Heart of the Family (Fostered by Love) [Kindle Edition]

Margaret Daley (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A Christmas Conundrum

Women, Dr. Jacob Hartman knew, were a mystery. Take the first time he met social worker Hannah Smith at the Stone Refuge home for foster children. The woman stared him down as if he'd come at her with castor oil. Why? His past was full of heavy-duty heartache, but he was positive they'd never met. And as a former foster child himself, Jacob was deeply touched by how much she cared about the kids at the home, how loving she was--to everyone but him. Which was where, he figured, the mistletoe came in!

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 280 KB
• Print Length: 256 pages
• Publisher: Steeple Hill Love Inspired (November 1, 2007)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000ZBJAGY
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #56,781 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #7 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Series > Steeple Hill Love Inspired

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 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Warm Hearted Romance, January 1, 2008

By 

Barbara Warren - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heart of the Family (Fostered by Love Series #2) (Love Inspired #425) (Mass Market Paperback)

Hannah Smith may have a reason for not liking Dr. Jacob Hartman, the doctor for Stones Refuge Home For Children, but he can't discover what it could be. After all, he's never met her before, but she definitely has issues against him. He doesn't know Hannah has memories that link her past to his, and even though she's attracted to him, she can't force herself to tell him the truth.
Two people who have been hurt learning to trust and love again, in spite of themselves. Fans of Margaret Daley will love this story. A good romance with lots of conflict and a good faith message.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Book 2 in Fostered by Love series, January 17, 2009

By 

Anita Draper "wreader (writer/reader)" (Saskatchewan, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Heart of the Family (Fostered by Love Series #2) (Larger Print Love Inspired #425) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a story of forgiveness given for a wrong done years ago but not forgotten. This is Book 2 in the Fostered by Love series. In this great book, we get a glimpse of what a group foster home looks like from the inside and some of the problems the manager encounters because yes, the manger is our heroine, Hannah Smith. But when Hannah took the job, she didn't expect to find her arch enemy on the Board of Directors. And when she did find out that little bit of info she figured she'd be able to steer clear of him...but not if he keeps coming to the home.

At first Hannah doesn't know what to do. She brings a child in for medical care and comes face-to-face with the man who killed her brother over 20 yrs before. Since she was only 7 yrs old at the time of the incident and she's using her married name, the pediatrician has no idea who she is and she's not telling. Because she loves her job, she'll just have to work with him...but she's not going to like it. And, she's not going to forgive him either! Her family fell apart when her brother died and it was all because of Dr. Jacob Hartman.

Jacob has no idea why the new manager of Stone's Refuge seems to have a personality conflict with him. He tries to draw it out of Hannah but she's not volunteering any info. Because they have to work together in peace, he starts spending more of his time at the home, playing with the kids, and eating meals with them. However, his nights are filled with torment as he relives the moment he crashed a vehicle and killed a friend when he was 14 yrs old. For over 20 yrs, the accident has been foremost in his mind. He doesn't understand why he lived and his friend didn't. His friend left a loving mother behind whereas Jacob's mother wasn't worthy to even be called one.

As the story reads, Hannah sees what a loving man Jacob is toward children and animals but forgiving him will mean betraying her brother's memory and her family and she just can't do that.

And how will Jacob react if he finds out the woman he's slowly falling in love with is the little sister of the man he killed? Can be bear to watch her face turn ashen with pain followed by betrayal? The best thing would be for him to just stay away.

Heat level: Affectionate

My Rating: Great - 4 stars (a keeper)

Go here for the complete Fostered by Love series list:

http://anitamaedraper.blogspot.com/2009/01/heres-update-on-fostered-by-love-series.html

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart warming, July 6, 2011

By 

gold4God - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Heart of the Family (Fostered by Love Series #2) (Larger Print Love Inspired #425) (Mass Market Paperback)

This book is soft and sweet. cute and irresistible. Worth the buy to read. Like any and all Margaret Daley books, imaginative, loving, creative, and real.