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Tucker Family #1
Stay a Little Longer
Rachel Watkins has her hands full. Her mother had been the town midwife, but after her daughter Alice died under her care, she refused to assist in a childbirth ever again. Since then Rachel has assumed the work. She also takes care of Alice's six-year old, Charlotte, because the child's father was lost in World War I. But Rachel's principal job is running the boardinghouse that is the family's main source of income.
One day, Charlotte befriends a stranger ill with influenza, a man who has taken refuge in an old cabin in the woods nearby. Although badly scarred by wounds suffered in the War, he is strong and slowly recovers. When he gradually takes on odd jobs around the house, Rachel accepts his help. She is drawn to him despite his disfigurement, and his voice is comforting, vaguely familiar . . .
One day, Charlotte befriends a stranger ill with influenza, a man who has taken refuge in an old cabin in the woods nearby. Although badly scarred by wounds suffered in the War, he is strong and slowly recovers. When he gradually takes on odd jobs around the house, Rachel accepts his help. She is drawn to him despite his disfigurement, and his voice is comforting, vaguely familiar . . .
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
57 people are currently reading
462 people want to read
About the author
Dorothy Garlock
86 books382 followersDorothy Garlock was a best-selling American author of over 60 historical romance novels, most of them set in the American West. More than 20 million copies of her books are in print, in 18 languages. Her books have been on the New York Times best seller list seven times. She was named one of the 10 most popular writers of women's fiction four years in a row, from 1985-1988. In 1997, she was awarded the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award. Garlock is also a member of the Romance Writers Hall of Fame.
Garlock worked as an editor, agent and publicist for most of her writing career. She was a native of Texas who grew up in Oklahoma then married and moved to Iowa. Garlock donated many of her manuscripts and other unpublished writings to the University of Iowa libraries.
Pen names include:
Johanna Phillips
Dorothy Phillips
Dorothy Glenn
Garlock worked as an editor, agent and publicist for most of her writing career. She was a native of Texas who grew up in Oklahoma then married and moved to Iowa. Garlock donated many of her manuscripts and other unpublished writings to the University of Iowa libraries.
Pen names include:
Johanna Phillips
Dorothy Phillips
Dorothy Glenn
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
May 5, 2010
Rachel Watkins' life irreversibly changed when her sister Alice died in childbirth. Rachel became a mother to her niece, Charlotte, and took over from her mother as the town midwife. Rachel's mother lost her courage to help bring new lives into the world after the loss of her daughter. Rachel is also in charge of the boarding house that her mother owns with her uncle. Rachel blames her sister's death as well as all the struggles of her new life on the fact that Alice's husband, Mason, died in the war. If he hadn't died, would everything be the same as it was before? Would he be able to fix everything if he could come back?
"Stay a Little Longer" had a really good story, but it was a little too simplistic at times. There were moments that were really exciting and even had me gasping, "Wow! I can't believe that happened!" This story was kind of like "It's a Wonderful Life," but people's lives really did fall apart because they thought Mason was dead, it wasn't all a dream.
The romance was okay, but I wouldn't really call this a romance book because the love story was on the back burner. It was more about Mason learning to live his life again. Some of the scenes with the villains were a little too grisly for me and at times I wondered how much more Rachel would have to endure.
However, I loved Charlotte's character and her faithful and loyal companion, Jasper the dog. These two really breathed life into the slow story. I also thought Rachel's mother and how Alice's death affected her was really interesting. These characters and their facets of the story really kept me interested in the book.
I really liked the poem at the beginning of the book and how it was the basis for the whole book. The poem is about a man who had survived a war and he doesn't want his wife to see his scars, both on the outside and inside. I think the book would have been more meaningful to me if Mason had been able to truly go back to his wife and see that she still loved him for who he was, regardless of the scars.
Overall, the story was nice, but a little slow and simplified for me. For fans of Garlock and Americana stories, I think this would be a nice, cozy read.
