What do you think?
Rate this book
Serenity House #1
Practice Makes Perfect
Paige Kendrick was one of the first residents of Serenity House, a home for troubled teens in the Southern Tier of New York. Pregnant, orphaned, and in charge of her younger sister, Paige was terrified about her future. After giving up her child for adoption, she not only cares for her sister, but becomes a well-respected pediatrician in an upscale practice. Her life is fine until she meets pushy and full-of-himself Ian Chandler, an OB/GYN, who’s starting an inner city clinic. He wants Paige to work with him, deal with teen moms like the one she used to be, and devote her professional time to his project. When their relationship turns personal, Ian decides he wants Paige in his bed, and his future. But she balks at the commitment. Ian won’t stop, though, until he convinces her they were meant to be together.
285 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2002
16 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Kathryn Shay
173 books501 followersKathryn Shay is a lifelong writer. At fifteen, she penned her first 'romance,' a short story about a female newspaper reporter in New York City and her fight to make a name for herself in a world of male journalists - and with one hardheaded editor in particular. Looking back, Kathryn says she should have known then that writing was in her future. But as so often happens, fate sent her detouring down another path.
Fully intending to pursue her dream of big city lights and success in the literary world, Kathryn took every creative writing class available at the small private women's college she attended in upstate New York. Instead, other dreams took precedence. She met and subsequently married a wonderful guy who'd attended a neighboring school, then completed her practice teaching, a requirement for the education degree she never intended to use. But says Kathryn, "I fell in love with teaching the first day I was up in front of a class, and knew I was meant to do that."
Kathryn went on to build a successful career in the New York state school system, thoroughly enjoying her work with adolescents. But by the early 1990s, she'd again made room in her life for writing. It was then that she submitted her first manuscript to publishers and agents. Despite enduring two years of rejections, she persevered. And on a snowy December afternoon in 1994, Kathryn Shay sold her first book to Harlequin Superromance.
Since that first sale, Kathryn has written twenty-one books for Harlequin, nine mainstream contemporary romances for the Berkley Publishing Group, and two online novellas, which Berkley then published in traditional print format.
Kathryn has become known for her powerful characterizations - readers say they feel they know the people in her books - and her heart-wrenching, emotional writing (her favorite comments are that fans cried while reading her books or stayed up late to finish them). In testament to her skill, the author has won five RT BookClub Magazine Reviewers Choice Awards, three Holt Medallions, two Desert Quill Awards, the Golden Leaf Award, and several online accolades.
Even in light of her writing success, that initial love of teaching never wavered for Kathryn. She finished out her teaching career in 2004, retiring from the same school where her career began. These days, she lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children. "My life is very full," she reports, "but very happy. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to pursue and achieve my dreams."
Fully intending to pursue her dream of big city lights and success in the literary world, Kathryn took every creative writing class available at the small private women's college she attended in upstate New York. Instead, other dreams took precedence. She met and subsequently married a wonderful guy who'd attended a neighboring school, then completed her practice teaching, a requirement for the education degree she never intended to use. But says Kathryn, "I fell in love with teaching the first day I was up in front of a class, and knew I was meant to do that."
Kathryn went on to build a successful career in the New York state school system, thoroughly enjoying her work with adolescents. But by the early 1990s, she'd again made room in her life for writing. It was then that she submitted her first manuscript to publishers and agents. Despite enduring two years of rejections, she persevered. And on a snowy December afternoon in 1994, Kathryn Shay sold her first book to Harlequin Superromance.
Since that first sale, Kathryn has written twenty-one books for Harlequin, nine mainstream contemporary romances for the Berkley Publishing Group, and two online novellas, which Berkley then published in traditional print format.
Kathryn has become known for her powerful characterizations - readers say they feel they know the people in her books - and her heart-wrenching, emotional writing (her favorite comments are that fans cried while reading her books or stayed up late to finish them). In testament to her skill, the author has won five RT BookClub Magazine Reviewers Choice Awards, three Holt Medallions, two Desert Quill Awards, the Golden Leaf Award, and several online accolades.
