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Dad in Training
A businessman knows nothing about providing a real home to the orphaned boy who needs him so much. Teacher Molly thinks the answer is love time and a dog. But Brent can barely let his nephew into his heart let alone a golden retriever. With his tragic past Brent knows what can happenwhen you love anything. You can lose it. Until Molly asks this dad-in-training to start fwith the basics by letting her stay---forever.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
138 people want to read
About the author
Gail Gaymer Martin
147 books137 followersMulti-award-winning novelist, Gail Gaymer Martin writes Christian fiction for Winged Publications with many books published by Love Inspired and Barbour Publishing, where she was honored by Heartsong readers as their Favorite Author of 2008. Gail has 77 published novels or novellas with over four million books in print. She is the author of Writers Digest’s Writing the Christian Romance and a founder of American Christian Fiction Writers, a keynote speaker at churches, libraries and civic organizations and presents workshops at conference across the US. She was named one of the four best novelists in the Detroit area by CBS local news. Gail loves to hear from readers through her website contact and adds the reader's name to her bi-monthly drawing for a free book or two.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
September 22, 2023
I could not finish this book, not a good read. The entitlement of the main character was astounding.
June 1, 2017
Christian romance.
April 17, 2018
Great read.
January 13, 2025
Good read, with a dash or two of optimism.
February 5, 2013
Rating: 4 stars
This book was a light-hearted read. I picked it up a few year's ago at a local author showcase at my library. I picked up two books from there. One, I read the first two chapters and said decided I didn't want to read anymore. It was a fantasy book about rabbits or something really weird and not at all my taste...anyway, I handed it off to a friend instead of simply leaving it sitting somewhere in the college hallway. This one, however, I held onto, but I waited a long time before giving it a chance. I'm glad I gave it a chance, though. It was a fun read, but, being myself, I had to get a little annoyed with the story.
Essentially, we have a 30 year old teacher who works with special education children. She has a program called "Teacher's Pet" in which she teaches the children how to train shelter dogs basic commands so the dogs are more adoptable. This part of the story made me want to go to the Humane Society and pick up a dog. The other part of plot revolves around the "love" aspect. This part made me groan because of the timetable. I mean, you meet a guy for 5 minutes at work and fall hopelessly in love even though you never allow yourself to feel that way? Oh, and the feelings are mutual? But you both are damaged, so, it would never work... I've seen it before. It is kind of annoying. I occasionally wanted to rant about it, but I remembered it is a short, quick read book meant to be a respite from the normal world. So, I got over it. Mostly.
Anyway, some of the descriptions in the book were overly detailed. Sometimes we were in people's heads too much. Sometimes characters were overly analystic. However, I still liked the story. It was cute. There was a certain "realness" to the characters. People didn't change overnight. People's perception of others didn't change immediately like is common in some stories. They might forgive each other and try to move on, but they still struggle with understanding the other person's true intentions. Also, a decent number of in-depth conversations occurred without being too cheesy. Sometimes characters in these sorts of books/movies spill their deepest struggles and most hurtful memories to one another way too quickly or at an inappropriate time to be believable. That wasn't the case with Dad in Training.
This book is part of a bunch of unrelated books in a Christian romance series, and it was appropriately tame while still being romantic. People kiss, but the reader is not at all emotionally manipulated by the love aspect of the story. God, Jesus, and Biblical truths are an essential part of the plot. The story isn't preachy, but it is definitely written for Christian women.
Will I read it again? Probably not anytime in the near future. But, it will remain on my shelf as an option if someone I know wants a quick, romantic read. Also, the author has written at least one other book in this series with characters from this story, so I might try and pick it up from the library just to see what happens next.
This book was a light-hearted read. I picked it up a few year's ago at a local author showcase at my library. I picked up two books from there. One, I read the first two chapters and said decided I didn't want to read anymore. It was a fantasy book about rabbits or something really weird and not at all my taste...anyway, I handed it off to a friend instead of simply leaving it sitting somewhere in the college hallway. This one, however, I held onto, but I waited a long time before giving it a chance. I'm glad I gave it a chance, though. It was a fun read, but, being myself, I had to get a little annoyed with the story.
Essentially, we have a 30 year old teacher who works with special education children. She has a program called "Teacher's Pet" in which she teaches the children how to train shelter dogs basic commands so the dogs are more adoptable. This part of the story made me want to go to the Humane Society and pick up a dog. The other part of plot revolves around the "love" aspect. This part made me groan because of the timetable. I mean, you meet a guy for 5 minutes at work and fall hopelessly in love even though you never allow yourself to feel that way? Oh, and the feelings are mutual? But you both are damaged, so, it would never work... I've seen it before. It is kind of annoying. I occasionally wanted to rant about it, but I remembered it is a short, quick read book meant to be a respite from the normal world. So, I got over it. Mostly.
