Customer Reviews

Hard Lovin' Man

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Kelley Spencer walks into the Hopeful, Texas police station to retrieve her troubled sixteen year-old sister, Madison, the very last person she expects to see is Jack Morgan. The irony of the previous small town bad boy now being the police chief doesn't escape her. Nine years ago Kelley was Jack's teacher, when he was a senior in high school -- held back a year. Instant sparks flared between the two, but Kelley swore she wouldn't get involved with a student, concluding it was both morally and professionally wrong. When Jack graduated however, those sparks turned into a conflagration between the two, but circumstances and a tragic misunderstanding led them to a heartbreaking parting of the ways. Now, Kelley is an older, wiser thirty-one year-old guardian to her younger sister, while Jack is a twenty-eight year-old ex-soldier and single father. As old feelings bubble to the surface, Kelley is torn between what she knows is right for her sister, and what she wants for herself.

Jack Morgan has never forgotten his former teacher and how she influenced him both academically and emotionally. If not for her, lord knows where he'd be today, and while he is grateful for that, gratitude is far from what Jack feels when Kelley walks into his police station. Nine years have passed, and Jack could be the poster boy for the old saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder", if his reaction to seeing Kelley is any indication.

Kelley and Jack are two very believable characters, both with issues from the past they need to work through together before they can find their own happiness. Ms. Heath handles the very delicate subject of student and teacher developing a romantic relationship in a poignant, moral, and acceptable way. Kelley's sister Madison is trying to adjust in typical teenage fashion to leaving her friends from Dallas behind, and Jack's son is an adorable, loving, well-adjusted nine-year-old. Jack's late friend's widow, and next door neighbor, Serena Hamilton, will be getting her own well-deserved story in SMOOTH TALKIN' STRANGER coming April 2004.

HARD LOVIN' MAN is Ms. Heath's contemporary debut novel. She makes the transition from historical genre romance smoothly and seamlessly, transferring all of the emotional impact and in-depth characterization she is known for into this outstanding modern day tale.

HARD LOVIN' MAN is romance told in inimitable Lorraine Heath style -- perfection from first page to last.

Lorraine Heath has crossed over to the modern era, and as a diehard historical reader, it was Heath's talent that lured me to buy this contemporary novel. A mistake? No way this lady is dexterous.

A few years back the Coke guy from the soft drink commercial was all the rage, smoldering and heating his way into a woman's fantasy. Well hello Jack Morgan. If guys in Texas are this "hunky", I'm packing my bags.

This is the story of two reunited people and their chance to love again. Jack Morgan was the town's bad boy. In his senior year, ready to give up and drop out, Jack met and fell in love with Kelley Spencer -- young, beautiful, fresh out of teachers' college, and his teacher. Kelley Spencer gave him a reason to try. She promised him a life after graduation. Fate intervened, Jack married another, and Kelley left town. Nine years have past, Kelley is back in town, Jack is now the police chief and divorced. Nine years have past, but their problems continue to fester.

"He splayed his large hand and strong fingers over her stomach. ". . . the scar Kelley . . . Was it my baby? . . ."

Within these pages, Heath has developed the ultimate male -- smooth, gorgeous, kind, considerate -- do these men exist? Yet, at the same time, the author has developed our heroine, Kelley Spencer, as a "heel dragger". The girl is terrified to commit. This man wants her and she hides under a blanket of secrecy. Still, the storyline is skilled and entertaining. A rating of 4.5 because Kelley Spencer's shackles are too heavy, her complexity was like a sore thumb -- front and center. Nevertheless, I liked the book -- definitely a page turner, and you can wager I will be searching for Heath's newest book come April 2004.

Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

Kelley Spencer has never gotten over her brief affair with Jack Morgan. Then he was the just-graduated bad-boy of the local high school and she his teacher, fresh out of college. Now she has a sister to raise--a sister who has cultivated hell-raising as an art form. Kelley is surprised to find that Jack has turned his life around. He's chief of police, a responsible single dad, and still a major heart-throb. Kelley is tempted, although it took her years to recover from Jack's betrayal. But raising her sister is more important than anything--even rekindling the one great love she ever experienced. Besides, Kelley holds a secret deep inside of herself--a secret with the potential to explode everything she lives for.

Jack Morgan knows what it's like to lose a parent--and Kelley's sister has recently lost both parents. She's acting out and Jack knows that the answer is clear boundaries. But Kelley doesn't seem very good at boundaries. Which is great where he is concerned. Although Kelley forced him to marry another woman, Jack has never been able to forget her. But he still has an idealized vision of her--a vision that imperfect Kelley knows she can never live up to. And losing him again would be too destructive.

Author Lorraine Heath marks her first contemporary romance after a strong career in historicals. It's an emotionally powerful tale of lost and found dreams. Younger sister Madison is a memorable character--damaged, sympathetic, and angry with the world. Both Jack and Kelley are strong and admirable as they strive to come to terms with their responsibilites and mistakes, and the two definitely steam up the pages when they're together.

Heath's strong writing really sucks in the reader, making them care for these characters, feel for their sorrow, and hope that they can somehow overcome the weight of past secrets and pains and build themselves a future of love.