Even in light of her writing success, that initial love of teaching never wavered for Kathryn. She finished out her teaching career in 2004, retiring from the same school where her career began. These days, she lives in upstate New York with her husband and two children. "My life is very full," she reports, "but very happy. I consider myself fortunate to have been able to pursue and achieve my dreams."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 31, 2014
The dysfunctional people in this book deserve each other. I liked the dog.
January 14, 2022
This writer consistently writes about tough subjects. Here, it’s about single moms and adoptions. The reader knows, after the initial three or four chapters where the story is leading and we don’t want to go there, but we cannot stop ourselves. It’s like seeing an accident on the highway and not being able to look away.
Without spoiling the story, the hero, Ian, makes a big decision that wasn’t his to make. It is devastating. Paige, the heroine, doesn’t take it well, of course. Ian doesn’t learn…ever…and he continues making decisions for Paige and others around him. It really is beyond the alpha male norm. Although he is an engaging enough character, I never had the feeling that these decisions that Ian makes were for anyone else’s good as much as it was for his own, according to his infallible (hmmm) viewpoint.
Paige has far too many issues; this is my second book by Ms. Shay, and all of her characters seem overloaded with concerns, problems, pathos. It really is, at times, too much. I’m not sure how Paige can get out of bed in the mornings, her issues weigh her down so.
There are a few errors:
>> “When they were alone, Elliot told her, ‘He’s married, you know.’” Since Elliot just left the room, and Elliott is the topic of conversation, it is actually Ian who is speaking. This is maximally confusing and forces the reader to go back and reread paragraphs in order to figure out who has left and who is speaking.
>> Small point, but “obgyn” is usually printed like this: OB/Gyn and pronounced by sounding out each letter as in “Oh Bee Gee Why En.”
>> There are several problems with missing quotation marks and figuring out who is speaking becomes difficult; the printed structure of conversations is frequently bad and needs some additional proofreading.
Finally, I do not like cliff hangers. We can infer from what the writer implies that all will be well for Paige and Ian but so much is left up in the air. No doubt it’s to entice us to buy the next book in the series. Not going to work for me: I am not reading any more in this series. When the writing is strong enough, and the topics hold our interests, then we will seek out a good writer’s books.
I rated this book 3.5 stars and rounded down because of the cliffhanger. There are a LOT of things left up in the air. If you like cliffhangers, then by all means enjoy this book. If you do not, then stay away. There are many excellent writers to choose from, writers who do not leave a reader hanging and who know how to end a book while making the reader yearn for more.
Without spoiling the story, the hero, Ian, makes a big decision that wasn’t his to make. It is devastating. Paige, the heroine, doesn’t take it well, of course. Ian doesn’t learn…ever…and he continues making decisions for Paige and others around him. It really is beyond the alpha male norm. Although he is an engaging enough character, I never had the feeling that these decisions that Ian makes were for anyone else’s good as much as it was for his own, according to his infallible (hmmm) viewpoint.
Paige has far too many issues; this is my second book by Ms. Shay, and all of her characters seem overloaded with concerns, problems, pathos. It really is, at times, too much. I’m not sure how Paige can get out of bed in the mornings, her issues weigh her down so.
There are a few errors:
>> “When they were alone, Elliot told her, ‘He’s married, you know.’” Since Elliot just left the room, and Elliott is the topic of conversation, it is actually Ian who is speaking. This is maximally confusing and forces the reader to go back and reread paragraphs in order to figure out who has left and who is speaking.
>> Small point, but “obgyn” is usually printed like this: OB/Gyn and pronounced by sounding out each letter as in “Oh Bee Gee Why En.”
>> There are several problems with missing quotation marks and figuring out who is speaking becomes difficult; the printed structure of conversations is frequently bad and needs some additional proofreading.
Finally, I do not like cliff hangers. We can infer from what the writer implies that all will be well for Paige and Ian but so much is left up in the air. No doubt it’s to entice us to buy the next book in the series. Not going to work for me: I am not reading any more in this series. When the writing is strong enough, and the topics hold our interests, then we will seek out a good writer’s books.
I rated this book 3.5 stars and rounded down because of the cliffhanger. There are a LOT of things left up in the air. If you like cliffhangers, then by all means enjoy this book. If you do not, then stay away. There are many excellent writers to choose from, writers who do not leave a reader hanging and who know how to end a book while making the reader yearn for more.
February 8, 2020
Amazing book!
