Lucy's Hearth

Morgan's Fire #1

by M. Lee Prescott

Alternate cover edition of ASIN B07QB4P68Q

Heart in pieces post-divorce, Lucy Winthrop visits her Uncle Ben Morgan’s ranch where she meets his younger brother, Richard. Her new neighbor back east, Richard is a self-made billionaire who goes after what he wants, and he wants Lucy. Back home in New England, they begin a white hot love affair. As the heat pumps up, Lucy tries to step back, scared she is in too deep, too fast. Will this gorgeous Morgan man let her go? And, in pulling away, is she giving up a dream of happiness she never thought possible?

As Lucy and Richard’s love story unfolds, join another branch of the Morgan family in this first book of Morgan’s Fire!

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Novella

185 pages, ebook

First published May 31, 2019

About the author

“You only live once – but if you work it right, once is enough.”
– Joe E. Lewis


Hello, friends and generous readers!

Welcome to my Goodreads page! I write romances, mysteries, suspense, and women’s fiction. Grab one of my books and see what you think. Are you a fan of humorous, first-person mysteries? Readers have lots of fun with Ricky Steele (Prepped to Kill, Gadfly, Jigsaw, Lost in Spindle City, and Poof!). How about small-town cozy mysteries? Join Roger and Bess (A Friend of Silence, In the Name of Silence, and The Silence of Memory) in the village of Old Harbor where murders occur almost as much as in Cabot Cove. (Roger and Bess Mysteries).

Did someone say romance? Aside from stand-alone romances like Widow’s Island and Hestor’s Way, I write two popular romance series -- Morgan’s Run (twelve books and counting) and Morgan’s Fire (seven titles with more on the way!). Morgan’s Run books are set in the beautiful U.S. southwest and are peopled with gorgeous cowboys and strong, contemporary women. The spin-off series, Morgan’s Fire moved some of the gang east to the New England coastal village of Horseshoe Crab Cove where the romance sizzles and amazing couples find their way to happily ever after.

I also have a YA title, Song of the Spirit, an award-winning historical romance that explores the kidnapping, torture, and enculturation of indigenous children in so-called “Indian schools.” That book features one of my favorite characters, Wind Flower, a strong resilient teenager who protects her younger sister and holds onto her values and culture, despite the daily cruelties of life at Rose Academy.

I am now retired from teaching, but my scholarly work continues. I am currently writing about my recent research-- the impact of mindfulness on readers and writers. I live on a beautiful river and when not writing, I love to spend time with family and friends, practice yoga, swim, walk, canoe, and teach mindfulness to people of all ages. Life is full!

Come on over and visit -- http://www.mleeprescott.com-- to explore and signup for my newsletter. I love to hear from readers and always respond so be in touch anytime! Follow me on BookBub https://bit.ly/3AImHzS

Reviews

[Kat Ryker · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, by the time I made it to the second page, I realized the author had heard of "show me don't tell me" and took it to heart. The problem with that is, if you only show me, then you aren't telling me any background. The first chapter, there are characters with no background. The background info which should be forthcoming is buried in as sentences inside all the dialogue. I'm used to reading books that are balanced between dialogue and narrative. This one is not. I stopped reading at around 40%, and I may go back to it. But this book, while reading, reminded me of a child with ADHD, the jumping around was killing me.

In case anyone thinks I hated the plot line or the book, it was not a question of hate. It was a question of writing that could have been improved on a great deal and background information that could have been organized better and far more accurately.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really, really wanted this to be a 5 star read. In some places, it was. In most, unfortunately it just went zig zag, back again, rebound, zig zag. All of this detracted from the main story for me and earned it 3 stars. The main characters were likable. Their stories, while abbreviated, were interesting. I knew more about the H than the h though she was the predominate POV.

[Lorie - Bookaholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Life turns on a dime'

Not a bad story but got a little confused about all of these people mentioned - not sure who was related to who. It seemed to be a very busy story. However, I would consider reading the rest of the series.

Richard Morgan Sr - age 53, a widower of eight kids. His wife Laura died from cancer after having their last child.

Lucy Winthrop Brennan - age 39, a recently divorced mom of 2.

At the end of the book, Lucy finally says 'YES' to Richard. Read the next book: Tim's Hands: Morgan's Fire Book 2 to see what happens between Gail and Tim.

