A Place to Call Home Lawman Joe Sheehan is desperate to bond with the daughter he’s just discovered he has. But as a virtual stranger to twelve-year-old Amelia, the task seems impossible. Until Claire Conley moves to town. A social worker renovating a mansion into a foster home, Claire is the first person to get through to Amelia. Falling for the single dad was not on Claire’s to-do list. But … to-do list. But with Joe and Amelia around, the house finally starts to feel like home. Claire’s ready to fight to convince Joe that together they’ve done more than fix a house…they’ve built a family.
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What a fun start to the Family Blessings series! The author has an easy-to-read writing style, a fluid plot that is paced well, and memorable characters whom I hope will continue to grow as the series continues.
This first book in the series introduces Joe, a former delinquent now turned lawman, and Claire, a former social worker now renovating an old family home for foster children. Joe is compassionate, loyal, hard-working, and tender while Claire is a bit wacky, sunny, and passionate in her all-encompassing love. They both have insecurities and uncertainties from their pasts that they must overcome. Joe’s preteen daughter Amelia adds spunk and drama to the storyline and Joe’s adoptive family makes for great secondary characters.
I can’t wait to read more about Joe’s adoptive siblings as the series continues!
I was given a copy of the book from the author/publisher via JustRead Publicity Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
This was such a sweet story! Both Joe and Claire came from rocky backgrounds, yet they each ended up with good families to love them. Claire had such a wonderful heart for children and I loved watching her interact with Joe’s daughter, Amelia. Seeing Joe and Amelia bond during this story was especially heartwarming, as well.
The Dad Next Door is a great beginning for this series, filled with family, romance, and the start of new things. It was fun to be introduced to Joe’s family and the small, fictional town of Red Hill Springs, AL. I’m looking forward to reading the other books in this series!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Romance, as a genre, is sort of a side bar for me. I don’t pick up a book because it’s a romance like so many others. I pick up a book because it has a story line that catches my interest and happens to contain romance. I mean, instalove is the cliche fallback for a lot of romance books, and a ginormous pet peeve of mine. I’d not read Stephanie Dees prior to starting the Family Blessings series with ‘The Dad Next Door’. I chose this book, this series, because the synopsis intrigued me. I don’t read a lot of contemporary romance so that was a refreshing tick on the interest list as well. I’m just gonna say that Dees did not disappoint me and I’m super glad that I’m stocked up and ready to read this entire series!
For a breezy simple ‘boy next door-ish’ romance that is really an engaging and quick read there are some heavier topics discussed that might be upsetting for some readers. Joe, and subsequently his daughter Amelia, grew up with mother’s who struggled with addiction. Both know the struggle of being neglected and going being hungry, not feeling safe, and in Joe’s case a little juvenile delinquency to go along with the neglect he suffered. Claire, also had been through the system. Not due to neglect but as a child of adoption she struggled to feel her value and worth which led her to some unhealthy coping mechanisms as a teen including self-injury. None of this was covered in a manner that was graphic or overt but managed to embrace you into the world that children like them find themselves in each and every day, especially through the foster care system. Which is ultimately Claire’s goal, to open a home for hard to place children. Children with delinquent backgrounds, sibling groups, older children, they are all harder to place not only in the system but through adoption as well. This heaviness did not darken the story but enriched it. The deeper themes of this book actually brought hope and the simplicity of life to light instead of weighting it down.
Claire is finally about to realize her dream after the loss of her adoptive mother and the brief meeting of her birth father before he passed and left her his plantation home. Joe is trying to return to his dream with the addition of a tween daughter he never knew existed and her own baggage of a mother who couldn’t care for her due to her own demons and addictions. Everyone has baggage but what I loved is that instead of wallowing in a pity party they used that baggage to grow their future and the future of other children like them. All in a small southern town where everybody knows every-bodies business, has an opinion about it, and the idea of change is about as enticing as not going to Heaven. And they aren’t afraid to share that opinion, literally. I loved the theme of finding family, finding community, and finding redemption. Claire and Joe and all of Red Hill Springs find all of that and so much more, and no instalove!
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Just Read. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
I recently read Stephanie Dees’ 4 books in the Family Blessings Series, and I must say, I was impressed not only by Dees’ writing but also how she handled the characters life situations.
The books are geared more toward those over 16, and also those not new to the Christian faith.
Dees adeptly illustrates that becoming a Christian doesn’t get you a “golden ticket to a life free from sin. Mistakes will be and are made, consequences occur and lessons are learned.
I haven’t read Harlequin Inspirational books in years. However, this series intrigued me. I am glad I decided to read it. The author does a great job with interweaving a Biblical message while at the same time handling some very complex and realistic stories. We have all made mistakes in our lives, and Dees illustrates how God can take some of those mistakes and as a portion of Isaiah 61:3 says “… to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; …”
The Dad Next Door, book one in the series, introduces us to Red Hill Springs, Alabama. I enjoyed reading about a small town, full of the good and the bad that one encounters there.
The story takes three lost, broken people, Joe Sheehan and his daughter, plus Claire Conley, and shows how with help from God, friends and family things can become better and home can become home.
I ached for both Joe and Claire. Joe wants so desperately to bond with his daughter, Amelia. However, in typical hurt, bewildered and angry pre-teen fashion she pushes him away. Claire came to Red Hill Springs with such high hopes wanting to help foster children. But her inheritance is nothing like the picture she saw. Both must work hard to overcome many obstacles and the town’s preconceived ideas.
I received this series from JustRead Tours. However, I was under no obligation to post a review.
4.5 Stars
Have you ever read the first book in a series and loved the characters so much, you immediately check to see who will star in the other books in the series? Well, that’s exactly how I felt after reading Stephanie Dees’ Dad Next Door (book one in the Family Blessings series).
There is so much to say about this book, the longing for a place to call home, the discovery that family comes in all shapes, sizes, and configurations, that small towns have prejudices that newcomers often have to overcome, that building trust takes time, and more. Dees addresses each of these (and more) in a cohesive way that draws the reader in and invites them within the circle of community she’s created.
Joe Sheehan and Claire Conley find common ground in their childhood and both still struggle with finding a place they belong. Add in a twelve-year-old daughter who Joe wasn’t aware he had until recently, and the cycle repeats itself. But the hope of that being broken with Claire’s dream of a home where foster children can find love and belonging shines throughout this story.
And the best news? There are three more books in the series so I get to spend more time with the people of Red Hill Springs.
Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.