I have read every historical romance by Lorraine Heath and loved each one. So, when she wrote a contemporary novel, I felt I should buy it, even though of all the thousands of romances I've read over the years, I've only read a couple of contemporary ones. And I have to say, I really, really liked it. The characters are poignant and endearing. I especially liked Jack's relationship with his son. All in all, I highly recommend this book to everyone, as the author has succeeded in writing an excellent romance.

This was a good book. The characters were well drawn and you really cared about them. So much so that when things are revealed towards the end you really feel for the h. However, the beginning of the relationship between the H and h was a bit disturbing. Couldn't Kelley and Jack have waited . . . even a little bit or how about if they were on the same level; instead of one having more authority over the other?

I like this author, have read her historicals and read and enjoyed the sequel to this book. The plot was good the twists did not come out of left field but were revealed at a natural pace and overall I liked all the characters however......the early relationship betwen Kelley and Jack was inappropriate. Inially it seemed the author excused the inappropriate nature of the relationship because the relationship was not consummated until graduation night (so its okay to sleep with a student graduation night but the night before is off limits) and by the second half of the book the teacher (Kelley) seemed to acknowledge that the entire early relationship was wrong but I came away thinking that the moral of the story was if you love someone it doesn't matter that they are a student and you the teacher because love conquerors all. I jus kept thinking of Mary Kay Latureau. I really debated several times if I wanted to finish the book because of the ick factor and reading the reviews I feel like maybe I expect to much from teachers.......would it have been so hard to have the relationship start 6-12 months after graduation rather than spring semester senior year?

Kelley Spencer has never gotten over her brief affair with Jack Morgan. Then he was the just-graduated bad-boy of the local high school and she his teacher, fresh out of college. Now she has a sister to raise--a sister who has cultivated hell-raising as an art form. Kelley is surprised to find that Jack has turned his life around. He's chief of police, a responsible single dad, and still a major heart-throb. Kelley is tempted, although it took her years to recover from Jack's betrayal. But raising her sister is more important than anything--even rekindling the one great love she ever experienced. Besides, Kelley holds a secret deep inside of herself--a secret with the potential to explode everything she lives for.

Jack Morgan knows what it's like to lose a parent--and Kelley's sister has recently lost both parents. She's acting out and Jack knows that the answer is clear boundaries. But Kelley doesn't seem very good at boundaries. Which is great where he is concerned. Although Kelley forced him to marry another woman, Jack has never been able to forget her. But he still has an idealized vision of her--a vision that imperfect Kelley knows she can never live up to. And losing him again would be too destructive.

Author Lorraine Heath marks her first contemporary romance after a strong career in historicals. It's an emotionally powerful tale of lost and found dreams. Younger sister Madison is a memorable character--damaged, sympathetic, and angry with the world. Both Jack and Kelley are strong and admirable as they strive to come to terms with their responsibilites and mistakes, and the two definitely steam up the pages when they're together.

Heath's strong writing really sucks in the reader, making them care for these characters, feel for their sorrow, and hope that they can somehow overcome the weight of past secrets and pains and build themselves a future of love.

In Hopeful, Texas Chief of Police Jack Morgan stops an underage patron with a fake ID at the Sit `N' Bull bar. He calls up Madison's stepsister, who is her guardian, high school teacher Kelley Spencer to take her sibling home. When she arrives at the station, Jack and Kelley recognize each other as she was his teacher in his senior year when they were very attracted to one another.

Jack thinks back to that senior year when he was accused of impregnating an underage Stephanie. Kelly gave him no chance to prove his innocence and no choice but to marry the teen. He did, but his new wife ultimately fled leaving him with a son whom he raises by himself. Now Jack is hopeful that he has a second chance to complete what he wanted to do back in high school. He wants to court his former teacher, the woman he loves, who turned him around from a bad boy going nowhere to a law abiding citizen.

Fans of second chance at love will enjoy this contemporary romance starring two solid lead characters and a strong support cast especially his son and her stepsister. However, readers will also need to accept the history of a budding relationship between a teacher and a student though the former was 22 and the latter 19 at the time. Still, Lorraine Heath furbishes her fans with a warm tale of love.

Harriet Klausner

Lorraine Heath has a classic on her backlist. Excellent story about two people who did the best they could with the knowledge they had at the moment. Nine years later they are reunited and their secrets cause complications between them and the two children they love.

Jack was truly a stand up guy. He took responsible when he didn't have to. He also had a deep love for Kelley that never wavered even though he sacrificed nine years of his life for it.

This is where I had a problem with Kelley. What she made Jack do all those years ago was wrong, for everyone involved. She never gave him the benefit of the doubt or allowed him to check any further to verify what the truth really was. Sadly for everyone involved he was the one who was right all along. Kelley allowed her own past to force something that screwed up many lives. She knew Jack would do anything for her simply because he loved her so much and wanted her to be proud of him.

But I liked Kelley in spite of herself and Jack is the kind of man we all hope we're lucky enough to find!

I've already ordered the sequel for this one!