The Courage to Dream (Love Inspired #205) [Mass Market Paperback]

Margaret Daley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

Rough Weather Ahead.

Even the humid weather of Magnolia Blossom couldn't melt the tension that flared between Rachel Peters and Michael Hunter. High school sweethearts ten years before, they were finally face-to-face again, and in place of young love were unanswered questions. Luckily Rachel was only back temporarily, to get to know her younger sister and brother again before she took them off with her.

But nurturing her siblings wasn't as easy as she thought it would be, and as she watched Michael tenderly caring for his own son, she knew she needed help. So he agreed to teach her -- about family, about God and about the smalltown life she'd forgotten. But she was learning much more -- she was learning about how leaving again might not be the answer.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Steeple Hill; 1St Edition edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373872127
• ISBN-13: 978-0373872121
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,603,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Margaret has been writing for over 20 years. She started writing in the late 1970s because she wanted to see if she could put a whole story down on paper. That book is still in the drawer and will never see the light of day. But she was able to finish a book, which was her goal.
She decided after that to get some help, and joined a writers' roundtable where she met once a week with some fellow writers who went over each other's work. She sold her first book in the early 1980s and has been selling ever since.
She loves to tell a story. When she was a little girl she made up stories while playing with her dolls. On long trips with her family she would weave a story about the surrounding countryside. From those early beginnings grew a love of entertaining people with a story.
When she went away to college, she met her husband, Mike, to whom she has been married for over 30 years. He is her support and her best friend. She has always felt she was the luckiest woman the day she bumped into him on campus.
When they married, they moved to Tulsa, where she finished her degree in special education and began teaching. She still teaches today and loves working with students with special needs. They help her remember what is important in life. She also participates in the Special Olympics as a coach with her students and has attended the State Games in May for years.
Besides teaching and writing, she is also a mother of one. Her son, Shaun, loves animals and there have been times they could have their own zoo at the house. The most interesting pet Shaun has is a leopard tortoise, which could outlive him. She has joked that his children will be inheriting a tortoise. Shaun is getting married to his high school sweetheart. Margaret hopes that they are as happy as she and her husband are.
When she isn't working, she loves to read, travel, and go to lunch and a movie with a friend. She has been to many countries in the world and loves to meet new people. Her favorite place is Tahiti -- Bora Bora. It is as beautiful as all the pictures portray it.
In her travels she has found herself in some interesting situations. Once, in London, she got caught in the middle of a protest that later turned into a riot over poll taxes. In the rain forest of Costa Rica, she was covered from head to toe in mud and ruined a perfectly good outfit. She should have remembered it was going to be wet since it was called a rain forest. In Rio, she and a friend were left with no means to get back to the hotel on the other side of the city. Neither Margaret nor her companion spoke Portuguese and there wasn't a cab in sight. Thankfully one finally pulled up to the curb at the museum because she couldn't see herself hiking across Rio to get back to the hotel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars another great novel!, March 29, 2003

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Courage to Dream (Love Inspired #205) (Mass Market Paperback)

I've been reading the Love Inspired series for a short time now and they've become my favorite books to read. Not all of them are great, but a lot of them are and this one turned out to be a gem.

Rachel Peters is a famous chef who's always on the move and is called to the small town of Magnolia Blossom after her aunt's death. Its up to Rachel now to take care of her siblings, brother Shaun and her sister Amy. But its not as easy as Rachel thought it would be, her siblings resent her, especially Amy, who won't listen to anything Rachel says. On top of all that, she must face her high school sweetheart Michael Hunter who's also a single parent. Michael offers to help Rachel with Shaun and Amy, and in the process the two begin to fall in love.

It's predictable but I loved it.

2.0 out of 5 stars Go back to New York!, December 14, 2011

By 

M. Palmer "Michelle P." (Arkansas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Courage to Dream (Love Inspired #205) (Mass Market Paperback)

I forced my way through this book hoping and praying that in the end I'd understand, but I didn't.

I thought this story would show Michael being a father figure two Rachel's two kids, but I didn't ever really see it...He seemed to be more of a "friend," even to his own son than anything else...His involvement seemed very limited.

Rachel Peters was a selfish and self-righterous person in my opinion. It's what SHE wanted that mattered. I thought that Amy was the most mature one. She had a boyfriend who seemed to really care for her and even prayed for her and told her to do the right thing. Rachel had absolutely NO RIGHT trying to get Amy or Shaun to go back to New York with her. I think Rachel should have left those kids with Michael and taken off for parts unknown!

She selfishly left Michael ten years before and had ABSOLUTELY no right to him! There is NO WAY a decent man would pine away for a woman like that and TAKE HER BACK after what she did!

And after she announced she had been approved for the loan and went to talk to Shaun...Ewwww, I wanted to smack her silly! She practically bribed her brother to get him to agree to go to New York with her. This woman made me sick to my stomach.

So I like Michael. I mean, he was okay, but he didn't have much of a backbone. I think he deserved much better than Rachel.

Even the epilogue - when I read that she was having Michael's baby, I just felt sorry for the kid. I hope any baby born to Rachel is willing to do things her way or no way at all, because that's the way it's going to be...

I'm sorry. I know some don't see it that way, but that's the way I saw this book. I gave it two stars simply because I managed to get through it. I liked Micahel and thought his and his ex-wife's story was great...

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great character, great plot, great book!, August 27, 2008

By 

Mary F. Cox "always reading" (Clinton, MS) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Courage to Dream (Love Inspired #205) (Mass Market Paperback)

I LOVED this book! The characters fought and argued at the beginning, but each had a reason to do so. Rachel had a life of abandonment by her parents and wanted to do what she thought she needed to when her beloved relative who raised her died, leaving her brother and sister in her care. She also had to face Michael, an old boyfriend she had left years ago.

Both Michael and Rachel have to figure out how to let go of the past and forgive. They also have to make sacrifices to have the life that God has planned for them.

This book was refreshing and great. A must read!