This book was provided for review by Hachette Books.
reviewed for: http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com/
"Stay a Little Longer" had a really good story, but it was a little too simplistic at times. There were moments that were really exciting and even had me gasping, "Wow! I can't believe that happened!" This story was kind of like "It's a Wonderful Life," but people's lives really did fall apart because they thought Mason was dead, it wasn't all a dream.
The romance was okay, but I wouldn't really call this a romance book because the love story was on the back burner. It was more about Mason learning to live his life again. Some of the scenes with the villains were a little too grisly for me and at times I wondered how much more Rachel would have to endure.
However, I loved Charlotte's character and her faithful and loyal companion, Jasper the dog. These two really breathed life into the slow story. I also thought Rachel's mother and how Alice's death affected her was really interesting. These characters and their facets of the story really kept me interested in the book.
I really liked the poem at the beginning of the book and how it was the basis for the whole book. The poem is about a man who had survived a war and he doesn't want his wife to see his scars, both on the outside and inside. I think the book would have been more meaningful to me if Mason had been able to truly go back to his wife and see that she still loved him for who he was, regardless of the scars.
Overall, the story was nice, but a little slow and simplified for me. For fans of Garlock and Americana stories, I think this would be a nice, cozy read.
This book was provided for review by Hachette Books.
reviewed for: http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com/
May 4, 2010
This book was good, but I had a hard time with it right off the bat. I know this is not the authors fault, but the book cover let me down. In the very first sentence of the story, Rachel is described as having coal black hair and in chapter two Jasper is also described as a black dog. On the cover both are a strawberry blonde color and I let that bother me.
As for the story itself, it was okay, but I couldn't get past the character flaw I found in Mason. It's all well and good that he came back, but on pg. 329 he says; "I didn't know what I had waiting for me here." and all I could think, was he must not have loved his wife all that much, or had very little faith in her - yet she gave up on living for him.
I will try another Dorothy Garlock book for sure, but this just isn't one I can really rave about. Sorry.
As for the story itself, it was okay, but I couldn't get past the character flaw I found in Mason. It's all well and good that he came back, but on pg. 329 he says; "I didn't know what I had waiting for me here." and all I could think, was he must not have loved his wife all that much, or had very little faith in her - yet she gave up on living for him.
I will try another Dorothy Garlock book for sure, but this just isn't one I can really rave about. Sorry.
December 23, 2010
I wanted to like this book better than I did. It was about a woman raising her niece while running a boarding house in the 1920s. A hobo comes to stay. Sounds good but it really just missed somehow. Turns out the man is her dead sister's husband who never came home from WWI. Why? He was too scared he was hideously ugly after having acid scar one cheek. Just that. Not half his face and losing an eye or having his legs blown off or something, just the fleshy part of one cheek. I'm like, for that you let your wife of 5 months think you were dead? I might have bought it if it had been a shell shock deal but didn't seem to be. Plus everyone basically knew from the beginning who he was so there was no build up of 'who is this mysterious man?'
Somehow the writing just stayed on the surface and after all the pages were over, I wondered how so little story could fill up so many pages. Motivations just seemed not too clear all around. Somehow the hero and heroine end up in love but I sure didn't see it happen.
This was my first try at this author and I probably won't give her another try. This was one time that I went against my tried and true rule of never buying an author before I tried a book from the library first. There's a reason that's my modus operandi.
Somehow the writing just stayed on the surface and after all the pages were over, I wondered how so little story could fill up so many pages. Motivations just seemed not too clear all around. Somehow the hero and heroine end up in love but I sure didn't see it happen.
This was my first try at this author and I probably won't give her another try. This was one time that I went against my tried and true rule of never buying an author before I tried a book from the library first. There's a reason that's my modus operandi.
June 11, 2014
I thought this was a sweet book; though I also thought it was a bit cheesy and predictable at times. The villains felt one-dimensional to me...like the type you'd get from an episode of Scooby Doo.
The book is about a family struggling through the years after one of the daughters has died in childbirth.
