Doors

Coming Home #2

by Emily Minton

Six years ago, Daniel Abbott bailed on his fairytale life and walked away from his ideal job, his best friends, and Tara, the girl of his dreams. No stranger to pain, he had never been one to take the easy way out, but the thought of Tara’s betrayal-- a thought confirmed by her unexpected pregnancy-- was more than he could endure.

Tara Dupre had her fairytale life ripped away from her when Daniel walked out of her life. She knew she would never be over him. He was her one true love. After he left, she closed off her heart, moved on, and tried to make a life for her and her daughter. But she never got over the love they once shared.

Now, Daniel is home, and he's fighting to get his family back. When Tara sees him, she realizes the love they once shared never died. She has to ask herself if love is enough, though. She’s not sure she can trust him not to hurt her again, or to be the father their daughter needs.

With danger lurking, Tara is forced to let Daniel protect her. He realizes that this could be his only chance to get his family back, but knows that sharing a home is not the same as having her heart. Will Tara open the door to her heart and allow Daniel back in?

Genres: Second Chance, Romance, Novella, Short Stories, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance

62 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 5, 2016

About the author

USA Today Bestselling author, Emily Minton is a Kentucky native. She is proud to call the Bluegrass State home. She claims she bleeds blue–Wildcat Blue! She has been married to her husband, David, for over twenty years. They share two wonderful children.
Emily loves to read and has more books on her kindle than most people could read in a lifetime, but she intends to read every single one. She has published nine books, but there are many more are floating around in her head. She hopes to get them all on paper before long. She loves sharing her dreams with her readers.

Reviews

[Vintage · Rating 1 out of 5]

Who needs enemies when you have friends and family that literally pimp you out to the loser that dumped you were pregnant because he's too big a weenie to get his sperm tested. What a victim. As bad as he was, this turned into a rage read when her brother and male best friend go from wanting to pound him into the ground (an action I heartily approved of) to wishing him luck when he buys into the business.

The cherry on top of the big weenie Sundae is that he told her to get off the pill and get pregnant thinking at the time he could never get her pregnant. Does she make him earn his forgiveness? Nope, not really...just falls into bed after telling we are never, ever getting back together.

[Nikki ღ Navareus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heads up, this is a very short little novella. I think the story could have been better if it had been a little longer and fleshed out a bit. This story starts out with a bang as the heroine tells her Hero that she's pregnant with his baby. Hero doesn't believe the baby is his, so he gets really shitty with her, packs his bags and leaves.

The two don't reunite until 6 years later.

All of this is very rushed in the beginning of the story. At the 6 year mark, Hero comes back to town, sees his daughter who is undeniably the spitting image of him, and he realizes he fucked up. He says he's sorry, explains his actions and the heroine immediately jumps into bed with him. THE END.

For starting out with a nice little smidgen of angst, the story swiftly starts to go downhill, and ends with zero satisfaction.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Disappointed. That best describes how I felt after reading Doors. I didn't hate it but...

Daniel & Tara had the potential to have an awesome full-length book BUT... this mini-novella was more Wham-Bam-Thank-You-Ma'am, now their story's over. I wanted Daniel to crawl on his hands & knees & grovel like nobody's business at Tara's feet; not be forgiven almost instantly. I wanted him to romance her; not use his sick Aunt (whether said Aunt volunteered or not) to get her to come over. I wanted more angst/jealousy on Daniel's part; not have Tara's current guy turn out to be a real jerk & practically push her into Daniel's arms. I wanted... ok, I'm stopping here with my "I wanteds".

Best part? Lucas punching Daniel. (But then he had to go & sympathize with him in the next scene they had together. Grr...)

I'm confused why there was a cover released (which I really liked) when there wasn't even enough material for a full-length book. *sighs* Anyways...

The drama & delay surrounding this release/"series" has made it so I probably won't be checking out other works by this author.

[Jac K · Rating 2 out of 5]

These two were the BFFs of the couple from the previous book and had zero issues/conflicts last book and ended the epilogue with a son and pregnant again, but I was curious… and although there were some continuation issues. They only have 1 kid and it’s a daughter, the plot was a good one and she had loads to work with, but the execution was dreadful.

The book started great with Tara telling Danny that she’s pregnant in the prologue and him promptly accusing her of cheating packing his crap and leaving, but then it went off the rails because she skipped over all the angst and grovel.

I get she only had 60 pages to work with, but too much was wasted with filler and them having conversations with other people. We skipped over all her heartbreak and struggle with a 6-year time jump and info dump. Then they make up with their first conversation and immediately have sex. Next scene is the epilogue 20-ish years in the future.

Bottom Line- Good concept, poor execution. There were so many wasted pages with conversations with other people and useless scenes with an OW and OM that only took away from potential grovel time.

[Tmstprc · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I read the first hot mess figured I’d double down.

Blah, blah, blah... whatever... that’s about how long the novella lasts.

More potential than story.

[Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was looking forward to Daniel and Tara's story. What a big disappointment I think it took me minutes to read. How can you adequately write a story in so few pages and put across how Tara forgives Daniel after abandoning her for 6 years when she was pregnant.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trials of Life

I really like this book even though it was short it was too the point. You also could learn that you should always we open and honest with your partner or you could potentially lose years.

Daniel believes Tara cheated on him when she tells him she is pregnant even though they were trying for a baby.

They see each other after 6 years and Daniel learns the truth, and also gives Tara some information as to why he believed the way he did.

[Neringa Neringiukas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know how to feel about this story. I know I'm a little pissy and annoyed with Tara. She let him in to easily. I know she still loves him. But love sometimes isn’t everything. I know Danny explained, why he left her. But though, his excuse was kinda serious, it still has a lot of holes in it. And I know this is about second chances, but still... His excuse didn't do anything for me. But it did for Tara. Because the next thing you know after his explaining, they are having naked time. And that made me a little disappointed in Tara.

Not to mention I kinda expected more from the story. The plot is really promising, the prologue caught me in, but the all story itself, it was too rushed. And when I turned to go on next page and it was epilogue. It left me kinda confused.

So, I'm back to my first sentence. How I'm felling about this book? This is one of those rare moments, when I have no clue.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good thing this was free because it was horrible! I just don't understand it when writers have the H be a complete a$$ and the h a doormat. Yeah the H thought he had a good reason for believing the h cheated on him, but if you truly love someone, you have faith in them, not think the absolute worst. Not to mention the h taking the H back immediately. Terrible.

[RCK *don’t be all, like, uncool* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better then the first but it really should have been a full length book instead of a novella.

heroine forgave Hero way way way too fast!

[Angel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is from the authors website:

"Hey Y'all,
When I started writing Doors, over two years ago, I quickly became flustered with Danny and Tara’s story. No matter how hard I tried, I could not develop their story the way I wanted. I wrote, deleted, wrote some more and deleted again. Finally, after months and months of frustration, I decided to make it a mini-novella and give it away to my fans as a gift. I did that last month and posted the links on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads. Still, readers were asking for me to upload it onto Amazon. I did that last night.
I attempted to make it a perm-free book, but Amazon would not allow me to price it under 99 cents. So, I placed it in Kindle Unlimted and priced it at 99 cents. Since then, many of my readers have been upset about the short length of Doors. For the first time in my career, I am receiving more bad reviews then good and nearly all of them are complaining about the short length.
It kills me to disappoint my fans, so I have decided to remove Doors from Amazon. I will put it back up, as soon as Amazon changes the price to free. Until then, you can read it for free here or download the mobi file and send it to your kindle.
Thanks, Emily "

>>> Even Knowing all that .. this story still didn't set well with me ...
Everything just happened so so fast, it held no emotion ... and I just couldn't connect with the characters or the story
#SorryNotSorry

[LaBlue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wtf!! This book had a fantastic plot line and this author basically pissed it away! This book was too short and the author not deep enough to make it work. It was too fast paced and the subject matter too deep for this to work in this kind of setting.

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 pudo ser mejor, tener algo más de contenido, desarrollar un poco más la historia. sirve el propósito de entretener.

[Doris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book sure makes the old saying “short and sweet” a true statement again because even though it was short it was packed full of a lot of different emotions. The author knows how to draw you in immediately and she keeps you there the whole time. Doors was about a lot of misunderstandings and the power of real love between a man and a woman and parents and their children. Sure I wish it was longer but I wish that no matter how long a good book is. So whatever you do don’t let the length of the book keep you from reading it because you will be missing out on one hell of a good story.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much potential but it fell short!

I waited so long for this book to be released only to get a mini novella that in all honesty should have been free. I really liked the first book and was looking forward to this one but I felt like it was too rushed and it could have been well developed into a good book had there been some time put into it. I hope the author considers rewriting and rereleasing this book by making it a lot longer. I'm really disappointed tbh.

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too short and the story very quickly. The couple reunited, have sex and they get together again. After being dumped and being alone for 6 years, create a daughter alone and be accused of cheating. I really expected a more elaborate history and with more development. I love the author, but I was disappointed after waiting so much for history.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has so much potential to be a full length Novel.

After everything that Daniel done, Tara forgave him so quickly. Such a disappointment.

[Lana · Rating 1 out of 5]

So annoyed with this hero and the heroine.
Who lies to the so-called love of their life about their childhood illness, lies and keeps their hopes up about having kids together, and then accuses their partner of cheating? Daniel would.

It's not even his reaction to the "betrayal" that pissed me off - at least, not alone. It was also the way the heroine apparently never tried to talk to him again or even got in touch with his family about it. Then 6 years later, she is SO quick to accommodate Daniel's aunt's wishes to see her daughter which means letting Daniel se her too. She even reveals all her cards that she would "never love anyone again" and then lets Daniel explain his crappy side of the story without so much as a day's worth of groveling. Literally one day back and she her half-hearted resistance was infuriating.
She lets him explain, says everything he shared doesn't excuse his behavior (the first sentence she said that made any sense) but then falls into bed with him 2 seconds later where they share i-love-yous and renew promises of forever.

