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His Secret Daughter
Enjoy this sweet, small town romance from top author Lisa Carter
He just found out he’s a father, but is he ready for a family of his own?
When veteran Jake McAbee learns he has a daughter, he’s determined to raise the adorable toddler. But Maisie’s foster mom, Callie Jackson, insists Jake stay at her orchard until he’s prepared for fatherhood. While Jake and Masie bond, the trio begins to feel like family. Could the best home for Maisie be the one Jake and Callie create together?
From Love Uplifting stories of faith, forgiveness, and hope.
Experience more sweet romances from Lisa
His Secret Daughter
The Twin Bargain
Stranded for the Holidays
A Mother’s Homecoming
The Christmas Bargain
He just found out he’s a father, but is he ready for a family of his own?
When veteran Jake McAbee learns he has a daughter, he’s determined to raise the adorable toddler. But Maisie’s foster mom, Callie Jackson, insists Jake stay at her orchard until he’s prepared for fatherhood. While Jake and Masie bond, the trio begins to feel like family. Could the best home for Maisie be the one Jake and Callie create together?
From Love Uplifting stories of faith, forgiveness, and hope.
Experience more sweet romances from Lisa
His Secret Daughter
The Twin Bargain
Stranded for the Holidays
A Mother’s Homecoming
The Christmas Bargain
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published February 19, 2019
45 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Lisa Carter
52 books245 followersWriter. Book Lover. Avid Gardener. World Traveler.
Lisa Carter is the Publishers Weekly bestselling and award-winning author of more than thirty books. She writes the contemporary Truelove Matchmaker romance series with Love Inspired. She also writes romantic suspense—best described as “Sweet Tea with a Slice of Murder.” When not hard at work on her next fictional adventure, she enjoys reading and spending time with her family. A native North Carolinian, she has strong opinions on barbecue and ACC basketball. www.lisacarterauthor.com
Follow Lisa on BookBub for the latest book news at https://bit.ly/3G2iWGv.
Join her newsletter mailing list for book happenings at https://rb.gy/2ilkh7.
Lisa Carter is the Publishers Weekly bestselling and award-winning author of more than thirty books. She writes the contemporary Truelove Matchmaker romance series with Love Inspired. She also writes romantic suspense—best described as “Sweet Tea with a Slice of Murder.” When not hard at work on her next fictional adventure, she enjoys reading and spending time with her family. A native North Carolinian, she has strong opinions on barbecue and ACC basketball. www.lisacarterauthor.com
Follow Lisa on BookBub for the latest book news at https://bit.ly/3G2iWGv.
Join her newsletter mailing list for book happenings at https://rb.gy/2ilkh7.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 17, 2022
**NOTE: This is part of a series. We just aren't told that, or what books are before/after. HATE that. I do know it includes 'A Chance for the Newcomer', 'A Mother's Homecoming', 'A Safe Place for Christmas', 'The Christmas Bargain', and 'The Twin Bargain'. Have fun with THAT.
As for this story?
Holy CRAP, what a disaster this is.
First of all, it takes place on an orchard that's apparently hard to find, as even with directions, Jake got lost 'skirting' the town and taking the dirt road. But the orchard makes 90% of it's profit from local sales and tourists who visit the Blue Ridge mountains. None of which can apparently FIND the place.
Second, the author says the orchard is TEN ACRES. I'm not kidding you. There is NO WAY that you can grow Gala, Pink ladies, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Fuji and Johnathan on TEN acres... unless you have three of each tree. It's ridiculous. There's not even enough acreage (with the house, barns AND STORE) with ten acres to warrant tractor rides, for the love of Mike. I owned ten acres... it's not enough. Not nearly.
Then there's the timeline of the story. Jake married Tiff apparently three and a half years ago. He's now 28, so he would've been twenty four. Tiff and her bestie are both two years younger, so she would've been twenty-two. They were married TWO MONTHS before she divorced him while he was deployed to Afghanistan. WHY ON EARTH would anyone bother divorcing someone overseas, when you can live your own life, cheat to your heart's content, and do what you please while they're gone, hello?
Then - as with all christchun novels - Tiff (at TWENTY-THREE) was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it being 2019, she of course immediately died of it. Because reasons. I don't know - MOSTLY people with breast cancer these days make it, but we have to have a dead mama for the storyline, so of course it went totally south. I'm not sure if she was pregnant at the same time or got the cancer directly after having the baby/divorcing him, but... convoluted mess.