The storyline that was the most interesting and touching to me was the one dealing with the mother of the deceased. Alice was her favorite child, and when she dies, the mother becomes a recluse. Rachel, the less favorite daughter (who is also the main protagonist) is forced to hold everything together.
The book is about a family struggling through the years after one of the daughters has died in childbirth.
The storyline that was the most interesting and touching to me was the one dealing with the mother of the deceased. Alice was her favorite child, and when she dies, the mother becomes a recluse. Rachel, the less favorite daughter (who is also the main protagonist) is forced to hold everything together.
May 12, 2020
This book was a page-turner! I began reading it with no expectations whatsoever, having picked it up at a library used book sale along with a stack of other semi-recent romance novels. The story takes place in 1926 in the small town of Carlson, Minnesota (evidently a fictional place) where we find our heroine Rachel taking care of a child named Charlotte (the daughter of Rachel's deceased sister Alice) and Rachel's mother Eliza (who was traumatized by Alice's death and has confined herself to her bedroom for years). Their home is a boardinghouse where they let rooms in order to pay the bills, although times have been tough with few paying customers. Their most recent boarder is a creep who rarely pays his rent and eventually tries to rape Rachel. Meanwhile, Alice's husband Mason -- who was believed to have died during World War One -- returns home to them, having stayed away so long because of how his face was disfigured in the war. He learns that Alice died while he was away and gave birth to their daughter Charlotte. In addition to putting right his relationship with the family he had abandoned, Mason must also try to put in order his father's banking business which has been taken over by his corrupt brother.
What I've described above may make it sound like a soap opera, but despite the occasional moments of drama and the machinations of a few villains in the story, it's also a gentle tale about a family living during tough times, reminiscent in a way of the articles that I used to read in "Good Old Days" magazine in the 1980s. It's a clean romance (although with a few swear words) with hardly any sexual content (aside from the attempted rape). At first I wondered whether the author would be able to accurately portray American life in the 1920s, since I noticed that there were no references to the pop culture of that time (movies, radio, music, etc.). However, when I looked up Dorothy Garlock online, it turns out that she was born in 1919, so she was a child herself during the period in which the novel takes place. Garlock was 90 years old when this novel was published; her mind must have been very sharp right up to the end (she passed away in 2018 at the age of 98) because there is a lot going on in this novel. What's more, this is book #1 of a trilogy; an excerpt of the beginning of the next book in the series, which follows Charlotte as an adult, appears as a bonus at the end of this book.
Incidentally, reading this novel helped me clarify in my mind whether I ought to rate a book 3.5 or 4 stars, since it was either going to be one or the other. The fact that I read this novel in only 3 days indicated a high level of interest on my part, and therefore a 4 or 5 star book. The way that the plot flows along with its memorable characters makes for addictive reading. However the writing itself (descriptions, dialogue) was not particularly impressive to me (e.g., I didn't feel compelled to read sentences aloud, savoring how they sounded), perhaps meaning it merited only 3.5 stars instead. The reason that I'm giving this novel 4 stars is because it's a book that I would recommend to others, that I think they would enjoy like I did.
What I've described above may make it sound like a soap opera, but despite the occasional moments of drama and the machinations of a few villains in the story, it's also a gentle tale about a family living during tough times, reminiscent in a way of the articles that I used to read in "Good Old Days" magazine in the 1980s. It's a clean romance (although with a few swear words) with hardly any sexual content (aside from the attempted rape). At first I wondered whether the author would be able to accurately portray American life in the 1920s, since I noticed that there were no references to the pop culture of that time (movies, radio, music, etc.). However, when I looked up Dorothy Garlock online, it turns out that she was born in 1919, so she was a child herself during the period in which the novel takes place. Garlock was 90 years old when this novel was published; her mind must have been very sharp right up to the end (she passed away in 2018 at the age of 98) because there is a lot going on in this novel. What's more, this is book #1 of a trilogy; an excerpt of the beginning of the next book in the series, which follows Charlotte as an adult, appears as a bonus at the end of this book.
