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Hearts of Hartley Creek #1
A Father's Promise
A Chance For Redemption
Widowed attorney Zach Truscott is ready for a fresh start. So he and his beloved daughter head west to the quaint town of Hartley Creek. But instead of a new beginning, Zach comes face-to-face with a woman from the past. With a secret. For Renee Albertson, falling for the handsome single dad is easy; revealing the truth is difficult. Renee wants a second chance to make things right. But can they let go of the past and create a family together?
Hearts of Hartley Creek—In this small town, love is just around the corner.
Widowed attorney Zach Truscott is ready for a fresh start. So he and his beloved daughter head west to the quaint town of Hartley Creek. But instead of a new beginning, Zach comes face-to-face with a woman from the past. With a secret. For Renee Albertson, falling for the handsome single dad is easy; revealing the truth is difficult. Renee wants a second chance to make things right. But can they let go of the past and create a family together?
Hearts of Hartley Creek—In this small town, love is just around the corner.
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
9 people are currently reading
143 people want to read
About the author
Carolyne Aarsen
213 books723 followersEven with over 1.5 million copies of my books in print, I still feel like I haven’t written the perfect story. From my office in the woods of Northern Alberta, I’ll keep trying. Inspired by spectacular sunrises, breathtaking Northern Lights and long walks through wooded trails, the stories keep coming. To find out more about my life and my writing, check out my website at www.carolyneaarsen.com
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 31, 2022
I actually picked up (and finished!) two other books before I could bring myself to bother with finishing this utter slog. And I'm kinda sorry I bothered.
First, the book is 'A Father's Promise', the first in the 'Hearts of Hartley Creek' series. Except it's not - it's also 'Ever Caring', the first in the 'Family Promises' series. Except it's not the first in EITHER series, it a continuation of the 'Home to Hartley Creek' series. Which means I went in thinking I was starting with a new series - at the beginning of something - and there are already TONS of characters/storylines going on that I didn't know about, because THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MESS!!! C'mon...! That's just wrong to do to your readers.
Second, it's not 'A Father's Promise', because Zach never makes his daughter any promise. It's not 'Ever Caring', either, because Zach never cared for wifey #1, and he flip-flops back and forth on Renee the ENTIRE book, so... (((Sigh.)))
Then there's the cover. Renee is honey blonde-brown. The woman on the cover is dark brunette. Do they even COORDINATE these things?! Is that so hard to do???
Then we have the story. Renee is a whiner. She gets knocked up by a boyfriend, fights with her mom about the baby whilst driving and goes off a cliff (ish) road, rolling the car and her mom is permanently disabled. Only she's NOT permanently disabled according to Aarsen - the 50+ year old woman who's been paralyzed for EIGHT YEARS can walk again with proper therapy (said no doctor, anywhere, ever). They wouldn't bother with her because of her sedentary lifestyle, age, and length of duration of disability - not even if they could. Sorry.
Anyhow, Renee uses having to take care of her mother as the excuse to give her baby up for adoption. And now she's putting her store up for sale, house up for sale, and trying to drum up $$ for the therapy break-through that would put mumsy on her feet, because guilt issues from driving the car when Mom got hurt. Of course none of this happens. So the point of all of it is... well non-existent.
Zach's wife died. He didn't ever love her, she was a flaming bee-otch, and yet he facilitated adopting a child like adding a cherry on top of this craptastic disaster he has going. Why? We don't know, and aren't feeling it. Then wifey dies, and he takes his 8year old, only child, spoiled brat to the VERY TOWN where Renee (birth mother) lives.
And he proceeds to like her, but not like her, and want her but not want her, and can't have another relationship while wanting another relationship, and can't have a wife and focus on spoiling the kid at the same time, and this is nice with Renee, but too complicated, and this. goes. on. FOR. E.V.E.R. I swear, I wanted to walk away SO BAD...!!
There's no joy. There's no sweetness to any of this. There's nothing inspiring at all. And of course because Cookie-Cutter-Christian FantasyWorld, his dad falls in love with her mom whilst he's hemming and hawing about whether he's gonna fall in love with Renee (like we don't ALL KNOW where it's going, hello...?!?!?!?!)... it's just really contrived and long-winded and forced drama.
The writing is abysmal, too. The author has Mom teaching a card-making class in the scrapbook store, and TEN MINUTES before asking her daughter if they have the supplies for the class - "we're always out of ribbon!" IT'S A CRAFT STORE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY - if they're out, where on God's Earth are they gonna get ribbon?!! And why is this a thing ten minutes before the class??? Worse, the author has Renee LEAVING THE STORE as Mumsy is going into her class, to go visit Zach at the Law office. WHO is manning the store, then?!?!? GAH!!!!!
