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The Daddy School #4
Dr. Dad
Dr. Toby Cole, a widowed pediatrician, is delighted. Lindsey, his exasperating ten-year-old daughter, is out of the doldrums at last. A new friend has moved in next door.
Well, not a friend friend. Susannah Dawson is the retired thirty-two-year-old star of the hit soap opera Mercy Hospital, who has fled to small-town Connecticut to escape the Hollywood glitz. Toby's sure she can be a positive influence in Lindsey's increasingly rebellious life.
Before long, Toby and Susannah have to acknowledge that they are a positive influence in each other's lives. In fact, they've fallen in love.
Toby is smitten with Susannah. Lindsey is smitten with Susannah. It sounds ideal. It's not!
Maybe what Toby needs now is the Daddy School - to help him sort out the jealousy and disloyalty he and his daughter have started to feel.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2000
80 people are currently reading
145 people want to read
About the author
Judith Arnold
183 books173 followersBarbara Keiler
aka Ariel Berk, Thea Frederick, Judith Arnold
Barbara Keiler was born on April 7th. She started telling stories before shecould write. She was four when her sister, Carolyn, stuffed a crayon intoher hand and taught her the alphabet, and she's been writing ever since.
Barbara is a graduate of Smith College, where she learned to aim for thestars, and she received a master's degree in creative writing from BrownUniversity, where she took aim at a good-looking graduate student in thechemistry department and wound up marrying him. She says: "Before myhusband and I were married, I had a job in California and he was working onhis Ph.D. in Rhode Island. I became ill, and he hopped on a plane and flewacross the country to be with me. Neither of us had any money, but he saidhe simply couldn't concentrate on his research, knowing I was three thousandmiles away and facing a serious health problem all by myself. He stayed fortwo weeks, until I was pretty well recovered. That he would just drop whathe was doing, put his life on hold and race to my side told me how much heloved me. After that, I knew this was the man I wanted to marry."
Barbara has received writing fellowships from the Shubert Foundation and theNational Endowment for the Arts, and has taught at colleges and universitiesaround the country. She has also written several plays that have beenprofessionally staged at regional theaters in San Francisco, Washington, D.C.,Connecticut and off-off-Broadway.
Since her first romance novel's publication in 1983 as Ariel Berk. Shewrote one novel as Thea Frederick, and since 1985 she writes asJudith Arnold. Barbara has sold more than 70 novels, with eight millioncopies in print worldwide. She has recently signed a contract with MIRABooks. Her first MIRA novel will appear in 2001. She has received severalawards from Romantic Times Magazine, including awards for the Best HarlequinAmerican Romance of the Year, Best Harlequin Superromance of the Year, BestSeries Romantic Novel of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Certificate ofMerit for Innovative Series Romance. She has also been a finalist for theGolden Medallion Award and the RITA Award for Romance Writer of America. Hernovel Barefoot in the Grass has appeared on the recommended reading listsdistributed by cancer support services at several hospitals.
Barbara lives in a small town not far from Boston, Massachusetts, New England with her husband, two teenage sons, and a guinea pig named Wilbur. Her sister Carolyn died of breast cancer in 1998.
aka Ariel Berk, Thea Frederick, Judith Arnold
Barbara Keiler was born on April 7th. She started telling stories before shecould write. She was four when her sister, Carolyn, stuffed a crayon intoher hand and taught her the alphabet, and she's been writing ever since.
Barbara is a graduate of Smith College, where she learned to aim for thestars, and she received a master's degree in creative writing from BrownUniversity, where she took aim at a good-looking graduate student in thechemistry department and wound up marrying him. She says: "Before myhusband and I were married, I had a job in California and he was working onhis Ph.D. in Rhode Island. I became ill, and he hopped on a plane and flewacross the country to be with me. Neither of us had any money, but he saidhe simply couldn't concentrate on his research, knowing I was three thousandmiles away and facing a serious health problem all by myself. He stayed fortwo weeks, until I was pretty well recovered. That he would just drop whathe was doing, put his life on hold and race to my side told me how much heloved me. After that, I knew this was the man I wanted to marry."
Barbara has received writing fellowships from the Shubert Foundation and theNational Endowment for the Arts, and has taught at colleges and universitiesaround the country. She has also written several plays that have beenprofessionally staged at regional theaters in San Francisco, Washington, D.C.,Connecticut and off-off-Broadway.