"Cross the meadow and the stream and listen as the peaceful waters bring peace upon your soul." Happy reading!

[Catherine L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy’s Hearth

Although I enjoyed this book, I was thoroughly confused by all of the characters and their relationships. The events of the book were almost overwhelming— and yet I still couldn’t put it down. I will say that I found Lucy and Richard’s”private moments” in public to be not believable at their age. Lucy is a wonderful character with such compassion and a loving heart, always offering to help her friends and neighbors. Wouldn’t we all like to be like her!

[Pamela A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝑨 𝒄𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂. 😍😍😍

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆. 𝑫𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒎𝒄 𝒘𝒂𝒔 53 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓 20 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒓𝒔 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑩𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒆!! 𝑨𝒃𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆. 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓. 😉😉😉😘😘😘

[Kim Hatfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story

I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved the first series, Morgan's Run. This book is the beginning of a new series, but really a continuation of the Morgan Run series. It has all of the same characters. You should read that series before starting this one so you can know who everyone is.
Great book, I recommend it!

[Mallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable Read

Enjoyed Lucy and Richards story. Lucy is recently divorced and hesitant about getting involved in a new relationship. Richard has been a widow for approximately 20 years who have had several affairs but nothing serious … when meet … it’s as if they’ve been waiting for each other. This is a must read, a lot of twists and turns … but you don’t want to put it down.

[Catherine Geist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful

This was a really good book & well written.Richard & Lucy were great characters.They made it so real it made you feel like it was happening to you. What I got out of the story was keep trying in a situation & don't give up hope of a happy ending.

[Vicki Pilant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy's Hearth

This is a good book and a really wonderful story. I like the way the Author weaves all the characters into this 1st. book in this series. I am looking forward to reading more from her.

[HolidayHabit · Rating 1 out of 5]

This wasn’t for me. I had to go back to check it was the first in the series as it doesn’t read like a stand-alone. I found it dull and couldn’t connect with the characters so decided not to continue. Glad it was free!

[AND 1515 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect Story

This is the first book I've read by M. Lee Prescott and wow fantastic story about an older couple him a widower for many years and her a resent divorcee and the trials and hoops the had to figure.

[christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A place to heal

Wonderful book . I couldn't choose a favourite character because there was so many . The town reflects the character's and there steamed to something going on daily . This book just invites you like a good friend .

[Deanna Joss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Assume

A very good book. Recommend to anyone who likes reading books about families. Each family has things that happens in life. This book has a place of happiness and sorrow foe each of that members of the family.
Take time to enjoy each chapter.

[debmar50 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

A bunch of different characters but you figure out where they belong. I'm not sure if disjointed is the right word for this type of writing style. It was a short entertaining read.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.

The story is good, just probably 3.5 stars. A bit much on dragging out the differences between the characters and too many side characters to keep up with. Angst is good in limited doses. There was a bit too much for me.

[Robin F.Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story

Really enjoyed this book, even though I had a rough time keeping up with the plethora of family and friends. This is my 1st M Lee Prescott read so not sure if this is the norm, but somewhat busy and at times confusing. Otherwise, a wonderful story.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

slow and sluggish

Loved the premise of the book and an older couple but in all honesty it was slow. As for the ex husband who occupied too much space in the story and in his kids lives was deadwood. Disappointed.

[barbara shiver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book must read

This is a wonderful book filled with so many good things an bad but back to good a feel good book I recommend this book to everyone that loves romance I gave it a 6 stars as it is a very good book

[Nadia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted more

A sweet story between many characters. For me, the book began very abruptly and I had to page back to make sure I didn't miss anything. I also struggled to keep up with all the characters and the names. I was also disappointed at how abruptly the book ended.

[Tessa]

I don't think I'm connecting with any of the characters (and there are a LOT of them). Also many of them have similar names which is a little overwhelming.

I may come back to this in the future because it is cute, but it's just not for me right now.

[mjg1kans.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great

[Leida · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet book. Good story. Lots of characters, moat of which are mentioned once and forgotten. The main characters, Lucy & Richard were beautiful.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Morgan’s Fire) 1 Lucy’s Hearth

I enjoyed Lucy and Richard and their families. I look forward to reading more about this community and their relationship to each other.