And the whole 'I hate my birth mother' thing comes straight outta nowhere, thrown in at the whim of an author who is apparently trying to add paragraphs to reach a page quota. And why would the kid run from school to the store to a woman she only met a week or three ago to scream about a mother that has NOTHING to do with either of them? Except bad writing?!
Speaking of bad writing, why would that same child jump at walking around the block with a grandpa she hasn't known most of her life, since she GREW UP IN THE YUKON, and at eight, walking a residential area with an old man isn't really a thing. If she adores Renee so much, wouldn't she rather stay at Renee's and play with her? NONE of it holds water. At any point.
I actually wrote a lot, LOT, *LOT* more, with pages and problems and stupidity that needed addressing, but Goodreads ate that attempt at a review. This is condensed, because I can't be bothered with this anymore.
It sucked. Skip this one. And all of them in the series before that we didn't know about because it has a slightly altered name for no apparent reason and couldn't bear to have THESE three books in the same series... and then threw everything out to become a WHOLE NEW series. The entire thing is an insult to readers. Go for Lyn Cote or Irene Hannon- they're worlds away better than this.
First, the book is 'A Father's Promise', the first in the 'Hearts of Hartley Creek' series. Except it's not - it's also 'Ever Caring', the first in the 'Family Promises' series. Except it's not the first in EITHER series, it a continuation of the 'Home to Hartley Creek' series. Which means I went in thinking I was starting with a new series - at the beginning of something - and there are already TONS of characters/storylines going on that I didn't know about, because THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MESS!!! C'mon...! That's just wrong to do to your readers.
Second, it's not 'A Father's Promise', because Zach never makes his daughter any promise. It's not 'Ever Caring', either, because Zach never cared for wifey #1, and he flip-flops back and forth on Renee the ENTIRE book, so... (((Sigh.)))
Then there's the cover. Renee is honey blonde-brown. The woman on the cover is dark brunette. Do they even COORDINATE these things?! Is that so hard to do???
Then we have the story. Renee is a whiner. She gets knocked up by a boyfriend, fights with her mom about the baby whilst driving and goes off a cliff (ish) road, rolling the car and her mom is permanently disabled. Only she's NOT permanently disabled according to Aarsen - the 50+ year old woman who's been paralyzed for EIGHT YEARS can walk again with proper therapy (said no doctor, anywhere, ever). They wouldn't bother with her because of her sedentary lifestyle, age, and length of duration of disability - not even if they could. Sorry.
Anyhow, Renee uses having to take care of her mother as the excuse to give her baby up for adoption. And now she's putting her store up for sale, house up for sale, and trying to drum up $$ for the therapy break-through that would put mumsy on her feet, because guilt issues from driving the car when Mom got hurt. Of course none of this happens. So the point of all of it is... well non-existent.
Zach's wife died. He didn't ever love her, she was a flaming bee-otch, and yet he facilitated adopting a child like adding a cherry on top of this craptastic disaster he has going. Why? We don't know, and aren't feeling it. Then wifey dies, and he takes his 8year old, only child, spoiled brat to the VERY TOWN where Renee (birth mother) lives.
And he proceeds to like her, but not like her, and want her but not want her, and can't have another relationship while wanting another relationship, and can't have a wife and focus on spoiling the kid at the same time, and this is nice with Renee, but too complicated, and this. goes. on. FOR. E.V.E.R. I swear, I wanted to walk away SO BAD...!!
There's no joy. There's no sweetness to any of this. There's nothing inspiring at all. And of course because Cookie-Cutter-Christian FantasyWorld, his dad falls in love with her mom whilst he's hemming and hawing about whether he's gonna fall in love with Renee (like we don't ALL KNOW where it's going, hello...?!?!?!?!)... it's just really contrived and long-winded and forced drama.
The writing is abysmal, too. The author has Mom teaching a card-making class in the scrapbook store, and TEN MINUTES before asking her daughter if they have the supplies for the class - "we're always out of ribbon!" IT'S A CRAFT STORE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY - if they're out, where on God's Earth are they gonna get ribbon?!! And why is this a thing ten minutes before the class??? Worse, the author has Renee LEAVING THE STORE as Mumsy is going into her class, to go visit Zach at the Law office. WHO is manning the store, then?!?!? GAH!!!!!