Since her first romance novel's publication in 1983 as Ariel Berk. Shewrote one novel as Thea Frederick, and since 1985 she writes asJudith Arnold. Barbara has sold more than 70 novels, with eight millioncopies in print worldwide. She has recently signed a contract with MIRABooks. Her first MIRA novel will appear in 2001. She has received severalawards from Romantic Times Magazine, including awards for the Best HarlequinAmerican Romance of the Year, Best Harlequin Superromance of the Year, BestSeries Romantic Novel of the Year and a Lifetime Achievement Certificate ofMerit for Innovative Series Romance. She has also been a finalist for theGolden Medallion Award and the RITA Award for Romance Writer of America. Hernovel Barefoot in the Grass has appeared on the recommended reading listsdistributed by cancer support services at several hospitals.
Barbara lives in a small town not far from Boston, Massachusetts, New England with her husband, two teenage sons, and a guinea pig named Wilbur. Her sister Carolyn died of breast cancer in 1998.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 13, 2022
Short, easy read. Too short. Could have used a lot of fleshing out. Romance between the couple happens unrealistically quickly with no development worth mentioning. Instant attraction without much motivation in either character for why they should find the other so attractive that rapidly. Even the resolution of the story seemed too quick and not very suspenseful. The premise was good, but the execution was poor. Could have been a better story spread out across 60% more pages with a longer lead time to first "attraction" and a more drawn out climax. Extra pages would have created space to make the romance more believable also, because it seemed as if the attraction the woman felt for the man was very unmotivated and forced. A little time to make it develop slowly and naturally would have helped a lot.
September 12, 2022
The Right Prescription
Dr. Tobias Cole is widower raising his 10 year old daughter Lindsey and running a busy pediatric practice. He loves his daughter, but she’s entered a phase where he’s not quite sure how her mood will be at any given time—mostly grumpy and sarcastic. The only thing that seems to brighten her up is the new neighbor, Susannah Dawson. According to Lindsey, she’s a tv star, but he just sees a beautiful woman that he finds distinctly attractive. The more he gets to know her, the more he likes what he finds. With some help from The Daddy School, Tobias may better learn to cope with his daughter by paying attention to what he needs as well.
Dr. Tobias Cole is widower raising his 10 year old daughter Lindsey and running a busy pediatric practice. He loves his daughter, but she’s entered a phase where he’s not quite sure how her mood will be at any given time—mostly grumpy and sarcastic. The only thing that seems to brighten her up is the new neighbor, Susannah Dawson. According to Lindsey, she’s a tv star, but he just sees a beautiful woman that he finds distinctly attractive. The more he gets to know her, the more he likes what he finds. With some help from The Daddy School, Tobias may better learn to cope with his daughter by paying attention to what he needs as well.
August 19, 2023
Abrupt, unsatisfying ending
I've enjoyed this series. And this book was pretty good too. Until it just ended. Abruptly. I felt like that last chapter used to tie up loose ends was omitted. Like the author looked up and saw she was late for an appointment, so she stopped typing.
Happily Ever After endings usually include resolving all misunderstandings and conflict, not just getting the main characters to say the L word. I felt a little ripped off not seeing the final conflict with the daughter resolved (or at least addressed).
I've enjoyed this series. And this book was pretty good too. Until it just ended. Abruptly. I felt like that last chapter used to tie up loose ends was omitted. Like the author looked up and saw she was late for an appointment, so she stopped typing.
Happily Ever After endings usually include resolving all misunderstandings and conflict, not just getting the main characters to say the L word. I felt a little ripped off not seeing the final conflict with the daughter resolved (or at least addressed).
May 27, 2021
Good story
I enjoyed this story and the reader understands that the book ended positively. But I would have appreciated an actual wrap up to the story indicating that Lindsey did, indeed, accept the relationship between her dad and Susannah.
I enjoyed this story and the reader understands that the book ended positively. But I would have appreciated an actual wrap up to the story indicating that Lindsey did, indeed, accept the relationship between her dad and Susannah.