[Debra Firestone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very happy to see a romance book with characters close to my age with more life experience and "seasoning". The characters were sweet and enjoyable, there is some sex, but not to graphic a description and enough about the characters that I found it an enjoyable read and until more of what happened below, I looked forward to completing. There are two reasons I only gave this book three stars instead of four.

1) I have no problem with lengthy books and enjoy a longer story with character/world building than a short quick one. 2/3 of the book was very enjoyable; however, the author seemed to be throwing at us every possible character that might appear in some form as a primary later in the series and not just as a quick introduction, but each with their own small story arch. This is fine for a limited number of characters, but when there are that many, I found as a reader I stopped caring. The first ancillary characters introduced I did become attached too and would enjoy reading a later book about; but, as more and more were thrown at me, I cared less and less. It would have been better if the author chose a few characters to give some back story on and while introducing others, giving them a paragraph or two instead of each one getting their own 5 page or more arc. I found myself eventually just reading the first and last paragraphs of those introductions to get on with the book.

Spoiler below between the two ******* lines

**************************************Spoiler**********************************

2) I would continually forget that Grace was 26 years old and not a bratty pre teen. This would be ok if she had a sudden realization and while making amends, it took time, at least a couple of days, before she did a total 180 on her views of Lucy. She went from threatening her, lying to her, sabotaging her to overnight suddenly have an awakening because she met a guy she was sort of interested in and woke up suddenly singing Lucy's praises and pushing her dad to be with Lucy. To big a change, to fast for to small a reason. Now perhaps in a later book the author will tell us more about what happened at one party between Grace and Tim for such a huge paradigm shift, but as it stands, it doesn't make sense and feels rushed.

******************************************************************************

The story is worth a read and is enjoyable. I just wish there was some more editing and thought given to a pivotal character change which would have made this story above average.

Merged review:

I was very happy to see a romance book with characters close to my age with more life experience and "seasoning". The characters were sweet and enjoyable, there is some sex, but not to graphic a description and enough about the characters that I found it an enjoyable read and until more of what happened below, I looked forward to completing. There are two reasons I only gave this book three stars instead of four.

1) I have no problem with lengthy books and enjoy a longer story with character/world building than a short quick one. 2/3 of the book was very enjoyable; however, the author seemed to be throwing at us every possible character that might appear in some form as a primary later in the series and not just as a quick introduction, but each with their own small story arch. This is fine for a limited number of characters, but when there are that many, I found as a reader I stopped caring. The first ancillary characters introduced I did become attached too and would enjoy reading a later book about; but, as more and more were thrown at me, I cared less and less. It would have been better if the author chose a few characters to give some back story on and while introducing others, giving them a paragraph or two instead of each one getting their own 5 page or more arc. I found myself eventually just reading the first and last paragraphs of those introductions to get on with the book.

Spoiler below between the two ******* lines

**************************************Spoiler**********************************

2) I would continually forget that Grace was 26 years old and not a bratty pre teen. This would be ok if she had a sudden realization and while making amends, it took time, at least a couple of days, before she did a total 180 on her views of Lucy. She went from threatening her, lying to her, sabotaging her to overnight suddenly have an awakening because she met a guy she was sort of interested in and woke up suddenly singing Lucy's praises and pushing her dad to be with Lucy. To big a change, to fast for to small a reason. Now perhaps in a later book the author will tell us more about what happened at one party between Grace and Tim for such a huge paradigm shift, but as it stands, it doesn't make sense and feels rushed.

******************************************************************************

The story is worth a read and is enjoyable. I just wish there was some more editing and thought given to a pivotal character change which would have made this story above average.

[Mary McGuire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good story

I found book too confusing. I could not keep all characters straight. I am not able to read at one setting so going back each time was confusing.

[Janet M Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Confusing

It would have been extremely helpful to put family trees at beginning of book. Sometimes I was confused about relationships.

[Pete Woollven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

Absolutely stunning brilliant book gripped from the start I couldnt put it down well written and a great cast of characters and story line loved it

[Marisa Kentos · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was lost from the beginning. Author never gives a background on how they met. Don't know who any of the characters are or their ages. Really confusing. Says it's book #1 but it didn't seem like it.

[Linda Schwarting · Rating 3 out of 5]

missing info

It was good but so confused on how many of the characters were connected to each other, especially since this is the first book in a series

[Butterflittin]

Content is not what I was looking for.