Kids on the Doorstep

Home in Emmett's Mill #5

by Kimberly Van Meter

John Murphy gets the shock of his life when he finds three abandoned girls on his doorstep. Once he takes them in, it isn't long before the little tykes bring out his fiercest protective instincts. So when their mother shows up at his Emmett's Mill ranch, he's ready to do battle.Except Renee Dolling isn't what he expects. She clearly loves her girls and wants to make up for past mistakes. John wants to trust her, but he's got the girls to think about. Unless Renee can prove she's the mother her daughters deserve…and the woman this solitary rancher needs.

Genres: Romance

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very realities

[Asterope · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book deals with some heavy issues: child abuse, attempted murder of a child, alcoholism, abandonment, PTSD (which the kids seem to suffer from, especially the youngest, Chloe), etc. The romance is really not the focus of the book, so don't be surprised by that. I'd say this book is more about relationships - Renee with her kids, The kids with John, John and Renee with Galdys and finally, Renee with John. The main focus is on Renee with her kids, her trying to make amends and repair the mistakes and damages she did in the past. I thought it was handled rather well, it had some realism to it - issues with courts, counseling, etc. The romance between Renee and John wasn't bad, but seemed a bit out of place and rather sudden. They sort of went from dislike to falling into bed. But that's rather common in romance books, so can't really complain. All in all, it wasn't bad.



I did think it was odd that Renee didn't know Taylor, the middle child, didn't know how to read or that they weren't going to school. From what I understood she was an alcoholic prior and often checked-out of real life due to being drunk. But she was caring for the kids at the time (or should have been). She left them with her husband to go to rehab. She was in rehab for 2 months and spent 2 looking for them. So why, if she was only out of their life for 2 months did she not even know Taylor couldn't read? I don't know if that was an unintentional continuity error or if it was intentional, to show us even when they were in her care she was so negligent that she had no clue if her kid could read or if they even went to school?

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty deep for a Harlequin romance....I really enjoyed the book. I liked the storyline...it was much different then any other romance I have read from Harlequin.
Dealing with alcohol abuse, child abuse, child abandonment and it may seem far fetched....but somewhere in this world this story really happened to someone. Children are abused daily and some parents are addicts and just not real good at parenting.
I loved the kids and the real emotions given to each one and the John and his would be mom....Renee and Jason...I don't know. Jason I absolutely loathed and Renee...her attitude just kind of made me angry. I mean I see that she is having troubles and is having some embarrassment due to those issues but would it have killed her to be nice....I mean she brought on most of her troubles and then wants to be nasty to everyone else about them!!
Overall I loved the book, I would read it again and I would give other books by this author a shot. I thought this was a riviting "real life" romance which I found particularly appealing!!

[Kim Hampton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the premise of this book, but there are parts of it that I found totally unrealistic. I can't believe that Renee had absolutely no hint that Jason would abuse Chloe if she left her with him. I wanted to throttle her, and my total dislike of her made it hard for me to like this book. I did love John, although I would have liked him better if he wouldn't have fallen for Renee like an idiot.

[TheAgileReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the interaction between the children and the Hero who they think is a "safe" person and their mother who is the "Enemy". Definitely an interesting storyline. The romance was lacking and really shouldn't have even been an issue. It should have been a longer book removed from the Romance genre and focusing on getting over that traumatic instance in their lives.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

i thought it was a great book. it was about a women Renee dolling that abandoned her children.John murphy finds her two girls on the doorstep and takes them in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT...

[Laura's Book Addiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

AWESOME I loved iy.

[RiCi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is an awesome read. Just loved it!!!

Recommendation: Must Read.