So anyhow, now Jake is home and wandering out to the middle of nowhere where his wife's best friend lives but he apparently had never been and wasn't familiar with the area (...how? And why not...????)... and by the way, it's TrueLove, North Carolina. TRUE LOVE. You can't make this crap up, I swear...
Anyhow, he's claiming his daughter.
Who is TWO YEARS OLD,
and hates his guts.
Not. Going. To. Happen. Two year olds don't hold grudges. They don't have the capability - as a woman who's been pregnant SIX TIMES and have been thru the terrible twos more than Lisa Carter, I can tell you this with no compunction. But this kid *HATES* her daddy the whole first half of the dadgum book. It's preposterous. She might be clingy to Pop-Pop and Callie, but she wouldn't give Jake death glares, talk down about him, and be a little brat to him whenever he's in the room. No. Just no.
More, Callie calls Maizie (the kid) "everything and more a parent could ever ask for. Smart and kind, a ball of energy". First, she's TWO YEARS OLD. Nobody knows how 'smart' she is yet. She's barely talking, and hasn't exhibited anything except hatred and crappiness in the book - yet she's "smart" and "kind". We just don't see any of that... gotta take Carter's word, apparently. Wish I could. But actions speak louder than words.
Then there's Callie, who's judgy about him taking the kid to Texas and putting her in childcare, and who TURNS AROUND AND PUTS HER IN THE TWO-YEAR OLD PRE-SCHOOL because too much work and too busy during harvest season. On a *TEN* acre orchard. (((Insert me banging my head repeatedly at the stupidity of this. Right here.)) I'm sorry, but on a *TEN* acre orchard? Callie wouldn't even be NEEDED.
The book says that Callie had Jake vetted before she contacted him... which means she hired a P.I. or someone to tell her where he was from, what his background, education, and career path had been. But then we're told later that she and her dad weren't able to look into any legal avenue to keep Maizie. But she can afford to have him vetted?
As for Callie's dad, he apparently had pneumonia 'last winter' and hasn't recuperated. Nevermind that if Callie's 25, Nash is likely between 45 and 55 - NOT an old man. And it's September, which means it's been NINE MONTHS since he was sick... and he just can't manage the *TEN* acres without Jake comin' on to help him. (((sigh.))) Un. Believably. Grasping.
And the writing - the parts where Jake is thinking/talking are written like a 60-year old woman, I swear. "Even now, he could hardly believe he had a daughter. The thought filled him with both elation and fear. Fear that he'd fail Maisie as he'd failed her mother. But also joy for his precious daughter..." Elation? And 'joy for his precious daughter'? He's all-sports high school, straight into the Army for years military... and... ELATION?! Or how about "Like most singing around him, Callie didn't seem to need the words. Singing in a strong, clear contralto, she hardly glanced at the page." Um... would a 28 year old military grunt know what a CONTRALTO is?
Then there's the contradictions. On pg 82, Nash says a preschool group is coming to the orchard. Callie then says (pg 91), look who's having her first big-girl field trip? Maizie - who can't be at the orchard, because two-year-old preschool. (((((SIGH.)))))) But then at the BOTTOM of the page, it says Maizie shows up in Miss IdaLee's sedan, and it says that on Tuesdays and Thursdays she brings Maizie home from school, saving the trip from town. So... is she coming home in a sedan after school with Miss IdaLee, or is she there with a preschool class?
With the class, according to the next page. So then... WHY was Maizie in the sedan, and WHY was Callie explaining how she got brought home, if it was a FIELD TRIP? Worse, earlier it says right now Maizie's only going to preschool two days, so far. Then WHY would it say on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she rides home with Miss IdaLee? SHE ONLY *GOES* TWO DAYS!! GAHHHHHH!!!!
And then there's the melodrama. "Maizie might even get married in this church one day. Not that he'd be there to see it. Or be a part of one of the happiest days of her life." WHAT!?! Is this guy even thinking straight? It's HIS daughter. HE gets custody. What is this defeatist crap AT AGE *T.W.O*?!??!?!?!?! But he's not finished: "Thereafter, his interactions with Callie would be confined to bank drafts... christmas cards, or a few emails with attached photos." ((... twitch, twitch. Can't think like this.)) !!!! ((O_o))
WHY is he not even considering wooing Callie and making a family/home, here? WHY is he not reaching the OBVIOUS conclusions that every woman reading this book - regardless of IQ - has already reached?! I mean, yes, some men are obtuse, but if he uses words like 'contralto' and 'elated' and waxes eloquent about bank drafts and attached photos... WHY can't he imagine a life with Callie and Maizie?
