I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Just Read. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
The Dad Next Door by Stephanie Dees Series: Family Blessings #1
Published by Harlequin Enterprises, Limited on April 18, 2017
Genres: Christian, Clean & Wholesome, Contemporary, Inspirational, Love & Romance, Religious, Romance
Pages: 224
Source: Just Read
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A Place to Call Home
Lawman Joe Sheehan is desperate to bond with the daughter he's just discovered he has. But as a virtual stranger to twelve-year-old Amelia, the task seems impossible. Until Claire Conley moves to town. A social worker renovating a mansion into a foster home, Claire is the first person to get through to Amelia. Falling for the single dad was not on Claire's to-do list. But with Joe and Amelia around, the house finally starts to feel like home. Claire's ready to fight to convince Joe that together they've done more than fix a house...they've built a family.
Romance, as a genre, is sort of a side bar for me. I don’t pick up a book because it’s a romance like so many others. I pick up a book because it has a story line that catches my interest and happens to contain romance. I mean, instalove is the cliche fallback for a lot of romance books, and a ginormous pet peeve of mine. I’d not read Stephanie Dees prior to starting the Family Blessings series with ‘The Dad Next Door’. I chose this book, this series, because the synopsis intrigued me. I don’t read a lot of contemporary romance so that was a refreshing tick on the interest list as well. I’m just gonna say that Dees did not disappoint me and I’m super glad that I’m stocked up and ready to read this entire series!
For a breezy simple ‘boy next door-ish’ romance that is really an engaging and quick read there are some heavier topics discussed that might be upsetting for some readers. Joe, and subsequently his daughter Amelia, grew up with mother’s who struggled with addiction. Both know the struggle of being neglected and going being hungry, not feeling safe, and in Joe’s case a little juvenile delinquency to go along with the neglect he suffered. Claire, also had been through the system. Not due to neglect but as a child of adoption she struggled to feel her value and worth which led her to some unhealthy coping mechanisms as a teen including self-injury. None of this was covered in a manner that was graphic or overt but managed to embrace you into the world that children like them find themselves in each and every day, especially through the foster care system. Which is ultimately Claire’s goal, to open a home for hard to place children. Children with delinquent backgrounds, sibling groups, older children, they are all harder to place not only in the system but through adoption as well. This heaviness did not darken the story but enriched it. The deeper themes of this book actually brought hope and the simplicity of life to light instead of weighting it down.
Claire is finally about to realize her dream after the loss of her adoptive mother and the brief meeting of her birth father before he passed and left her his plantation home. Joe is trying to return to his dream with the addition of a tween daughter he never knew existed and her own baggage of a mother who couldn’t care for her due to her own demons and addictions. Everyone has baggage but what I loved is that instead of wallowing in a pity party they used that baggage to grow their future and the future of other children like them. All in a small southern town where everybody knows every-bodies business, has an opinion about it, and the idea of change is about as enticing as not going to Heaven. And they aren’t afraid to share that opinion, literally. I loved the theme of finding family, finding community, and finding redemption. Claire and Joe and all of Red Hill Springs find all of that and so much more, and no instalove!
About Stephanie Dees
Award-winning author Stephanie Dees lives in small-town Alabama with her family, two spoiled dogs, and a very bossy cat. A Southern girl through and through, she loves sweet tea, SEC football, corn on the cob and air conditioning.
Favorite writing snack: Chex mix with honey-roasted peanuts
Favorite vacation spot: Gulf coast of Florida
Favorite day of the week: Monday (there’s just so much possiblity…)
Favorite thing ever: first coffee in the morning
Favorite rom-com: The Proposal
Favorite family activity: Game night (favorite game: Ticket to Ride)
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