Some Kind of Wonderful [Mass Market Paperback]

Maureen Child (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2003

Holiday shop owner Carol Baker infuses her business and her life with peace and good will. But she has secrets from her past that make her all the more determined to someday have a family of her own. She never expects a sweltering July heat wave to bring the gift of a baby girl who needs a mother's love...and a man who needs to heal his wounded soul.

Ex-LAPD copy Jack Reilly's back in town--temporarily--to fill in for the ailing local sheriff. Haunted by the tragedy that made him leave Los Angeles, Jack doesn't believe in "forever." His sassy landlady Carol, with her year-round Chistmas spirit, gorgeous smile, and adorable little foster daughter, Liz, begin to bring him back to life. But the past has a way of coming back again, and the dark places of the heart have a way of staying hidden. Still, good things have a way of happening in Christmas--and if the Reillys have anything to say about it, what develops between Carol and Jack will be some kind of wonderful...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Child deftly invokes the full range of human emotion in this contemporary romance set in the determinedly festive town of Christmas, California, where the holiday season lasts all year. Carol moved here several years ago and finally has a home and a dog of her own after being orphaned at a young age and raised in foster care. Suddenly her safe little world is turned on end when she discovers that the baby Jesus statue in the town square's life-size Nativity scene has been replaced by a live newborn. Unwilling to subject the child to the system, she offers to become a temporary foster mother. Complicating the matter, the temporary sheriff, ex-LAPD cop Jack Reilly, is a dark and brooding soul, tormented by survivor guilt. Against her will, Carol finds herself falling in love with both baby Liz and gruff, growling Jack. The plot of this thoroughly satisfying tale is intriguingly complicated with journal entries written by Liz's mother, multiple points of view skillfully presented, and a host of well-developed supporting characters. Lynne Welch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Maureen Child infuses her writing with the perfect blend of laughter, tears and romance. her well-crafted characters, humor, and understanding of what it mean to be part of a family make each of her novels a treat to be savored."--Jill Marie Landis, author of Lover's Lane

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (December 30, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312987277
• ISBN-13: 978-0312987275
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,492,486 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

USA Today best selling author Maureen Child is the author of more than ninety romance novels and novellas. Maureen is a five time nominee for the prestigious Rita award from Romance Writers of America.

One of her novels, A POCKETFUL OF PARADISE, was made into a CBS-TV movie called The Soul Collector, starring Melissa Gilbert, Bruce Greenwood and Ossie Davis.

Maureen was not only on the Texas set to watch her characters come to life in front of the cameras, she was also tossed into the last scene by her husband and the producer, who both thought this would be a fun way to humiliate an author!

When her kids were small, Maureen started writing as not only a way to stay sane, but in the hopes of finding a job she could do and stay at home with them. Sanity is still an issue, but she did manage to write her way into a career she wouldn't trade for anything.

Over the years, she's written under lots of different names and she prefers the term 'pseudonym' to 'alias'. As Ann Carberry, she wrote western historical romances. As Kathleen Kane, she wrote not only Americana romances, but western paranormal romances as well. As Sarah Hart, she wrote one really spectacular western paranormal that is still one of her favorites. And once, Ann Carberry even wrote a Victorian historical which she absolutely loved doing.

Under her own name, Maureen writes short contemporary novels for Silhouette Desire--books she loves to write because of their fast pace and condensed story telling. Maureen is also writing funny, contemporary paranormal romances for NAL and darker paranormal stories for Silhouette Nocturne.

Life is busy but when she isn't writing you can find Maureen sitting under her 'thinking tree', coming up with new ideas for even more stories. When she isn't dreaming up a new book or writing a current one, Maureen loves to travel. Her favorite vacation spot is Ireland, with Scotland coming in a very close second. She and her husband love a good road trip and Maureen's looking forward to the day when she can actually drive to Ireland. Talk about the best of both worlds!