And the whole 'I hate my birth mother' thing comes straight outta nowhere, thrown in at the whim of an author who is apparently trying to add paragraphs to reach a page quota. And why would the kid run from school to the store to a woman she only met a week or three ago to scream about a mother that has NOTHING to do with either of them? Except bad writing?!
Speaking of bad writing, why would that same child jump at walking around the block with a grandpa she hasn't known most of her life, since she GREW UP IN THE YUKON, and at eight, walking a residential area with an old man isn't really a thing. If she adores Renee so much, wouldn't she rather stay at Renee's and play with her? NONE of it holds water. At any point.
I actually wrote a lot, LOT, *LOT* more, with pages and problems and stupidity that needed addressing, but Goodreads ate that attempt at a review. This is condensed, because I can't be bothered with this anymore.
It sucked. Skip this one. And all of them in the series before that we didn't know about because it has a slightly altered name for no apparent reason and couldn't bear to have THESE three books in the same series... and then threw everything out to become a WHOLE NEW series. The entire thing is an insult to readers. Go for Lyn Cote or Irene Hannon- they're worlds away better than this.
June 12, 2015
A FATHER'S PROMISE
------------------
Much better written than many in the genre, A FATHER'S PROMISE delivers both a tidy story and a tidy ending.
The novel will settle well for many readers, but others will find the story too neat. A few may question the awkwardness of one of the relationships, the meek personality of the protagonist (who is described as strong but could also be described as a pushover), and the unquestioned attitude (arguably warranted and forgivable) of the child.
Overall, this is a solid read with more than one storyline and few grammatical errors. For readers looking for something that they can read without feeling the need to take a correction pen to the page, this is a good choice.
I will be adding this author to my list of writers in this genre.
March 3, 2016
I called the heroine's secret within the first few pages of the book and guessed where it was heading. Ugh, this kind of secret is on my list of automatic turnoffs (one of those things I just don't want to read about) and if that hadn't turned me off the inevitable "coincidence" would have.
I enjoy other books by this author but this kind of "surprise" and "coincidence" annoys me and makes my brain hurt. It's not worth reading to me.
I enjoy other books by this author but this kind of "surprise" and "coincidence" annoys me and makes my brain hurt. It's not worth reading to me.
January 9, 2018
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This was a good book book xx xx xx xx x x x x x x x x x x
This was a good book book xx xx xx xx x x x x x x x x x x
April 4, 2019
A wonderful, feel-good story!
July 4, 2019
Cute and easy read.
March 31, 2022
This book's storyline was okay. I liked the Christian theme in this story. Renee's character was okay. Zach's character was okay. I loved ❤ Tricia. I liked the ending.
March 17, 2017
A bit predictable but still enjoyable. This was a super quick read and if I didn't have a silly job getting in the way I probably would have finished this in 1 day. The only thing unbelievable about this book for me is that the 2 main characters didn't know each other even though we are given the impression that they are both from here. Hartley Creek is painted as a small town where everyone knows everyone so how are they meeting for the first time when he moves back there?
April 19, 2014
A father's promise
Zach and his daughter just moved to Hartley Creek after his wife passing. Renee is trying to sell her shop to help her mom get special care because of a accident that caused her to be in a wheelchair. Zach is a lawyer takes some cases over from his Father. Renee and Zach meet thru being her lawyer. He finds out she has a secret from her past that also involves him.
Zach and his daughter just moved to Hartley Creek after his wife passing. Renee is trying to sell her shop to help her mom get special care because of a accident that caused her to be in a wheelchair. Zach is a lawyer takes some cases over from his Father. Renee and Zach meet thru being her lawyer. He finds out she has a secret from her past that also involves him.
November 3, 2013
Really enjoyed this story about a widower, Zach, and his daughter who move to Hartley Creek as Renee and her mother are getting ready to leave town. They are thrown together a few times and discover that they have a few things in common and that they belong together.
June 25, 2015
I loved this book! It was very well written. The way that the 2 main characters interacted especially while trying to figure out a solution to their problem was interesting to follow. The resolution was nice and a bit unexpected.
Read
December 29, 2014Miniseries: Hearts of Hartley Creek
Category: Inspirational Romance
Category: Inspirational Romance
Read
December 29, 2014Miniseries: Hearts of Hartley Creek
Category: Inspirational Romance
Category: Inspirational Romance
September 10, 2013
Wow, a soul-touching, heart-melting, faith-building story.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews