Her Great Expectations

Summerside Stories #1

by Joan Kilby

All right. So Jack Thatcher has experienced deep, personal tragedy. Dr. Sienna Maxwell gets that. But how can the man drop out of life the way he has, pretending to be happy hosting fabulous dinner parties and puttering in his back shed? That's something she will never be able to understand. Because he is only pretending, right?

Sienna's a shoot-from-the-hip high achiever, who demands no less from everyone around her. Driven and determined to make her new medical practice - and everything she touches - a success, she wants a whole lot more from Jack than charm...and kisses. She wants nothing less than perfect.

Genres: Romance, Harlequin, Category Romance, Contemporary Romance, Fiction

256 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Joan Kilby is the award-winning author of thirty contemporary romance novels. Originally from Canada, Joan studied to be a marine biologist and worked for many years in the field of environmental biology. In mid-life she returned to her first love--writing--and never looked back. These days Joan lives in Melbourne, Australia with her husband and three children. She loves to cook and grows her own herbs, fruit and vegetables. Other interests include hiking, yoga and travel. She once spent six months sailing the South Pacific on a fifty-five foot sailboat built and skippered by her father. Joan belongs to Toastmasters International and is an accomplished speaker--teaching romance writing and giving talks to community organizations. When she’s not working on her latest book she can often be found in a sidewalk café, sipping a latte and indulging in her favorite occupation--people watching.

Reviews

[Saly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Her Great Expectations was not bad but it did have a heroine who expected too much perfection and for things to go her way, but she was not all bad.

Sienna Maxwell grew up in a family of over-achievers, she is a doctor and doesn't take failure too well. She has just moved to town after her divorce with her son Oliver. Sienna has a tendency of expecting too much from people especially her son and not listen. Her son tells her time and again he doesn't want to be a doctor but she refuses to listen and what she does at the end I didn't like. It took the woman who wrecked her marriage to show her the error of her ways.

Jack is someone Sienna can't understand. He doesn't seem to have any ambition in life and she can't comprehend that and she looks down upon it and tries to push him into doing something. Jack is still grieving over what happened to his wife. I liked Jack, yes, he was not confronting some issues but he saw Sienna's son when she didn't. I guess it shows that parents sometimes think they know best without asking but they may not be right.

Still I did enjoy the book and will read about the other siblings.

Rating 2.5

[Jaclyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sympathetic characters that feel real, and I related very much to the perfectionist doctor.

[Virginia Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed "Her Great Expectations" by Joan Kilby. It's a very real romance with perfectly imperfect characters. They have flaws, they have tempers, and they are both stubborn. They're wonderful. Jack Thatcher hides his guilt and sorrow over his belief that he was the cause of his wife's death. His outward persona is appealing, but he hides his emotions from almost everyone. It's really himself whom he's afraid to face, but to the public at large, he's Mr. Nonchalant Charm. Sienna Maxwell, strives for perfection in all things, and she fears failure above all else. A divorced doctor dealing with a teenage son, Sienna tries mightily to cross each item off her "to do list" each day. Knowing that her son is intelligent, and has a lot of potential, she panics when his behavior changes and his grades start to slip. Seeing her hopes for his medical career start to fade away, Sienna goes even further into overdrive. She is greatly attracted to Jack, but she is confused by his seeming lack of desire to "make something of himself". He's very agreeable to everyone he meets, and he's a great cook who gives fabulous and fun dinner parties, but he doesn't work. He doesn't want to work. He doesn't want to feel emotional attachments. Sienna shakes him from his ambivalence, and he challenges her inability to accept failure. They dance around in each other in a rush of feelings and sexual attraction, arguing and making up and arguing again. They have very different views on how Sienna's son should be raised, but eventually they learn to trust each other and allow mutual respect to be accompanied by a deep love. The remaining two books in the "Seaside Trilogy" feature Jack's two sisters, Lexie and Renita. I look forward to two more heartwarming romance reads.

[Sherri Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book, but I would have liked to have more in the way of one on one time between Jack and Sienna. The author did a great job on back story, but I felt as if there could have been an even greater connection established between these two. There was passion, yes, but we only got to really see that once or twice. Most of the book was about them building more of a friendship and working through their past issues. I'm giving the book 4 stars, but if I could I'd give it 3 1/2. I just wanted...more.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Summerside Stories

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Summerside Stories