KIDS ON THE DOORSTEP

Author: Kimberly Van Meter ISBN: 9780373715770 7/2009 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HARLEQUIN

John Murphy gets the shock of his life when he finds three abandoned girls on his doorstep. Once he takes them in, it isn’t long before the little tykes bring out his fiercest protective instincts. So when their mother shows up at his Emmett’s Mill ranch, he’s ready to do battle. Except Renee Dolling isn’t what he expects. She clearly loves her girls and wants to make up for past mistakes. John wants to trust her, but he’s got the girls to think about. Unless Renee can the mother her daughters deserve...and the woman this solitary rancher needs.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

KIDS ON THE DOORSTEP is the first novel I've read by Kimberly Van Meter, but it won't be the last. This book made me cry, which is something I don't do a great deal of. It is funny and tender, achingly realistic and poignant... and there's passion, besides! There was enough going on in this contemporary romance to keep this reader turning the pages long into the night.

John Murphy is handsome, hunky and levelheaded... until a trio of near-frozen little girls is unceremoniously ushered into his life. His neighbor drops them off with him, even though they are her distant relations, because she's recovering from surgery. And with the wind howling and sleet falling, he has no option but to accept the children into his care, if only for the night. Of course, the night stretches on and custody issues arise. When Renee Dolling appears looking for her girls three days later, John orders her off his property—without the children.

Renee is such a flawed character, with so much to make up for, that I couldn't help but be on her side, rooting her on. Abandoning her children was wrong, but given her circumstances, and the loving heart she shows she has, it's impossible to condemn her for the action. She loves her daughters. The children, Alexis, Taylor, and Chloe are adorable. Taylor's heart-wrenching admission that their parents left them, made her seem much wiser than her age, something that tugged my heartstrings. At only five, she knows the pain of being unwanted. How sad is that?

Enter the man who makes Renee see herself, and helps her deal with her situation—John Murphy. He pulls no punches, something I really liked about him. Just when I thought he'd brought Renee to a safe spot, a place where her girls could laugh and build snowmen, she muddies the waters by making another bad decision. I wanted to scream! The truth is that this story pulled me in so completely, I felt like I knew these people. Watching a little girl beg her mother to stay in a place where they were all doing well brought emotions right to the surface. I was so invested in these people that I kept reading late into the night.

I won't tell you how this ends, but I will say that I had my doubts about this couple. John is tolerant—to a point. Renee? Sensible—sometimes. I wondered if they would find happiness. I hoped they would—if not for themselves, for the girls.

I enjoyed KIDS ON THE DOORSTEP. I think others will, too.

Kay James