He has messed up so badly, let us count the ways:
1-not telling her about his illness
2-LYING about having kids together - this is a BIG ONE. He apparently did it so that she doesn't leave him because he loves her too much. If he really couldn't have kids- that is something she has a right to know. Not get her hopes up about it and waste her time.
3- Leaving her when she is pregnant. At first, he is angry because he "never would have expected her to bu untrue". Then he later says he would have forgiven her cheating because he is just too in love with her and would have killed the other guy. He actually left her because he was upset that someone else gave her what he couldn't. Sir?? Pick a story and stick to it.
4-He is gone for 6 years, letting Tara pay off their house mortgage alone while her dad died and raising a child by herself, working two jobs.

She doesn't make him grovel or make up for that kind of abandonment.

I'm done.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love this authors writing but this book didn't give the characters any justice. When Tara told Danny she was pregnant he ups and walks out on her without any explanation.
Now he is back 6 yrs. later because the aunt that raised him is dying.
When he sets eyes on the daughter he denied he realizes for the last 6 yrs he lost out on her growing up.
His excuse is NOT good enough. If he would have discussed it with her first instead of taking off like the coward he was.
Then for Tara to instantly forgive him. Which this book needed to be a full book and not a novella.
Not a whole lot of background of what has been happening the last 6 yrs. Of course Danny loved Tara but that didn't stop him from sleeping with any and every one. He literally leaves town to come home after jumping out of some random hook up. He is disgusting and Tara is an idiot.

[Crystal · Rating 1 out of 5]

More of the same writing style as the previous book that is just not for me. Also a good story idea like the first, but the delivery was not there. I feel like this level of betrayal requires a book's worth of groveling and there was zero. Literally zero. She hears him out, tells him to leave, and he refuses. Then she lets him in to talk but no funny business, except one kiss and she folds and that was that. Weak and pathetic.

Points, though, for his little girl sadly telling him she'd eat veggies so that he will like her, which makes him feel guilty. He deserved it.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Obvious story that’s rubbish

There’s a short story and then there’s this rubbish. I know it’s advertised as a short story but why did it have to be so awful. The reasoning for the MMC leaving was so obvious from the first page that there really was no story to tell. MFC takes him back almost immediately and then we skip years later to a boring epilogue which once again is signposted from the first couple of lines. There’s no substance to this story whatsoever and the writing style is just dull. Avoid even though it’s available free via Kindle Unlimited.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second Chance Story

Short second chance story. It was ok. I think my biggest problem was how short it was. Tara and Daniel don’t have the big talk until about 65% into the book and the epilogue came at 78%. Tara was way too forgiving for me. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted her and Daniel together but jeez…. Make him work for it a little bit.

[v'sreadingjourney · Rating 2 out of 5]

​​​​

Method: ebook
Rating: 2/5 stars
H rating: 2/5 - Daniel
h rating: 2/5 - Tara
Drama: 3/5
Thoughts: No grovel.

[Nic2416]

Blech. Just no. DNF’ed at 42% and it’s only 62 pages. He leaves because he thinks she cheated for reasons, never explained to his wife why and was deceiving her about something their whole relationship prior to her pregnancy. And he’s spent last 6 years sleeping with a ton of people who he treats like crap. And I’m supposed to get on board with his wife taking him back. No thanks.

[Dre · Rating 1 out of 5]

The trauma created by Daniel required a much longer book to resolve. This was way to short to address the why of what he did and have any kind of resolution. Honestly, I'm not sure Daniel would have deserved a second chance no matter what he did or how much he groveled, but I'm certain he didn't deserve for Tara to just hear his sad story and all is forgiven.

[Georgette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute novella.
Quick easy read. Took me about an hour to read.
Danny is an @$$!!!!
I wouldn't have forgiven him so easily...nope, not me at all!
But...it was a cute overall story.
I think I'm going to read the first book in this, see if I enjoy it more than this one.

[Christy Daeger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would love to see the author rewrite this book as a full novel. The plot was intriguing and I wanted more of the story. If the author ever decides to write a full novel instead of a novella I would re-read it.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doors

Loved it! I'm so happy that Tara and Daniel finally got to have their story told. I was excited for them to find their way back to each other and get their own happily ever after.

[maryanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great but rushed.

This is a novella., can read it in under an hour. Very short. I wish it was longer as it’s got all the elements of a great grovel/redemption read. I really wanted that angst to be drawn out. Hope one day author decides to flesh it out as it'll be incredible.

[Dee Haddrill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blech! The two stars is because the writing was good. The story was dreadful. Her friends throw her under the bus and help him stay in town. She takes him back with no grovel. Yeah, that’s a massive no from me

In my humble opinion, of course 💙