Maureen lives with her family in Southern California and loves to hear from her readers. Visit her online at www.maureenchild.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars upbeat inspirational contemporary romance, December 31, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Some Kind of Wonderful (Mass Market Paperback)

Carol Foster left Los Angeles to relocate in Christmas, California after a visit to the town as she has never tasted the holiday even as a child. Former LAPD cop Jack Reilly grew up in Christmas and hated the year long gimmick of a town. Though retired from law enforcement after a tragedy, he has returned to serve as a temporary sheriff as a favor to his friend.

During her early morning run, Carol notices an infant abandoned by the town's year round Nativity Scene. She takes the baby with her and calls the law. Jack arrives and it is arranged for Carol to watch the child until the state can make arrangements. Meanwhile Jack rents a room from Carol so he can move out of his mother's home. As Carol lights up Jack's life, he still has doubts about relationships after the betrayal of his former spouse. However, he also worries as Carol has fallen in love with him and her little charge.

This is an upbeat inspirational contemporary romance starring a bah humbug hero and a Mary Poppins heroine. The story line is perfect for the post holiday season as the Yuletide spirit should continue even after Christmas has been celebrated. Fans of a moving tale will cherish this "It's a Wonderful Life" tale.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cute and predictable holiday themed charmer, July 5, 2005

By 

Tracy Vest (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Some Kind of Wonderful (Mass Market Paperback)

It's the yuletide season year around in Christmas, California. And that does not bode well for Jack Reilly, who fled the town for college and a stint on the LAPD. Now retired, he is back to fill in as sheriff temporarily when he gets a call about an abandoned baby.

Carol Baker finds a baby in the town's manger and gets to be foster mom until other arrangements can be made. Being an orphan herself, she does not want the baby to have to go to a "home." Jack helps her get settled, and then notes that she notes a vacant apartment for rent. Wanting to get out of his family's home, he takes the apartment, and soon they are in a romance, while the birthmother continues to see the baby and Carol wonders if she will attempt to regain custody.

Jack's hatred of the holiday season is constantly hinted at, as well as his need to be away from Christmas. As he gets further involved with Carol, he questions his motivations.

For the romance aspect and the relationship of the two lead characters, the story is well developed. Any reader of suspense novels will be able to guess the identity of the birth mother within the first chapters, so there are no surprises in this predictable romance.

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining Feel-Good Romance, May 14, 2007

By 

Jennifer Wardrip (Bloomington, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Some Kind of Wonderful (Mass Market Paperback)

In Christmas, California , the winter Holiday is in full-swing 365 days a year, even though there's never any snow. Christmas is a small town that makes its living from the tourists who flock to the Reindeer Cafe and shops on North Pole Lane and Jingle Bell Lane .

It's just the type of town that Carol Baker has always wished for, in that she's made a life for herself among the town's inhabitants. After her parents died when she was ten, she was shuffled to one foster home to the next, eventually remaining in a group home until she turned eighteen. With no family ties, the shop she opened in Christmas, along with her greyhound, Quinn, and her friends, is enough of a life.

Until one night, during her daily midnight walk with the dog, Carol finds an abandoned newborn baby girl in the life-size Nativity in the town square, taking the place of the baby Jesus statue that usually resides in the manger. When the baby needs a temporary home, Carol volunteers--professing to one and all that she won't fall in love with the baby, whom she names Liz, because she knows it's only a temporary solution.

During her transition into temporary instant motherhood comes Jack Reilly, a local boy who left Christmas long ago to become a policeman in Los Angeles . But tragedy struck this good-looking man and forever changed his life on Christmas Eve nearly two years ago. Unable to let go of the past, being Carol Baker's new tenant isn't turning out the way he'd planned. He's way too attracted to his new landlord, and the Lizardbaby she loves is way too darn cute.

SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL is an uplifting romance, a book that will make you feel good reading it. The extended Reilly clan are interesting characters, and Carol, Liz, Quinn, and Reilly are a great family in the making.

**The only thing that irritated me about this book was the numerous references to the heroine as Carol Foster, even though the first sentence of the book refers to her as Carol Baker. No doubt an editing oversight, it made me want to get out my red pen every time I saw it!!