Anyway, some of the descriptions in the book were overly detailed. Sometimes we were in people's heads too much. Sometimes characters were overly analystic. However, I still liked the story. It was cute. There was a certain "realness" to the characters. People didn't change overnight. People's perception of others didn't change immediately like is common in some stories. They might forgive each other and try to move on, but they still struggle with understanding the other person's true intentions. Also, a decent number of in-depth conversations occurred without being too cheesy. Sometimes characters in these sorts of books/movies spill their deepest struggles and most hurtful memories to one another way too quickly or at an inappropriate time to be believable. That wasn't the case with Dad in Training.
This book is part of a bunch of unrelated books in a Christian romance series, and it was appropriately tame while still being romantic. People kiss, but the reader is not at all emotionally manipulated by the love aspect of the story. God, Jesus, and Biblical truths are an essential part of the plot. The story isn't preachy, but it is definitely written for Christian women.
Will I read it again? Probably not anytime in the near future. But, it will remain on my shelf as an option if someone I know wants a quick, romantic read. Also, the author has written at least one other book in this series with characters from this story, so I might try and pick it up from the library just to see what happens next.
December 5, 2010
This is really not my cup of tea. A bit too high on the trite and contrived scale for me.
Molly spends half the book punishing herself because she once had sex outside of the bonds of matrimony. I'm not a big fan of weak heroines. And anyone who makes a mistake when she was a teen and spends the next dozen or so years beating herself up over that mistake is so hung up on self martyrdom that there's no room for anyone else. She bursts into tears with good news. She bursts into tears with bad news. She bursts into tears when she hasn't heard any news yet. I don't remember the last time I read about someone who spent more time being weepy.
Brent is no prize either. He spends the whole book pissed off at someone. Mostly it is himself or his father with a fair bit of everyone else thrown in for variety. When he isn't being pissed off cold man, he's playing the 'nobody loves me' tune. Oh yeah, that's just the type of person I want to have as a partner in my life.
So if I disliked the characters and didn't like the plot why two stars instead of one? Of the 213 books I've read this year, six have earned one star ratings. I can assure you that there are worse books out there.
Molly spends half the book punishing herself because she once had sex outside of the bonds of matrimony. I'm not a big fan of weak heroines. And anyone who makes a mistake when she was a teen and spends the next dozen or so years beating herself up over that mistake is so hung up on self martyrdom that there's no room for anyone else. She bursts into tears with good news. She bursts into tears with bad news. She bursts into tears when she hasn't heard any news yet. I don't remember the last time I read about someone who spent more time being weepy.
Brent is no prize either. He spends the whole book pissed off at someone. Mostly it is himself or his father with a fair bit of everyone else thrown in for variety. When he isn't being pissed off cold man, he's playing the 'nobody loves me' tune. Oh yeah, that's just the type of person I want to have as a partner in my life.
So if I disliked the characters and didn't like the plot why two stars instead of one? Of the 213 books I've read this year, six have earned one star ratings. I can assure you that there are worse books out there.
July 2, 2016
A heart-warming story about a man struggling to be a father to his orphaned nephew. Help arrives in the form of Mollie, a special education teacher, and Rocket, an abandoned golden retriever. Together they help Brent and Randy overcome their pasts and become a family. Filled with humour, warmth and dogs, this is a charming read.
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July 1, 2010First book in the Man's Best Friend Series. Molly is determined to open a dog shelter to run her Teacher's Pet program and involves her friend Steph in getting what she wants. This series was great fun to write.
December 9, 2012
A sensitive,introspective tale of three hurting people who come together to heal spiritually and emotionally. I truly appreciated the flawed characters and their journey to wholeness through each other , with God at the center. A solid read for non-utopian romance lovers!
September 7, 2009
This is heartwarming and enjoyable I ever read.
December 9, 2009
I liked reading this book because it is a romance novel with a G rating and Christian lessons. It is a feel good book.
January 9, 2014
Uncle Brent takes on his troubled nephew and a dog!
October 9, 2015
Molly taught Brent's nephew Randy a few years ago. Her Teacher's Pet program needs a home, Brent has an empty warehouse. Can they make it work?
January 24, 2022
DNF I couldn't get into it. Maybe I'll try again someday.
March 17, 2019
A fun romance, with the addition of dogs. Romance novels seem to have the same ending, but this was a nice read.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews