Customer Reviews

A Child's Wish (Silhouette Superromance)

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A Child's Wish by Tara Taylor Quinn
Harlequin Super Romance # 1350 - June 2006

Meredith's been the 3rd grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary for four years, and she's very good at her job. Her students have the best test scores in the county. But Meredith brings more of herself to the classroom than most teachers. She brings her sixth sense with her too; her uncanny ability to feel when her students are in trouble. It's this uncanny feeling of Meredith's that has gotten her and the school into hot water. Mark's the Principal and he's exasperated with her but he knows what a great teacher she is, not just because she's his employee but she taught his daughter Kelsey the year before. Nine year old Kelsey's in trouble. She's been keeping dark secrets about her Mom, Mark's ex-wife; secrets that could be very dangerous. Meredith senses something is very wrong with Kelsey. She's praying she can save the child in time. Meredith's six sense is also telling her that her feelings for Mark are more than concerned teacher to concerned parent / friend or those of employee / employer. But she confuses her feelings thinking she's just empathizing with her best friend Susan, whom Mark is getting ready to propose too. The most confusing thing of all is that kiss she shared with Mark, the one they both agreed hastily wasn't a sexual thing at all. Uh huh; sure

This is my very first Tara Quinn and I enjoyed it very much. In this story Ms Quinn made Mark and Meredith completely believable characters. We clearly feel and understand Mark's reluctance to get involved with the very emotionally intense Meredith. Meredith delights in her gift and truly loves who she is; intense emotion and all. And your heart wrenches for poor Kelsey, who is craving her mother's love so much that she finds herself keeping very dangerous secrets. Well done Ms. Quinn

A CHILD'S WISH by Tara Taylor Quinn
June 16, 2006


Rating *** ½ (3.5 stars)

Women's intuition is at the heart of this poignant novel about a woman who often uses intuition to make important decisions in her work. Meredith Foster teachers at a Middle school in a small town in Oklahoma. In the opening chapter, she is being confronted by her immediate supervisor, Principal Mark Shepherd. She is one big headache for him, and now he is afraid she has gone a step too far. She has just accused the father of one of her students of abuse, and unfortunately, this is a man with a lot of power and wealth in town. Mark doesn't have the patience to deal with this, and warns Meredith that her job is on the line, especially now that she's accused a man of abuse without any proof. Meredith won't back down, and she reminds him of another case in which her hunches were correct and most likely her actions saved the life of young Amber McDonald.

In the meantime, Mark's daughter Kelsey, a 4th grader at the same school, has been secretly visiting her mother behind her father's back. Barbie, Kelsey's mother and Mark's ex-wife had loved being a mother, but one day she simply disappeared and never came back. She has a history of drug use, mainly the drug known as "meth", and while she had been a wonderful mother to Kelsey, Mark feels that Barbie and her drug use had no place in their lives. Unfortunately, Kelsey doesn't quite understand why her mother was no longer living with them, and so she visits her mother in secret every Friday, under the pretense that she's visiting with her best friend Josie.

The controversy surrounding Meredith's latest accusation becomes public, as the accused parent Larry Barnett takes his complaint to the papers and television newsrooms. Nevertheless, Meredith sticks to her beliefs, knowing that if she doesn't listen to her instincts, this child may yet be another fatality due to an adult's inability to follow her gut.

A CHILD'S WISH was a very enjoyable romance. A very controversial subject and intuition leads Meredith into the public eye. It may make some readers angry at the fact that women's intuition could be so highly disregarded. Mark acted like the typical logical man, willing to risk a child's life and safety because he refuses to believe someone else's instinct and gut feelings.

A sub-plot involves Susan, Meredith's best friend, who also happens to be dating Mark. Susan becomes an integral part of Meredith's support team, a good friend who stands by Meredith as her story goes public and she is in danger of losing her job. Susan, a highly logical woman who works in a hospital, believes in Meredith's talents, and trusts that Meredith's warnings about the boy's abuse is on target.

Kelsey's role in the romance helps bring to light Meredith's true talents. It isn't until the very end that Mark realizes how valuable Meredith's intuition is, especially now that it has to do with his own child. Kelsey's need for a mother and her secret visits with Barbie keep the story moving in high gear.

This reviewer had only one problem with the story, and that was the bringing together of Mark and Meredith. It felt a bit too "smooth", and it didn't make total sense why they even got together except for some great chemistry. Yes, they both loved Kelsey, but the fact that Mark and Meredith had a working relationship that was terribly strained would make one think this was a very unlikely couple in the making. They were truly an "opposites attract" type of couple, and while there was a slight hint of romantic interest (a few chaste kisses), the conclusions to their romantic story read a little bit untrue. Other than that, it was an intriguing novel with some serious issues that will keep the reader entertained and glued to the book from beginning to end. A CHILD'S WISH is one this reviewer recommends. - Courtesy of Love Romances