NONE of this jives. Like, at all. EVER.
Badly written. Badly plotted. Badly executed.
Just bad all the way around.
DNF @ 90-some pages, because I can't take anymore stupidity.
As for this story?
Holy CRAP, what a disaster this is.
First of all, it takes place on an orchard that's apparently hard to find, as even with directions, Jake got lost 'skirting' the town and taking the dirt road. But the orchard makes 90% of it's profit from local sales and tourists who visit the Blue Ridge mountains. None of which can apparently FIND the place.
Second, the author says the orchard is TEN ACRES. I'm not kidding you. There is NO WAY that you can grow Gala, Pink ladies, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Fuji and Johnathan on TEN acres... unless you have three of each tree. It's ridiculous. There's not even enough acreage (with the house, barns AND STORE) with ten acres to warrant tractor rides, for the love of Mike. I owned ten acres... it's not enough. Not nearly.
Then there's the timeline of the story. Jake married Tiff apparently three and a half years ago. He's now 28, so he would've been twenty four. Tiff and her bestie are both two years younger, so she would've been twenty-two. They were married TWO MONTHS before she divorced him while he was deployed to Afghanistan. WHY ON EARTH would anyone bother divorcing someone overseas, when you can live your own life, cheat to your heart's content, and do what you please while they're gone, hello?
Then - as with all christchun novels - Tiff (at TWENTY-THREE) was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it being 2019, she of course immediately died of it. Because reasons. I don't know - MOSTLY people with breast cancer these days make it, but we have to have a dead mama for the storyline, so of course it went totally south. I'm not sure if she was pregnant at the same time or got the cancer directly after having the baby/divorcing him, but... convoluted mess.
So anyhow, now Jake is home and wandering out to the middle of nowhere where his wife's best friend lives but he apparently had never been and wasn't familiar with the area (...how? And why not...????)... and by the way, it's TrueLove, North Carolina. TRUE LOVE. You can't make this crap up, I swear...
Anyhow, he's claiming his daughter.
Who is TWO YEARS OLD,
and hates his guts.
Not. Going. To. Happen. Two year olds don't hold grudges. They don't have the capability - as a woman who's been pregnant SIX TIMES and have been thru the terrible twos more than Lisa Carter, I can tell you this with no compunction. But this kid *HATES* her daddy the whole first half of the dadgum book. It's preposterous. She might be clingy to Pop-Pop and Callie, but she wouldn't give Jake death glares, talk down about him, and be a little brat to him whenever he's in the room. No. Just no.
More, Callie calls Maizie (the kid) "everything and more a parent could ever ask for. Smart and kind, a ball of energy". First, she's TWO YEARS OLD. Nobody knows how 'smart' she is yet. She's barely talking, and hasn't exhibited anything except hatred and crappiness in the book - yet she's "smart" and "kind". We just don't see any of that... gotta take Carter's word, apparently. Wish I could. But actions speak louder than words.
Then there's Callie, who's judgy about him taking the kid to Texas and putting her in childcare, and who TURNS AROUND AND PUTS HER IN THE TWO-YEAR OLD PRE-SCHOOL because too much work and too busy during harvest season. On a *TEN* acre orchard. (((Insert me banging my head repeatedly at the stupidity of this. Right here.)) I'm sorry, but on a *TEN* acre orchard? Callie wouldn't even be NEEDED.
The book says that Callie had Jake vetted before she contacted him... which means she hired a P.I. or someone to tell her where he was from, what his background, education, and career path had been. But then we're told later that she and her dad weren't able to look into any legal avenue to keep Maizie. But she can afford to have him vetted?
As for Callie's dad, he apparently had pneumonia 'last winter' and hasn't recuperated. Nevermind that if Callie's 25, Nash is likely between 45 and 55 - NOT an old man. And it's September, which means it's been NINE MONTHS since he was sick... and he just can't manage the *TEN* acres without Jake comin' on to help him. (((sigh.))) Un. Believably. Grasping.
And the writing - the parts where Jake is thinking/talking are written like a 60-year old woman, I swear. "Even now, he could hardly believe he had a daughter. The thought filled him with both elation and fear. Fear that he'd fail Maisie as he'd failed her mother. But also joy for his precious daughter..." Elation? And 'joy for his precious daughter'? He's all-sports high school, straight into the Army for years military... and... ELATION?! Or how about "Like most singing around him, Callie didn't seem to need the words. Singing in a strong, clear contralto, she hardly glanced at the page." Um... would a 28 year old military grunt know what a CONTRALTO is?