November 22, 2023
Excellent
This was a really good story! The characters were realistic and complicated. Dealing with preteens is difficult for any parent and a widower with a preteen girl is in for even more trouble. ❤👍
This was a really good story! The characters were realistic and complicated. Dealing with preteens is difficult for any parent and a widower with a preteen girl is in for even more trouble. ❤👍
August 23, 2022
1.5 stars
August 24, 2022
I wanted to know more about the scripts she was writing. Ending was oddly abrupt.
October 4, 2022
Liked this book very much. Good story
December 25, 2024
Disappointed with the way it ended.
The ending was very abrupt. No real closure, just stopped leaving me unsatisfied and mystified wondering why it just stopped.
The ending was very abrupt. No real closure, just stopped leaving me unsatisfied and mystified wondering why it just stopped.
June 24, 2015
Toby is a widower trying to raise a 10-year-old daughter who has recently become a superbrat. Susannah is the ex-soap star who has just moved in next door, after escaping the Hollywood life - and just happens to be the idol of 10-year-old Lindsey. But can Lindsey accept Susannah as a friend, now that she's given up the glamour of acting? And when Toby and Susannah realise that they want to be more than friends, will their budding relationship survive Lindsey's mood swings and their own personal demons?
I feel like I should have liked this book, and I can't figure out why I didn't. It's the second time I've read it - once just now, once about five years ago - and I couldn't warm to it either time. I don't know why. I couldn't get drawn in by the characters - Lindsey was a brat, Toby seemed entirely too rigid and unbending to parent a preteen daughter successfully, and Susannah just seemed a bit wet to me. Nor did I feel any heat from the romance, which felt to me like an afterthought rather than the central plot. There was so much focus on the Toby-Lindsey and Susannah-Lindsey relationships, and not enough on the Toby-Susannah for my taste - and what was there seemed strained to me.
So not one I'll try again. I don't know why sometimes all the elements of a nice book are there, and somehow they don't come together in a shape that works for me, but I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes. 2 - 2.5 stars.
I feel like I should have liked this book, and I can't figure out why I didn't. It's the second time I've read it - once just now, once about five years ago - and I couldn't warm to it either time. I don't know why. I couldn't get drawn in by the characters - Lindsey was a brat, Toby seemed entirely too rigid and unbending to parent a preteen daughter successfully, and Susannah just seemed a bit wet to me. Nor did I feel any heat from the romance, which felt to me like an afterthought rather than the central plot. There was so much focus on the Toby-Lindsey and Susannah-Lindsey relationships, and not enough on the Toby-Susannah for my taste - and what was there seemed strained to me.
So not one I'll try again. I don't know why sometimes all the elements of a nice book are there, and somehow they don't come together in a shape that works for me, but I guess that's just the way it goes sometimes. 2 - 2.5 stars.
April 10, 2016
Contemporary (pre-iphone) romance with a widower single parent doctor finding love with the new next door neighbor, ex-sitcom actrice.
Dr. Toby Cole's life revolves around his pediatric doctor job and his ten year old daughter. He has no social life so the timeing of meeting the new neighbor Susannah Dawson as he is taking daddy school classes where he learns that he needs to start getting a life. This is not an easy thing to do in his small Connecticut town. But dating and falling in love make his life easier and promptly harder.
Lindsey is a great annoying pre-teen angsty character that rang true as a real confused kid.
Not so fluff story about three people working hard to be happy in a world that is full of selfish people.
I liked this story.
298 pages
2 stars
Dr. Toby Cole's life revolves around his pediatric doctor job and his ten year old daughter. He has no social life so the timeing of meeting the new neighbor Susannah Dawson as he is taking daddy school classes where he learns that he needs to start getting a life. This is not an easy thing to do in his small Connecticut town. But dating and falling in love make his life easier and promptly harder.
Lindsey is a great annoying pre-teen angsty character that rang true as a real confused kid.
Not so fluff story about three people working hard to be happy in a world that is full of selfish people.
I liked this story.
298 pages
2 stars
August 5, 2016
I enjoyed this book. I see it has been re-written with more of Daddy School in the title.
A widowed doctor is raising his pre-teen daughter when an actress moves in next door. They try their best not to fall in love but as this is published by Harlequin, they have to.
I like the descriptions of the characters including the cat.
A widowed doctor is raising his pre-teen daughter when an actress moves in next door. They try their best not to fall in love but as this is published by Harlequin, they have to.
I like the descriptions of the characters including the cat.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews