Sing Me Home

Love Finds a Home #1

by Jerri Corgiat

“A delightful book.”—bestselling author Catherine Anderson “A treasure…a tender romantic story”—bestselling author Susan Wiggs RT Bookclub Editors’ nomination for 2004 Best Contemporary Novel with Romantic Elements Country rock star Jonathan Van Castle is back on the road and back in the spotlight. Fleeing ecstatic fans at a small-town stop in the Missouri Ozarks, he lands at the mercy of a singularly unimpressed widow, Lil O’Malley Ryan. Jon is intent on reviving his career and gaining custody of his children from a scheming ex-wife. Lil is trying to rebuild her life and hang on to her livelihood amid the always well-meaning and often-exasperating advice and bustle of her big close-knit family. Neither has romance on the mind. But when Jon’s children are jeopoardized, they join forces—and soon the big-time country singer and small-town bookseller discover love is a melody you just can’t forget. What the critics said… “...builds rapidly toward a shattering climax.” —Booklist “The unforgettable characters resonate long after the last page is turned.” —RT Bookclub Feb, 2004 “Filled with joy and laughter, pathos and challenges...very highly recommended.” —Cynthia Penn, Midwest Book Reviews Originally published by Penguin Putnam in 2004 Author revised in 2016

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Ebooks

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 3, 2004

Reviews

[Lynette Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the story --a music star trying to get custody of his two young Children from his ex-wife-- who all but ruined his career and is abusive to the children and a widow who is still getting over the death3 years ago of her husband -- a lovely tale of finding new love

[Rosemarie Liberi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light read

Enjoyable read. A new author to me and I enjoyed her writing style. Very easy to read and light. I look forward to looking into others.

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The last 10% of the book was WILD. I enjoyed this.

[ShyAnn64 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lilac O'Malley Ryan doesn't even recognize country music star Jonathan Van Castle when he bursts into her store. And she's bewildered by what seem like tongue-tied attempts at charm. She just wants to make a sale-and get him out the door. But it turns out to be a lot harder getting that to-die-for smile out of her mind...

And once they put their rocky start behind them, Jon and Lil will discover what happens when two unlikely lovers hit the perfect note...

[Germaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had its moments, but basically it's a real stinker with a soap opera ending. A large part of the plot revolves around a custody fight between the hero and his ex. He marries the heroine to bolster his case for gaining sole custody of the children, but the heroine turns out to be perfect mother material and falls in love with the children. When the evil ex pulls some shenanigans before the custody hearing, the heroine hires her own lawyer and files her own motion for custody. At this point the plot goes completely off the rails as the heroine's trump card is a confidential letter she has written to the judge which is going to show him what's really going on. The courts have rules against ex parte communications, and the author needs to get a family law lawyer to review her manuscript before it's published. The whole legal finale is too far fetched for words.

Unfortunately, the heroine has three or four sisters, and it looks as if there is going to be a book for each of them. I won't be reading them.

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very sweet, if sometimes a little predictable, romance. I thought the characters of Lil and Jon were a lot of fun, but it sometimes seemed as if the supporting cast were a bit too much of a caricature. For me, excepting the main characters, the best one (and one I vote for a book on) is Zeke. I'm pretty sure that the author pursued the other sisters' lives but I'd love to know more about Zeke. The set-up for the action seemed a little draggy in the middle of the novel and I think that this novel could have had about 50 pages edited with little loss. However, with all its flaws, I did like this story and you are rooting for the HEA.

[Stephanie Grohol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and hated for it to end. It tells the story about Lilac "Lil" O'Malley Ryan, a widow who meets country music star, Jonathan Van Castle. It is not love at first sight but sparks do fly. What starts out as a marriage of convenience, quickly changes to something else. Also involved is a family, his children, an evil ex-wife, and life itself. Highly recommend.

[Luckngrace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sing Me Home started out like gangbusters, then got bogged down in it's overlong length. The plot just moved too slowly, causing my mind to drift (and that's never good). It does, however, make a good beach read.

[Sharon · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okay novel, with pretty much nothing to recommend it except that there's nothing explicitly wrong with it. Corgiat does an okay job with basic storytelling, but neither the characters nor the plot are particularly compelling.

[Marleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a huge Country Music fan, I expected a little more of this story. It wasn't all bad, but not really to my liking.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hero is a Country Music star with kids, divorced from his wild wife. Heroine marries him in a marriage of convenience to help him gain custody of his kids. Good.

[Donnajo · Rating 5 out of 5]

NL's book crawl 2011
1st in series. NTM author.
2012 NL's New author challenge.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two-haiku review:

He wants custody
She falls hard for his children
Marriage in name only

Started nice romance
Turned into melodrama
Still enjoyable

[Susannah Carleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific story of love and family,

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very predictable

[Ronda Blanke Geiger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I loved the plot twists and turns and the storyline. I will probably read the other 4 books in this series as well.