Then there's the contradictions. On pg 82, Nash says a preschool group is coming to the orchard. Callie then says (pg 91), look who's having her first big-girl field trip? Maizie - who can't be at the orchard, because two-year-old preschool. (((((SIGH.)))))) But then at the BOTTOM of the page, it says Maizie shows up in Miss IdaLee's sedan, and it says that on Tuesdays and Thursdays she brings Maizie home from school, saving the trip from town. So... is she coming home in a sedan after school with Miss IdaLee, or is she there with a preschool class?
With the class, according to the next page. So then... WHY was Maizie in the sedan, and WHY was Callie explaining how she got brought home, if it was a FIELD TRIP? Worse, earlier it says right now Maizie's only going to preschool two days, so far. Then WHY would it say on Tuesdays and Thursdays, she rides home with Miss IdaLee? SHE ONLY *GOES* TWO DAYS!! GAHHHHHH!!!!
And then there's the melodrama. "Maizie might even get married in this church one day. Not that he'd be there to see it. Or be a part of one of the happiest days of her life." WHAT!?! Is this guy even thinking straight? It's HIS daughter. HE gets custody. What is this defeatist crap AT AGE *T.W.O*?!??!?!?!?! But he's not finished: "Thereafter, his interactions with Callie would be confined to bank drafts... christmas cards, or a few emails with attached photos." ((... twitch, twitch. Can't think like this.)) !!!! ((O_o))
WHY is he not even considering wooing Callie and making a family/home, here? WHY is he not reaching the OBVIOUS conclusions that every woman reading this book - regardless of IQ - has already reached?! I mean, yes, some men are obtuse, but if he uses words like 'contralto' and 'elated' and waxes eloquent about bank drafts and attached photos... WHY can't he imagine a life with Callie and Maizie?
NONE of this jives. Like, at all. EVER.
Badly written. Badly plotted. Badly executed.
Just bad all the way around.
DNF @ 90-some pages, because I can't take anymore stupidity.
February 22, 2019
This story pulled at my heartstrings right from the very first page....and then, before I reached the end my heart had been well and truly pummeled as well! It's still bruised and sore. If you love becoming emotionally engaged in your romance novels, His Secret Daughter is definitely the book for you!
Jake is such a complex hero! A troubled childhood has skewed his confidence when it comes to something as earth-shatteringly important as fatherhood. Even so, he can't turn his back on his daughter once he learns of her existence. A good man who has overcome so much yet he still struggles to be free of his past. And he has such a deep-rooted need for family but he's so sure he'll mess it up that he...well, does! But his heart is so true and he's so achingly sweet with his little girl that it just tore my heart out!
Callie's intrigued and attracted and desperate to help Jake achieve a happily ever after with little Maisie even though it will mean she will lose custody of the child she's come to think of as her own. Jake and Callie's love story is fraught with trouble from the very start but a reader lives for the sweet, stolen moments that promise there could be so much more in their future if they would just talk to each other! Sublime romantic angst that nearly broke my heart. Luckily, the author made sure to put all the pieces back together by the end. :-)
A great cast of secondary characters -- Callie's tough-as-nails-don't-you-mess-with-my-daughter father and the trio of 'official' town matchmakers provide comic relief and inspiration in measured doses throughout. 216 pages of romantical delight!
Jake is such a complex hero! A troubled childhood has skewed his confidence when it comes to something as earth-shatteringly important as fatherhood. Even so, he can't turn his back on his daughter once he learns of her existence. A good man who has overcome so much yet he still struggles to be free of his past. And he has such a deep-rooted need for family but he's so sure he'll mess it up that he...well, does! But his heart is so true and he's so achingly sweet with his little girl that it just tore my heart out!
Callie's intrigued and attracted and desperate to help Jake achieve a happily ever after with little Maisie even though it will mean she will lose custody of the child she's come to think of as her own. Jake and Callie's love story is fraught with trouble from the very start but a reader lives for the sweet, stolen moments that promise there could be so much more in their future if they would just talk to each other! Sublime romantic angst that nearly broke my heart. Luckily, the author made sure to put all the pieces back together by the end. :-)
A great cast of secondary characters -- Callie's tough-as-nails-don't-you-mess-with-my-daughter father and the trio of 'official' town matchmakers provide comic relief and inspiration in measured doses throughout. 216 pages of romantical delight!
August 12, 2019
Another terrific, inspirational read from Lisa Carter., rich with biblical truth. A tender story set in the beauty of western North Carolina on an apple farm in the fall. What could be better? A darling two year old girl named Maisie in need of a father to call her his own. Enter Jake McAbee, former Army soldier who is recovering from the blunt emotional trauma of divorce, one he thought was all his fault, coupled with news of his ex-wife's recent death. Heroine Callie Jackson and her father, Nash, own and manage an apple farm and are in need of extra help during the busy harvest season. Behind it all, Callie, the foster mom of Maisie and friend of Jake's ex-wife, tells him he's the father. The hope is that Jake will stick around and help out long enough to allow God to work on his heart and embrace fatherhood. When Maisie comes to accept him and calls him 'My daddy' there's no turning back. A growing love for Callie is both wonderful and complicated. Toss in a rogue guy named Brandon who claims he's the father, and threatens to make a mess of things if Callie doesn't pay him to keep quiet. No need to rush through this quick read. You'll want to soak it all in along the way to a satisfying ending. I received a copy of this book from the author. The opinions are my own.
January 2, 2019
Coming Home...
It's beautiful - so tender and sweet with a little secretive twist.
I loved the story so much - it was a highlight of the 2018 year end and beginning of 2019!
The story is clearly written and centered on God and relationships. Great message of Love, Forgiveness, Coming Home!
The story touched my heart, especially amazing Maisie :) Thank you! I really enjoyed this book!
“I have received a copy of this book from the author. All thoughts and comments are my own.”
It's beautiful - so tender and sweet with a little secretive twist.
I loved the story so much - it was a highlight of the 2018 year end and beginning of 2019!
The story is clearly written and centered on God and relationships. Great message of Love, Forgiveness, Coming Home!
The story touched my heart, especially amazing Maisie :) Thank you! I really enjoyed this book!
“I have received a copy of this book from the author. All thoughts and comments are my own.”
February 28, 2019
This was a wonderful read. We meet Veteran Jake McAbee when he finds out about the daughter he never knew Maisie. Callie Jackson has been taking care of Maisie. She and her Dad Nash live on an Apple Orchard in Truelove North Carolina. Jake, Maisie, and Callie bond and lean more and more towards becoming a family. There are twist and turns along the way.
May 9, 2019
His Secret Daughter
After his ex passes away Jake learns he has a daughter. At first Maisie is shy around him. She is only two but definitely a smart one.
I loved Jake, he determined to be a good father. A very enjoyable book.
After his ex passes away Jake learns he has a daughter. At first Maisie is shy around him. She is only two but definitely a smart one.
I loved Jake, he determined to be a good father. A very enjoyable book.
July 19, 2020
This book has a really cute cover and it explains a lot of things in the book. I really enjoyed this Love Inspired book it was a good story and sometimes your heart just breaks. Lisa hit the ball to the outfield with this!
June 24, 2019
It was a really good book! Definitely Recommend
January 18, 2020
Nice Story
A nice quiet story for an easy Saturday morning.I found it a little slow going.But I did like it.I'll try another book by this author.
A nice quiet story for an easy Saturday morning.I found it a little slow going.But I did like it.I'll try another book by this author.
July 19, 2020
DNF @10%
Read
January 29, 2022His Secret Daughter by Lisa Carter is a March Release from Live Inspired, I wanted to love this story so much. But unfortunately I was struggling to get into the storyline. Most books I read (that are often “love inspired romances”) the authors are able to make me feel like I’m apart of the story rather quickly. I didn’t have that with this book. About halfway through I put it down for a week or so. While I wanted to see where Maisie ended up, I kept pushing through to see where that tiny 2 year old would end up. At the end, I wanted more. I wanted to “be there” when Jake and Callie got engaged, and when they told Nash. I wanted to be there when they got married. I stuck it through to the end, and was kind of disappointed. Although Maisie is getting her “happy ever after” and is now calling Callie “mommy” and Jake “my daddy”. I wanted to be there to experience when Maisie first called her mommy. All in all, I feel that the author didn’t do that great of a job on giving us the parts of the story we’re rather important, and focused on one’s that we’re so much. I’m not so sure if I will read anymore of Lisa’s books because of it. I did end up crying close to the end of the story when Jake is trying to leave, but ends up leaving with Maisie. I cried pretty hard. But I feel like we didn’t get enough of the “happily ever after” after the heartbreak of that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews