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Hayden Sisters
The Heart Of Christmas
This Christmas, she's got her very own St. Nick!
With her business sold and her family out of reach, Abby Hayden's at loose ends.
But if Abby doesn't have enough to occupy her time, Dr. Nick McIntrye has too much. So many people rely on him for help and guidance…. No wonder Abby calls him "St. Nick."
Nick has a proposition for Abby, one he thinks will benefit them both. He persuades her to work at a home he's established for pregnant teens, girls who'll be giving up their babies for adoption.
That's where Abby learns she has a special gift: she knows how to make these girls feel loved and valued, despite their mistakes, despite their fears and lost confidence. And she receives a special gift herself—her very own St. Nick. Not just this Christmas, but for all the Christmases to come!
With her business sold and her family out of reach, Abby Hayden's at loose ends.
But if Abby doesn't have enough to occupy her time, Dr. Nick McIntrye has too much. So many people rely on him for help and guidance…. No wonder Abby calls him "St. Nick."
Nick has a proposition for Abby, one he thinks will benefit them both. He persuades her to work at a home he's established for pregnant teens, girls who'll be giving up their babies for adoption.
That's where Abby learns she has a special gift: she knows how to make these girls feel loved and valued, despite their mistakes, despite their fears and lost confidence. And she receives a special gift herself—her very own St. Nick. Not just this Christmas, but for all the Christmases to come!
188 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1998
3 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Tara Taylor Quinn
374 books1,459 followersTara Taylor Quinn began her love affair with Harlequin when she was fourteen years old and picked up a free promotional copy of a Harlequin Romance in a hometown grocery store. The relationship was solidified the year she was suspended from her high school typing class for hiding a Harlequin Romance behind the keys of her electric typewriter. Unaware that her instructor loomed close by, Ms. Quinn read blissfully on with one finger resting on the automatic repeating period key. She finished the book in the principal’s office. Forced to leave her romances in her locker after that, Ms. Quinn’s typing skills improved - a fact for which she is eternally grateful.
With over 80 original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestselling author with more than seven million copies sold. She is a winner of the 2008 National Reader's Choice Award, four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, the Holt Medallion and appears regularly on the Waldenbooks bestsellers list. Ms. Quinn writes for Harlequin and MIRA Books. Reviewer, Cindy Penn, wordweaving.com says, “Amazing character development is the hallmark of author Tara Taylor Quinn’s work. Indeed, Taylor’s profound observations of human nature and intimate understanding of values and priorities lends extraordinary psychological depth to all her work.”
Tara Taylor Quinn was born and raised in Ohio. Though she wrote her first story at the age of seven, her professional writing career began ten years later when she was hired as a stringer with the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Wright State University and graduated from Harding College in Arkansas with a degree in English and Journalism. She published several magazine articles before turning to writing as a full-time occupation.
Ms. Quinn is a Past President of the Romance Writers of America and served for eight years on the Board of Directors of that association. She has a wide range of experience as a public speaker and workshop presenter for writers groups around the country.
When she’s not home with her owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara loves to travel with her husband, stopping wherever the spirit takes them. They’ve been spotted in casinos and quaint little small town antique shops all across the country..
With over 80 original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestselling author with more than seven million copies sold. She is a winner of the 2008 National Reader's Choice Award, four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, the Holt Medallion and appears regularly on the Waldenbooks bestsellers list. Ms. Quinn writes for Harlequin and MIRA Books. Reviewer, Cindy Penn, wordweaving.com says, “Amazing character development is the hallmark of author Tara Taylor Quinn’s work. Indeed, Taylor’s profound observations of human nature and intimate understanding of values and priorities lends extraordinary psychological depth to all her work.”
Tara Taylor Quinn was born and raised in Ohio. Though she wrote her first story at the age of seven, her professional writing career began ten years later when she was hired as a stringer with the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Wright State University and graduated from Harding College in Arkansas with a degree in English and Journalism. She published several magazine articles before turning to writing as a full-time occupation.
Ms. Quinn is a Past President of the Romance Writers of America and served for eight years on the Board of Directors of that association. She has a wide range of experience as a public speaker and workshop presenter for writers groups around the country.
When she’s not home with her owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara loves to travel with her husband, stopping wherever the spirit takes them. They’ve been spotted in casinos and quaint little small town antique shops all across the country..
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 5, 2015
The Heart of Christmas is the companion volume to Father Unknown, both books by American author, Tara Taylor Quinn, both of which feature the Hayden sisters. Abby Hayden lives in a beach house in California, alone since Anna, her remaining triplet left for New York after the tragic murder of their sister, Audrey. Abby is distracted enough by her concerns (did she drive Anna away? Will Anna recover her memory? Who is the father of Anna’s baby?) that she is only vaguely aware of being followed, until she is attacked in the street. Her rescuer is Dr Nick McIntyre, a man whose career of charitable deeds seems too good to be true.
Nick needs a new housemother for his halfway house for pregnant teens. He asks Abby, although he’s not sure it’s a good idea: he’d much too attracted to her and he doesn’t have time for relationships. This romance has a charming hero, a heroine who seems determined to overthink everything (making the novel quite a bit longer than necessary), and a touch of intrigue that is solved just a bit too quickly and conveniently at the end. It can be read as a stand-alone, but readers planning to read Father Unknown should do that first to avoid spoilers. A sweet romance that would have benefitted from some judicious editing.
Nick needs a new housemother for his halfway house for pregnant teens. He asks Abby, although he’s not sure it’s a good idea: he’d much too attracted to her and he doesn’t have time for relationships. This romance has a charming hero, a heroine who seems determined to overthink everything (making the novel quite a bit longer than necessary), and a touch of intrigue that is solved just a bit too quickly and conveniently at the end. It can be read as a stand-alone, but readers planning to read Father Unknown should do that first to avoid spoilers. A sweet romance that would have benefitted from some judicious editing.
July 10, 2024
Loved Abby's story
We were introduced to Abby in Anna and Jason's story. What I like is that all the loose ends were tied up in this story. Best of all, Abby got her HEA. Wonderful.
We were introduced to Abby in Anna and Jason's story. What I like is that all the loose ends were tied up in this story. Best of all, Abby got her HEA. Wonderful.
December 24, 2019
Love this one!
January 1, 2024
I’m sort of torn on this one.
Like all Tara Taylor Quinn books - or all the ones I’ve read - The Heart of Christmas is warm and caring and humane…and features very little romance. Quinn’s heroes are kind men, which is a welcome change from a lot of romance novels, but they don’t tug at my heart. Somehow there’s never enough depth of feeling there for me to grab onto.
The supporting characters, and the plot surrounding them, are where Quinn tends to excel, and the girls in this one are appealing characters with their own personalities, whom I found easier to care about than the central romance. But I think some of my enjoyment in this book was hampered by the fact that I don’t really approve of adoption, so a lot of the things Abby said to the girls about doing a wonderful thing for couples who couldn’t have children sort of fell flat with me. That’s a me issue, a personal thing, and other readers may not have the same issue I do.
Anna’s amnesia was handled…strangely. As someone who’s suffered from amnesia myself, I’m always intrigued by how writers choose to handle it. All I can say is that none of my doctors would have coddled me the way they did Anna, or insisted on keeping Abby away from her, but that might possibly be an American vs European thing.
Overall, not one for me, but I expect other readers may enjoy this. 3 stars.
Like all Tara Taylor Quinn books - or all the ones I’ve read - The Heart of Christmas is warm and caring and humane…and features very little romance. Quinn’s heroes are kind men, which is a welcome change from a lot of romance novels, but they don’t tug at my heart. Somehow there’s never enough depth of feeling there for me to grab onto.
The supporting characters, and the plot surrounding them, are where Quinn tends to excel, and the girls in this one are appealing characters with their own personalities, whom I found easier to care about than the central romance. But I think some of my enjoyment in this book was hampered by the fact that I don’t really approve of adoption, so a lot of the things Abby said to the girls about doing a wonderful thing for couples who couldn’t have children sort of fell flat with me. That’s a me issue, a personal thing, and other readers may not have the same issue I do.
Anna’s amnesia was handled…strangely. As someone who’s suffered from amnesia myself, I’m always intrigued by how writers choose to handle it. All I can say is that none of my doctors would have coddled me the way they did Anna, or insisted on keeping Abby away from her, but that might possibly be an American vs European thing.
Overall, not one for me, but I expect other readers may enjoy this. 3 stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2010
A really wonderful superromance edition by harlequin. Just adored the storyline. My copy however has a picture of a baby lying under a christmas tree and is 296 pages long !
January 2, 2013
I read the novel about Anna before this one and I have to say that I really liked this one as well. It was written great, fell in with the other story and made everything that much more complete.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews