Celeste Hamilton

I only rated this 3 stars because the way the heroine, Dr. Conrad, inserts herself into the heroes life, and then stays there, just isn't very plausible. And that's precisely why the hero is so slow to warm up to her despite an obvious attraction. Sam, a simple farmer and widower with two children who dropped out of college to take over the family farm, is intelligent enough to be wary when the obstetrician under whose watch his wife died under just suddenly shows up at his doorstep years later and is interested in him. The way she uses his kids to get to him, even with the obvious need they have to have a mother, is reprehensible.

Why 3 stars then? I liked Sam. Unlike most romance novel heroes who are tall, dark, handsome, with big bank accounts and even bigger egos, Sam is a simple, hard-working farmer struggling to raise two kids on a farm alone with little help (a very nice-looking farmer, but otherwise ordinary). His work is back-breaking and his time on the farm has taught him you don't plant corn and suddenly yield a crop of mangoes, which describes the difference between him and the good doctor. His caution, especially given the implausible way the doctor parachutes into his life, how cautious he is about committing to her (no sex until he's sure she really wants to stick around), and his need for space when he realizes it's time to either pop the question or let her go, is a journey into the psychology of an ordinary, scared-to-commit nice guy. After losing his wife years before and seeing that this woman will rip out not only HIS heart, but also the hearts of his two kids if she just-as-suddenly decides to parachute OUT of his life again once she realizes being a farmers wife is not glamorous, you just have to like him.

Put it this way ... if the roles were reversed. If it was 'Samantha' raising two kids while working 'her' farm, and a doctor under whose care 'her' husband suddenly died one day showed up and started wooing 'her' kids, and 'Samantha' was wary of the good doctor, you'd root for 'her' for being sensible and cautious and trying to walk that fine line between giving her kids something they need while protecting them.… (meer)