Customer Reviews

A Family to Share (Sequel to Deck the Halls) (Love Inspired #331)

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4 star:		(1)
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A FAMILY TO SHARE
By Arlene James
Review by Laura V. Hilton

Mortgage broker Kendal Oakes just wants a loving stable environment to raise his daughter, Larissa in. When his wife died, Kendal was out of town on an extended business trip, and Larissa was left alone with her dead mother for two days before she was found. This has caused severe emotional problems for the eighteen month old girl, and as a result she is continuously kicked out of day care centers.

Connie Wheeler has an eighteen month old son and a prison record, thanks to an unfortunate choice in a boyfriend. Now she fears that no one decent will ever love her. She loves children and wants to work with the church day care center, but her prison record denies her that opportunity.

Larissa takes an instant liking to Connie the first time the two meet, and Kendal quickly discovers that Connie is the only one who can handle his child. When Kendal finds out the truth about Connie's past, will he keep her away from his child? Or will they learn that true love conquers all?

A FAMILY TO SHARE is a cute story about two single parents determined to raise their children the best way they know how. Connie is insecure as a result of her past, yet she is drawn to help Larissa. Kendal is at his wits end, unable to handle his daughter. Unfortunately, Kendal's inability to handle a toddler makes him appear less than masculine to me.

The faith message in A FAMILY TO SHARE is gently woven in and doesn't appear preachy. The story line is good, but there were a number of discrepancies that ruined the book for me. Otherwise, A FAMILY TO SHARE is a good book. $4.99. 250 pages.

Don't judge a book by its cover, or should I say, the main characters name which so happens to be Kendal. I know what I was thinking when I first read the back cover. Kendal? There was no way I was going to read that book. I mean, who in their right mind would name their son Kendal?

Well, I was wrong. After sitting on my book shelf for seven months I finally got the courage to read this story. And by the time I was finished, Kendal didn't seem all that bad.

This is a great story. I love the main characters, Kendal and Connie, along with their children Russell and Larissa. It has great values and morals. A good read. Highly recommended.

To those who plan on reading this story, you may want to read the book, Deck the Halls, if you haven't already. It tells the story of Vince and Jolie, minor characters in this story.

Great Job Mrs. James. I love your work.

***A story on letting go of one's past and walking into one's future without the excess baggage. It is not always easy (well--rarely easy) but with God's help (and the help of people who love you) can be done. I enjoyed how Connie and Kendal were able to meet one another's needs and how their relationship grew because of it. At times I wanted to scream at them because they both seemed a bit clueless of the other one's feelings -- but that could be due to past hurts and failures. Overall, it was a good story full of good morals.

After reading "Deck the Halls," I couldn't wait to hear Connie and Marcus. We were intorduced to Jolie's brother and sister, both being single and having traveled the same rough road Jolie had, I was sure this would be a good book...

And I was NOT disappointed!

this book concentrated on Jolie's sister, Connie. Connie's mother had rejected her for men that came in and out of her life until her mother finally left and never came home. Connie later made more mistakes, resulting in a prison term and a son out of wedlock...Her son, Russell, now carried the name of his father (though I wonder why she didn't give him HER last name...I certainly gave my son my last name instead of his father's who abandoned him long before his birth)...

Then there is Kindal. Kindal has a daughter who went through a traumatic experience and had a mother who never showed love for her husband, and never allowed it. Larissa was so manageable that nobody could handle her - even her father! It was so bad that there were times Kindal felt guilty for wanting to rid of her and drown himself in his work - but he couldn't because she needed him...

enter Connie. Connie is the only one able to help Larissa. She soon finds herself babysitting Kindal's son in his home, along with her own. The two children form a bond, and with a lot of hard work and smart thinking on Connie's end, the little girl begins to love her father. Soon they come to an agreement - they should enter into a marriage of convenience...for the sake of the children...

This was a cute love story! Though I always cringe when the author goes the "marriage of convenience" route - it just isn't realistic in this day and age - I enjoyed reading this story...I loved how tender Kindal was with Russell, and knew that Larissa would come around when she saw how pleasant it could be...

In Arlene James' first series, I cringed at some places she took the characters - a bit scandalous for Christian romance - but in these two books, she let out the Spiritual aspects so well! There is nothing more romantic then a man praying over their relationship. Both of the heroes did so in this short-lived series...And the way the book ended in prayer on their knees - that was MUCH MORE romantic then if he had swept her into his arms and carried her off to the bedroom!!!

I'm disappointed, though, that she never followed up on Marcus' story...There were hints that it would go there, but as far as I can tell she never got around to it? Oh well, I guess we'll never know what happened to Marcus...