by Claire Baxter
Single Dad
and Single Mom find love and renewed sense of family
Claire Baxter's The Single Dad's
Patchwork Family brings together a single dad and a single mom
in a serene oceanside landscape. Together two wounded characters, two
broken families, find love and the courage to trust again. Claire
Baxter tells a story of the importance of friendship and trust in love,
especially when kids are involved and a second chance romance creates
new families.
Regan Jantz attends one of those kinds of cocktail parties... business,
networking, information. She's a professional running a tuna farm and
knows the drill but her heart leads her elsewhere. Something about
Chase Mattner, a man away from the crowd just feels right. When Chase
and Regan start talking, they find themselves sharing all those parts
of themselves that had remained hidden. As a single mom with 2 boys,
Regan wants to protect her sons and herself. As a single mom, she can't
risk letting a man into her life only to walk out on her sons like
their father did. But when Chase asks for help, can she resist? Chase
never thought he would ever love again when his wife died. Can Regan
break down his isolation? Can these two single parents find love and a
new, richer sense of family together?
Chase Mattner is one hero, a man with an attraction to Regan but also a
patient and understanding man who understands her needs. In her
portrayal of the heroine's inner thoughts, Claire Baxter did an
excellent job in portraying the dilemma facing single, divorced moms
with kids to consider. The Single Dad's Patchwork Family balances the
initial chemistry of attraction with a deeper love that develops
through trust and experience. The reader feels their love grow
naturally with each encounter as they talk together and share their
secrets. The reader feels the hero and heroine's insecurities and
especially Regan's reluctance to get involved while also feeling their
natural pull to each other. Once these two meet, the it is the heart
that draws them together but it is the growing friendship that makes
the reader feel these two are a good match.
Claire Baxter's The Single Dad's
Patchwork Family is a perfect romance for readers who crave a
little peace and quiet from the hectic, fast-paced schedule but also
want a romance that moves the heart. The oceanside landscape mixed with
tender domestic scenes combine in a narrative style that enchants and
soothes with this wonderful hero who has patience, kindness and a knack
for knowing just what a busy woman and mother needs. Naturally, there
are some conflicts putting together the pieces of this new patchwork
family, but seeing Regan and Chase's friendship and romance develop
puts a smile in the heart.
Publisher: Harlequin Romance (April 2008)