Incidentally, reading this novel helped me clarify in my mind whether I ought to rate a book 3.5 or 4 stars, since it was either going to be one or the other. The fact that I read this novel in only 3 days indicated a high level of interest on my part, and therefore a 4 or 5 star book. The way that the plot flows along with its memorable characters makes for addictive reading. However the writing itself (descriptions, dialogue) was not particularly impressive to me (e.g., I didn't feel compelled to read sentences aloud, savoring how they sounded), perhaps meaning it merited only 3.5 stars instead. The reason that I'm giving this novel 4 stars is because it's a book that I would recommend to others, that I think they would enjoy like I did.
May 17, 2025
I have actually chosen the wrong book , correct author. I actually read Come a Little Closer , a book that is apparently in this series. It is about Christina. She is a nurse who moves to a small town looking for adventure and perhaps love. She finds both.
January 10, 2025
I really enjoyed this book!
June 13, 2011
First of all, I'd like to write a real summary because this one is absolutely horrible. It's not even correct.
Eight years before the beginning of this story, a family is torn apart. Rachel's sister Alice marries Mason, who is sent off to fight in WWI soon after their wedding. After he leaves, Alice finds out that she is pregnant, and not long after that, she receives news that he is missing in action. This brings her into such a depression that she dies giving birth to her daughter Charlotte.
This book begins in 1926, when Rachel is left dealing with the consequences of war. She must take care of her depressed mother, her drunk uncle, and her sister's out-of-control daughter while running the boarding house her family own. In the mean time, Mason's money-hungry brother has plans to take over the town. but what if Mason is really alive? Why would he stay away for so long? Abandoning his family and his town.
So there is never any secret, especially for the reader, who Mason is. Rachel even knows as soon as she meets him, although she does not admit it to herself. But this was not the biggest problem I had with this book. There was one storyline that did not connect to the rest, and I do not understand why Garlock even put this character in there. There is at one point in the novel a character staying at the boarding house, who is convinced that Rachel belongs with him. He becomes dangerous, and Mason has to rescue her from his advances, and then he just runs away. I expected him to come back for the rest of the book.
I also thought the ending was a little too happy. I don't want to give too much away, but the hurt felt by that family doesn't just "poof!" go away. No... But that's what it seemed to do in this book.
But I would really recommend it. It's a great historical book with funny moments and a happy ending.
Eight years before the beginning of this story, a family is torn apart. Rachel's sister Alice marries Mason, who is sent off to fight in WWI soon after their wedding. After he leaves, Alice finds out that she is pregnant, and not long after that, she receives news that he is missing in action. This brings her into such a depression that she dies giving birth to her daughter Charlotte.
This book begins in 1926, when Rachel is left dealing with the consequences of war. She must take care of her depressed mother, her drunk uncle, and her sister's out-of-control daughter while running the boarding house her family own. In the mean time, Mason's money-hungry brother has plans to take over the town. but what if Mason is really alive? Why would he stay away for so long? Abandoning his family and his town.
So there is never any secret, especially for the reader, who Mason is. Rachel even knows as soon as she meets him, although she does not admit it to herself. But this was not the biggest problem I had with this book. There was one storyline that did not connect to the rest, and I do not understand why Garlock even put this character in there. There is at one point in the novel a character staying at the boarding house, who is convinced that Rachel belongs with him. He becomes dangerous, and Mason has to rescue her from his advances, and then he just runs away. I expected him to come back for the rest of the book.
I also thought the ending was a little too happy. I don't want to give too much away, but the hurt felt by that family doesn't just "poof!" go away. No... But that's what it seemed to do in this book.
But I would really recommend it. It's a great historical book with funny moments and a happy ending.
January 24, 2011
Rachel Watkins has her hands full in Carlson, Minnesota. She is the full-time caregiver for her niece and mother, tries to scratch out a living running in the family’s deteriorating boardinghouse and midwife, tries to save the home from foreclosure, and cares for her alcoholic uncle who lives with them.
Rachel’s life began to unwind eight years earlier. Her sister, Alice, married Mason shortly before he left for the battlefields of WWI. Mason is missing in action and presumed dead before he learns he is to be a father. Alice dies giving birth to Charlotte. Their mother was the attending midwife and blames herself for Alice’s death. She has retreated to her bedroom and refuses to leave it.
One day, while Charlotte and her dog, happen upon a cabin in the woods. Inside is a sick hobo. Charlotte tries her best to nurse the ailing man. When Rachel follows her to the woods, she learns what her niece has been doing. She takes the man into one of the empty rooms and, with Charlotte’s help, nurses the man back to health. As he recovers, the man reveals some of his own secrets that Rachel finds almost too much to bear.
Rachel’s life began to unwind eight years earlier. Her sister, Alice, married Mason shortly before he left for the battlefields of WWI. Mason is missing in action and presumed dead before he learns he is to be a father. Alice dies giving birth to Charlotte. Their mother was the attending midwife and blames herself for Alice’s death. She has retreated to her bedroom and refuses to leave it.
One day, while Charlotte and her dog, happen upon a cabin in the woods. Inside is a sick hobo. Charlotte tries her best to nurse the ailing man. When Rachel follows her to the woods, she learns what her niece has been doing. She takes the man into one of the empty rooms and, with Charlotte’s help, nurses the man back to health. As he recovers, the man reveals some of his own secrets that Rachel finds almost too much to bear.
November 20, 2020
This was a good, quick read. The first book in a trilogy we meet Rachel who lives with her mother and uncle, and niece who she has raised as her own since her sister died in childbirth. We find out that the father, who was thought to be killed in the war, is alive and returns after 8 years missing. It's a good story, not too deep, but the characters were likable, except of course the ones we aren't supposed to like. It's a nice beginning to this trilogy.
April 29, 2010
I got this book through the "first reads" on goodreads. I wasn't sure I would like it when I received it. It seemed like it may be a little cheesy, however it was pretty good. I had the end of the story figured out pretty early on, but I was still interested and there were unexpected twists and turns. I would recommend this as a fun, easy read.
May 16, 2010
Typical Dorothy Garlock...good for a fast read, but leaves nothing to ponder..
May 23, 2017
is a very good book to read and is touching story of a woman trying her best to raise her neice
February 4, 2011
This book is so light, so predictable, but it did help me go to sleep at night!
June 3, 2019
This book was a shock I can't believe I read the whole thing! The story was plodding and turgid; the characters were uninteresting and rather cardboard-like in behavior. The story was presented as over-blown high drama.
This story takes place in the years following World War I. Rachel is holding her family together, with little help from the other adults in the family. She runs the family's boardinghouse and has supplanted her mother as the town's midwife.
Louise Watkins (the mother of Alice and Rachel), has retreated to her room on a full-time basis since the death of her favorite daughter (Alice). Uncle Otis is the town drunk. Charlotte, Alice's daughter, is a pouty brat.
The main male character, Mason Tucker, offers a poor reason for abandoning his wife and father for 8 years! His brother, Zachary Tucker, is as wicked as they come. As the town's banker, Zachary has used devious and violent methods to increase his wealth.
Frankly, I couldn't care less about the people and what happened to them. The romance between Rachel and Mason moved slower than syrup sliding down a cold jar!
If you insist on reading this drivel, be sure you check it out from a library. It isn't worth your hard-earned money!
This story takes place in the years following World War I. Rachel is holding her family together, with little help from the other adults in the family. She runs the family's boardinghouse and has supplanted her mother as the town's midwife.
Louise Watkins (the mother of Alice and Rachel), has retreated to her room on a full-time basis since the death of her favorite daughter (Alice). Uncle Otis is the town drunk. Charlotte, Alice's daughter, is a pouty brat.
The main male character, Mason Tucker, offers a poor reason for abandoning his wife and father for 8 years! His brother, Zachary Tucker, is as wicked as they come. As the town's banker, Zachary has used devious and violent methods to increase his wealth.
Frankly, I couldn't care less about the people and what happened to them. The romance between Rachel and Mason moved slower than syrup sliding down a cold jar!
If you insist on reading this drivel, be sure you check it out from a library. It isn't worth your hard-earned money!
November 26, 2017
Awful. I picked it up because I wanted some light reading, but this was so cliched (even for the genre)
it was almost unreadable.
Let's count the main ones:
So, that was 6, and without really trying.
it was almost unreadable.
Let's count the main ones:
So, that was 6, and without really trying.
March 22, 2022
The reason people eat at Burger King or Dunkin Donuts is because, no matter where they are, they know exactly what to expect.
This novel is just like that. Predictable, full of clichés, and with a well-worn story arc, readers can almost quote the next line of dialogue or piece of action as they're reading the current conversation or scene.
Still, the author wouldn't be a bestseller unless she could repeatedly deliver product. If you want a pleasant, easy read, pick up this book. Like your Dunkin chai latte, it's sweet and warm, but not altogether nourishing or inspiring.
This novel is just like that. Predictable, full of clichés, and with a well-worn story arc, readers can almost quote the next line of dialogue or piece of action as they're reading the current conversation or scene.
Still, the author wouldn't be a bestseller unless she could repeatedly deliver product. If you want a pleasant, easy read, pick up this book. Like your Dunkin chai latte, it's sweet and warm, but not altogether nourishing or inspiring.
September 18, 2023
2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
Rachel is a young woman who is running her family's boarding house and caring for her depressed mother and deceased sister's daughter. Her life doesn't include much time for herself as she is faced with many challenges on a daily basis. A man who is very ill is discovered by her niece and turns out to be her dead sister's husband who was injured in the war and had been presumed dead.
The book was OK, I enjoy the time period. Some of it was very predictable and not very well developed. Will probably read the second book in the series.
Rachel is a young woman who is running her family's boarding house and caring for her depressed mother and deceased sister's daughter. Her life doesn't include much time for herself as she is faced with many challenges on a daily basis. A man who is very ill is discovered by her niece and turns out to be her dead sister's husband who was injured in the war and had been presumed dead.
The book was OK, I enjoy the time period. Some of it was very predictable and not very well developed. Will probably read the second book in the series.
March 18, 2024
Rachel holds her family together. Her sister Alice died in childbirth after her husband died in WW1. Their child runs wild while her mother hides in her bedroom hiding from the world and her uncle drinks himself and all of their money away. When charlottes finds a sick man and they nurse him back to health things begin to change. Full of nasty villains and enjoyable read!
May 25, 2025
I thought the book was good! I would have liked another 1-2 chapters to wrap up the storyline with Mason and his family and have it play out with play out with the same intensity as it was written throughout the story versus the way it was written by being rushed and condensed into an afterthought in the end. It kind of lost something by the author doing that!
August 31, 2023
This book has very little hopeful romance in it.
Garlock dwells on many dark subjects—more than her usual.
It is supposed to be 1926 in this novel, but it seems timeless.
The hero is not particularly heroic.
Garlock dwells on many dark subjects—more than her usual.
It is supposed to be 1926 in this novel, but it seems timeless.
The hero is not particularly heroic.
August 3, 2017
Too light, cheesy and predictable.
November 27, 2017
Fairly predictable.
April 1, 2018
This was an entertaining story. I would read the next one in this series.
November 29, 2019
Wonderful romance. Lot of heartbreak & regret. Forgiveness and hero to save the day.
Want to check out more in series.
Want to check out more in series.
July 28, 2020
A new author for me. Will try to listen to the series in order.
April 27, 2021
3.5 Stars...
July 25, 2021
This was a good book, had it sadness, it trial of family disappointment.
May 2, 2022
Why did I see this going differently. This was a B rated Hallmark in book form.
July 5, 2023
Interesting plot line, but I'm not sure where the romance is...? Not my favorite. Not the worst.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews