Customer Reviews

Courting the Doctor's Daughter (Courting, Book 2)

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4 star:		(1)
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Janet Dean has written the historical fiction book of my heart. I love a hero who must fight past his inner wounds to win the girl. In fact, in Courting the Doctor's Daughter, Dean writes of two people, wounded by life's harshness and the failure of those they had depended upon, who come together over the fate of a young orphan boy.

Mary Graves, the heroine, raises three sons as a widow, one of which she took in after an orphan-train placement fell through. She assists her aging father's medical practice, praying and plotting for an assistant to relieve some of her father's burden.

Enter Luke Jacobs, a peddler of tonics--the bane of Mary's existence. How dare he bilk her beloved townspeople out of their money for his snake oil? What she learns about him, through the layers of his self-defense, and about his medicine, will not only affect her, but set a chain of redemption in motion for all she cares about: her father, her sons, and the people she loves and serves.

I loved the way this romance covered topics ranging from disability, to alcoholism, lying, forgiveness, trust, and even anxiety. Dean accomplishes this in a realistic and deeply satisfying way through well-fleshed-out characters who journey through their conflicts to find faith in God, faith in themselves, and faith in one another. This story resonated with me, and I know it will stay with me for a long time to come.

Janet Dean's second Love Inspired Historical, COURTING THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER, is a thoughtfully developed story about two people inhibited by the past. Each must confront the truth before they can accept love and embrace life once again. Mary Graves--a widow trying to raise her two biological sons as well as the young orphan boy she's recently adopted--fears a traveling peddler, hawking an elixir he created, is bilking the good townspeople in Noblesville, Indiana. What starts as antagonism soon leads to attraction when the so-called charlatan turns out to be a physician eager to help Mary's father with his busy medical practice. Mary and the boys open their hearts to Luke Jacobs, but his quest to find the young son he fathered turns the family upside down and almost destroys any hope for a happily-ever-after. This book, along with COURTING MISS ADELAIDE, deserves to be on your must-read list!

I actually get a little thrill when I hold a Janet Dean historical novel in my hands because as far as courtship goes, NOBODY in the Love Inspired historical realm satisfies quite like Ms. Dean. I absolutely LOVED Courting Miss Adelaide, so I fully expected to love Courting the Doctor's Daughter as well ... but I didn't quite anticipate the WOW factor I experienced in the second offering from this delightful debut author.

What a story! I was hooked from the first page when determined and dedicated Mary Graves, a widow with three boys and a dream to become a doctor like her father, butts heads with handsome Luke Jacobs, a traveling peddler who turns out to be a medical doctor with a troubled past ... a past that ties Luke to Mary whether she likes it or not. Upon contact, sparks fly between this unlikely couple, and the romantic heat doesn't let up until the very last page when the perfect ending warms you to your toes.

Janet Dean is a master at slow romantic tension and characterization so real and deep, that you will laugh, hurt and swoon along with the characters in this charming tale of days gone by. Bravo, Ms. Dean, on another heartwarming read--can't wait for the next one!

I really enjoyed this book. Realize times were very hard then, and today too. The tie that binds is the same, our Father. Thanks for a great book.

I love reading about the Old West: pioneer in wagons, Indian tribes, horses, early settlements, the Gold Rush, whatever. I've been infatuated with the subject for a while now. There's a scene in which Mary buys goods from a store: not like today, where everything is packaged: she buys raw goods and turns them into food. I figured that as long as coffee and bacon were available, I could make it in the Old West.

I loved Dean's novel, which is set during this time and features Mary Graves, a healer (not a doctor like her father--she hasn't been to medical school yet) and another doctor, Dr. Luke Jacobs, who sells an elixir he's been brewing that is an apparent cure-all.

Graves is irked at Jacobs at first: she lost her mother to a "snake-oil salesman" and isn't about to let the handsome Jacobs fleece the town. However, his elixir actually appears to work, and once her father finds out that Jacobs is a real doctor, Luke is then invited to share her father's practice and work alongside Mary.

Mary is a widow with three boys to raise; however, the issue of parentage comes up once she realizes that one of her sons may actually be Luke's. It's a delicate situation that's handled well. Another thing: Mary's now deceased husband was a raging alcoholic and while she's tried to shield her boys from this knowledge, her oldest son gets into a fight over rumors about his father. To Dean's credit, she writes a lovely scene in which Mary apologizes to her son for not being truthful with him about his father. This is Christian parenting at its best.

I haven't read the other novels in this series, but I'll be looking for them. A good read, especially if you like medicine or the Old West.

Once again Janet Dean brings us a heartwarming love story amidst another little known, but interesting bit of history. Through wonderfully developed characters, Luke and Mary, we see the development of the medical profession. We also continue our relationship with Charles and Addie from Miss Dean's previous novel, Courting Miss Adelaide. Courting the Doctor's Daughter is a must read.

Courting the Doctor's Daughter is more sweet, heart-wrenching fun from Janet Dean. The hero's struggle is so beautifully written. I cared so much about the heroine, her self-doubts mixed with defiance and passion for her children.

Add in that Dean creates a time in history with such a light touch, and yet brings it to life.

A great read.