I love every book I've ever read by Kathryn Shay, she's an amazing author. This book is up there as one of my favorites.
Paige Kendrick is a pediatrician. She has an expensive practice that caters to wealthy families on purpose. She to the trauma of her drug using parents, her getting pregnant at 17, and their death, Paige grew up way before her time. She raised her younger sister, Jade, because her parents were too busy partying. When they were arrested and sent to rehab, Paige and Jade were sent to Serenity House to stay until they came home. Serenity House was an all girls place the state sent troubled kids to stay when they had to be separated from their families or if the girl was a trouble maker, the judge sent her there so she can straighten up her act. On the day her parents were released from rehab, they bought drugs and got high before picking up their girls. But They never made it to see them, they got into an accident and died on the way there. That night changed Paige's whole life.
Now as a respected and sought after pediatrician, Paige makes sure she doesn't see underage moms with their newborns. It's too hard on her. When Dr. Ian Chandler asks Paige to be his new baby doctor for the new medical center for underprivileged kids and first time moms, Paige declines. But Ian is determined to have her there, and will use any route to get her there; even manipulation.When
Ian Chandler is a ob/gyn. He's also a good looking, arrogant bachelor. He wants to get under Paige's cold exterior, that she wears as her armor, and get to know her. She's beautiful but she has demons that he can clearly see her fighting.
Will Paige ever tell Ian about her past so they can build their future?
A must read!
I love every book I've ever read by Kathryn Shay, she's an amazing author. This book is up there as one of my favorites.
Paige Kendrick is a pediatrician. She has an expensive practice that caters to wealthy families on purpose. She to the trauma of her drug using parents, her getting pregnant at 17, and their death, Paige grew up way before her time. She raised her younger sister, Jade, because her parents were too busy partying. When they were arrested and sent to rehab, Paige and Jade were sent to Serenity House to stay until they came home. Serenity House was an all girls place the state sent troubled kids to stay when they had to be separated from their families or if the girl was a trouble maker, the judge sent her there so she can straighten up her act. On the day her parents were released from rehab, they bought drugs and got high before picking up their girls. But They never made it to see them, they got into an accident and died on the way there. That night changed Paige's whole life.
Now as a respected and sought after pediatrician, Paige makes sure she doesn't see underage moms with their newborns. It's too hard on her. When Dr. Ian Chandler asks Paige to be his new baby doctor for the new medical center for underprivileged kids and first time moms, Paige declines. But Ian is determined to have her there, and will use any route to get her there; even manipulation.When
Ian Chandler is a ob/gyn. He's also a good looking, arrogant bachelor. He wants to get under Paige's cold exterior, that she wears as her armor, and get to know her. She's beautiful but she has demons that he can clearly see her fighting.
Will Paige ever tell Ian about her past so they can build their future?
A must read!
July 28, 2017
I received this free e-book as part of a boxed set Beginnings and I am voluntarily writing a review. I love that Kathryn Shay writes about strong, flawed less than perfect characters and has such insight into human nature. Paige is a pediatrician in a lucrative private practice that is haunted by her past deep secrets that makes trusting people impossible and has made her a loner. Ian is an OB-GYN that is running a free clinic for lower income patients and is trying to recruit Paige to work at the clinic. As pointed out in his book what is right for one is not right for another.
September 20, 2017
Another series to read.
May 16, 2018
Excellent job of portraying both sides of whether to have an open or closed adoption.
April 13, 2019
Heart-wrenching and often frustrating story. Frustrating because of heroine's resistance. But Shay's characters are well developed. Definitely worth adding to your reading list.
February 2, 2022
A little too much drama and lots of story to then end so abruptly. I know this is part of a trilogy, but I probably won’t finish it.
April 6, 2022
A thoughtful romance with an interesting premise. The characters were compelling but also annoyed me.
April 14, 2013
This was a pleasant enough read. I plan to read the other two books in the trilogy, which is something I tend not to do.
January 26, 2014
a nice romance novel
March 12, 2014
This was my second read of this book. I like the characters - especially their imperfections. It is very realistic how they try their best, make mistakes, and then make amends.
own-under-diff-title-or-anthology
October 11, 2014Serenity House Trilogy
Want to read
July 23, 2017included in Beginnings box set
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews