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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Drama at its finest., June 29, 2009
This review is from: Kids on the Doorstep (Harlequin Super Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
John Murphy, a reclusive horse trainer, knows the sound of knocking on his door late at night often means bad news. John answers the door to find his elderly neighbor, Gladys Stemming, with three little girls by her side. Gladys has recently undergone major surgery and needs John's help with the girls. Jason Dolling is her late sister's grandson. Jason had just shorn up at her door, shoved the girls at Gladys and left to score his next batch of drugs. As for their mother, Renee, she left months ago and the girls do not understand why.
Alexis is nine and has obviously been caring for her two younger sisters for a long stretch of time. Taylor is five and is very interested in John's horses. The youngest is three-year-old Chloe. John can tell immediately that the girls have been abused, neglected, and are malnourished. It appears that Jason has been poisoning the baby for unknown reasons. Before John knows it, he loves the girls. The courts grant temporary custody to Gladys and the entire group stays on John's ranch. This is when Renee shows up, demanding her children.
Renee did not know Jason was abusing the girls. She had gone into rehab while Jason cared for their kids. Shortly before getting out of rehab, Renee told Jason she wanted a divorce. Once out, Renee finds Jason and the girls gone. After months of searching, Renee finds them with Gladys and John. Due to her past mistakes, the courts refuse to give her back the girls until she 1) gets a place to stay, 2) gets a job and 3) proves herself now fit to be their mother. The children do not want to be with Renee and Alexis will be the hardest to get forgiveness from. Can Renee prove herself to Alexis? Can Renee win back their trust and respect? And can John keep himself from falling in love with the recovering alcoholic who has made some very big mistakes?
***** FIVE STARS! This author tackles a situation which is, unfortunately, all too real these days. At first I was very disappointed in Renee. But Renee realized that she could not take care of the girls until she received help for herself. Going into rehab was her first smart move. I cheered Renee throughout the entire story. The author did an astounding job on that character! The story is so well written that I could easily see and understand everyone's feelings and actions. And I totally fell in love with the three girls. This is drama at its finest! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
powerfully heart touching and poignant read!, July 11, 2009
This review is from: Kids on the Doorstep (Harlequin Super Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
John Murphy has never been able to resist a creature in need so when his elderly neighbor shows up at his front door with three little girls near ten o'clock at night, during a storm no less, he takes them into his home. After learning of the children's plight his protective instincts kick in and he vows that no harm will come to them again and he sets about ensuring that he has the legal right to protect them.
Renee Dolling is determined to get her children back. She's well aware that she made some major mistakes and felt that her stint in rehab would help get her life back on track. She certainly never thought that her soon to be ex-husband would have abused and then abandoned them with his elderly aunt. She's horrified to learn that she's lost custody of them and will have to go through the courts if she has any hopes of getting them back. Even more devastating is the distrust and hatred she can feel radiating off her eldest daughter Alexis.
While Gladys has been designated as Alexis, Chloe and Taylor's guardian there's no way she could care for them herself since she's recently gone through triple bypass surgery. Gladys and the girls are staying with John and he quickly becomes their champion when the girls' mother arrives unexpectedly demanding her children back. As far as he's concerned she abandoned her kids when she left them with her abusive husband Jason. He doesn't care what her reasoning for her behavior is... those children's welfare has to come first.
Renee isn't going to tolerate being kept from her kids and she's ready, willing and able to confront anyone who dares to try to deny her rights to them. Of course, her defiant attitude and smart mouth comments definitely don't help her cause any. Renee and John are united in one cause - doing what's best for these babies but they have different ideas about what is best for them. John's dislike of Renee slowly fades as he realizes that there's much more to the woman than he wants to admit and the whole situation becomes even more complicated when he realizes that he loves the girls and doesn't want them - or their mother to leave.
I've become rather fond of Kimberly Van Meter's Emmett's Mill storylines. The characters and their situations are so vivid and realistic that they simply touch your heart. With her latest release, Ms. Van Meter gives readers great insight into the effects of drug and alcohol abuse and how it affects those about them. Renee's desire to be a real mother to her daughters is obvious in everything she does - including her stint in rehab. That she left her daughters with her husband while she was in detox was her biggest mistake.
John comes off as gruff at first but it soon becomes obvious that he's a big softy especially where the girls and abused animals are concerned. John and Renee's relationship is fiery right from the bat, but it changes from an intense dislike to something far more passionate as they come to understand more about each other. I love that Ms. Van Meter mentions characters we met in earlier Emmett's Mill books so that each new story involving this town makes it feel more real and as if they're treasured friends you're fortunate enough to revisit. KIDS ON THE DOORSTEP is a heart-touching story that delves deep into all the emotional turmoil felt by those affected by drug and/or alcohol addiction.
Chrissy Dionne (courtesy of Romance Junkies
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Prepare to be impressed!, February 2, 2010
This review is from: Kids on the Doorstep (Harlequin Super Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)
Wow, this book has it all. Sexy loner hero, reformed hardcore heroine, a sick neighbor and a evil ex-husband, what more could a reader want? Van Meter is a relatively new author and I've read four of her books and each one was a must read.
Filled with passion, pathos and varied characters, these books contain people who could be your neighbors. They are relatable and with each page I felt their joy and their pain. The heroine is recovering addict and she is one of the grittiest characters I've ever come across. In the beginning I didn't like her but as the story evolved, I came to see her in an entirely different light. For a writer to redeem a woman such as Renee, Van Meter is a rare talent. ~ Ana, IReadRomance dot com
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