#1 in the Orchard Valley romance series
This was a very pleasant surprise, although it shouldn't have been because I usually like Macomber's romances. What surprised me, though, was that this was written in 1983, and the women in the story were much more enlightened than the usual women in the books of this time period. Valerie is a top executive, but she rushes home to Oregon when her father has a heart attack. As she gets to know her father's doctor/surgeon, she starts to feel romantic sparks which are reciprocated. But Colby (Dr. Winston) has decided he wants to marry an old-fashioned woman who will be a homemaker and mother to his kids. Valerie won't fit that mold. Both of them realize that their expectations for marriage won't mesh, so they resist any hint of a relationship. But when Valerie's father has a dream that convinces him that Valerie and Colby will marry, he can't stop pushing them together. I liked the realistic expectations that both main characters had, as well as the fact that both respected the other's life choices. They felt sparks, but they also acted like grown-ups and didn't just jump into bed together or decide that love would conquer all. Colby was not the controlling alpha that many men of that genre/time period are. The characters were all great, approachable, and vulnerable. Supporting characters of Dad David and sisters Steffie and Norah added some good dimension to the back stories. A good book that promises to continue as a pleasant short series.