem alone. That is probably typical.

The inaccurate birth control information is dangerous. The author implies diaphragms are a safer method of birth control than condoms. This is wrong - especially for women who have already been pregnant. A comparison of failure rates between the two methods reveals that with PERFECT USE condoms have a 2% failure rate, diaphragms for never pregnant women have a 9% failure rate and diaphragms for previously pregnant women have a 26% failure rate. With each method the failure rate is higher with TYPICAL USE: condoms 15%; never pregnant diaphragm 16%; previously pregnant diaphragm 32%. The author's implication that diaphragms are safer than condoms is dangerous. It may convince some readers to choose less safe birth control. Such a choice could have a disastrous impact on their lives.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Always a Mother, June 30, 2008

By 

RNS Sarah "Too Many Romances, Not enough shel... (BCS, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Always a Mother (Everlasting Love, Book 1) (Harlequin Superromance, No 1499) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book begs you to contemplate a huge question. When you have the chance to have your dream after years of sacrifice for family, would you put it on hold again for "mid-life" baby? I think that for most people, it would be a no brainer. Have the baby. Give up the dream. Others might say that a woman in her 40's should be able to follow her dream - whatever means necessary.

Linda Warren doesn't make the decision all that easy for Claire. Through a great use of letters between Claire and Dean as a gateway into the past, we see the struggles and sacrifices the family goes through during their twenty-five year marriage. By putting family first, Claire's dream of college continually got pushed to the wayside. And now... It might get pushed aside again. In many ways, I found it heartbreaking, but I like that Dean and Claire discover they have quite an emotional support network with their family.

I highly recommend Always a Mother. Like many of Linda's books, it enforces the power of family.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining contemporary family drama, June 20, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Always a Mother (Everlasting Love, Book 1) (Larger Print Harlequin Superromance, No 1499) (Mass Market Paperback)

They were high school sweethearts, who had kids as teens. Dean became a football star while Claire stayed home to raise their children. Now the kids are grown and Claire looks forward to finally completing her college degree and obtaining a full time job outside the home that she put on hold.

There is only one problem confronting Claire; she is pregnant for the first time in two decades. Stunned she is not sure she wants to raise another child and give up her plans. Needing to be by herself, Claire leaves Dean to think. Accompanied by their love letters, she slowly rereads how much her spouse loved her then and that is true now.

Linda Warren provides an entertaining contemporary family crisis tale that stars a wonderful nurturing woman who needs to find herself beyond being a loving mother and wife. This is clearly Claire's tale as she loves her family, but is not sure she can raise a late life child, but in isolation begins to conclude she will always be a mother and always love her husband and kids including the unborn one. Although the need to leave seems off kilter for Claire even if she feels over the edge; fans will appreciate ALWAYS A MOTHER as Claire ponders whether she can handle raising a child again, remain a loving devoted wife, and work at obtaining her degree.

Harriet Klausner