Home for the Holidays [Large Print]

by Sarah Mayberry

Book Overview

Joe Lawson has a thing for his new neighbor Hannah Napier. As a single dad, he shouldn't be thinking what he is about her. Still, that doesn't stop them from getting close. And the way she connects... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Large Print: Yes
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373783442
• ISBN13: 9780373783441
• Release Date: November 2009
• Publisher: Harlequin Superromance Large Print
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

Flawed but engrossing

Joe Lawson has hit a rough patch. His wife was killed two years ago, leaving him with a 10 year old daughter and a 13 year old son. He's just uprooted his family from Sydney to be closer to his mother in Melbourne. Now the jerk next door is revving his motorcycle, threatening to wake up his kids. When he marches next door to give the guy a piece of his mind, he's in for a bit of a surprise. Hannah Napier was working on her motorcycle in her mom's garage, like she has on many occasions before, when some jerk comes in and scares the bejesus out of her, yelling at her to keep it down. That's some way to meet your new neighbor! Despite this inauspicious beginning, and a number of other early clashes, these two find themselves inexplicably drawn to each other. Neither is in the market for romance. Joe's still reeling from his wife's death and is completely focused on his kids. Hannah's recovering from her fiancé ditching her right before the wedding for her younger, prettier sister. Not only are they both walking wounded, but Hannah's planning on fulfilling a lifelong dream to take off on a motorcycle tour of the country. They're determined to keep it platonic, agreeing that the timing is all off for them. Life, of course, has other plans for them. All sorts of delicious unresolved sexual tension ensues, with some amusing false starts, one of which involves a makeout session interrupted by a car horn. Watching these two circle each other, declaring their intent to keep their hands to themselves, and ultimately fail, is a real joy. Mayberry did make some decisions I didn't agree with. The meeting between Hannah and her fiancé was straight-up bizarre - why would he, and not her sister, be the one to tell her she was going to be an aunt? I didn't see what that exchange added to the story. I also didn't agree with how she handled the road trip, but I won't spoil that. I found the dialog hokey at times, especially with the children. Ruby, the 10 year old, refers to Joe as Daddy and her late mother as Mommy, which I found odd for that age group. She spoke the precious and cutesy lines of a 6 year old, not a preteen. She did a better job with Ben, making him reserved and moody, like any self-respecting 13 year old boy, but even he delivered some highly uncharacteristic bits of high emotion that set my eyes a-rolling. If you don't like kids in romance, this won't be the book that changes your mind. These flaws, however, did not sufficiently take away from what was a highly satisfying roller coaster ride. Sexual tension abounds and a surprise twist at the end is a bit of a tearjerker. A solid read, start to finish.

Sarah Mayberry Does It Again

Home for the Holidays isn't a typical romance. There's a deceased wife, two kids - one's a teenager, an ex-fiance and a strained sibling relationship. Add to that the rocky start Joe and Hannah get off to and it certainly doesn't seem like they have any chance at becoming friends much less a couple. But Mayberry works her magic and Joe and Hannah get beyond those bad first impressions and get to know each other. Joe Lawson is still feeling his way through the rough waters of single parenthood. He moves himself and his two kids, Ben and Ruby, to Melbourne to start over and be near his mum. In doing so he puts himself next to a woman who is so not his type. His first encounter with Hannah does not go well and he doesn't look forward to seeing his new neighbor again. Hannah isn't too happy about the "jerk" that has moved in next door. They almost subconsciously notice the attractiveness of the other but squash that down because how could they possibly be attracted to someone so exasperating? Hannah Napier could not be described as a "delicate flower of womanhood". I can practically hear her snorting at the thought. LOL She is a mechanic and enjoys working on restoring a classic motorcycle in her spare time. Most comfortable in jeans and t-shirt, she is out of her comfort zone when dealing with dresses and make-up. But even in jeans and t-shirt Joe can't help but notice Hannah's curves. Even while being irritated by her, he still notices that she is all woman under her grease monkey exterior. The conflicts, and they are many, are well developed for such a short format. Joe and Hannah must not only deal with their growing feeling for each other but also with the feelings of Joe's two kids. Ben is a teenager (13) who's unhappy with the world and is under pressure from school to try and fit in. Ruby is a precocious 10 year old that quickly takes to Hannah. At first, Joe isn't happy about Ruby hanging around with their "biker chick" neighbor. As Joe gets to know Hannah, he realizes what an important part of his family she is becoming. I really enjoyed the dynamics of the characters. The way everyone kind of shifted and moved into place to create a new family. The moves weren't always smooth, there were definitely bumps along the way. Sometimes more shifting needed to be done but eventually two people became a couple and four people became a family. So chalk up another win from Mayberry. Once again she's given the reader a romance couple different from the usual fare. With a heroine who can rebuild an engine and a hero who does laundry and washes dishes. The love scenes were sweet, sexy and funny. Two people who resort to getting hot and heavy in a car because they have no privacy at home makes for some hot and frustrating scenes. And the way they overcame their past pains to get to the point where they could trust and hope again was well written and left me, once again, happy to have found Sarah Mayberry's books.

One of the best Superromance for me.

Can a story get any more romantic than this one ?? I had tears in my eyes and a big smile on my face when I finished the book. How Sarah Mayberry succeeds to convey so much emotion and passion in those 200 pages is amazing. My only disappontment is that the book isn't part of a series. Sure there is an epilogue but I would have loved to see more of Joe and Hannah and their gang in the future *sigh* , yep... this really was a great book ;-)

engaging second chance at love Australian romance

Two years ago his wife died in an accident that left Joe Lawson alone to raise his two children by himself. He decides to relocate them from Sydney to Melbourne so his mom can help him and her grandchildren thirteen year old Ben and tens year old Ruby though his daughter fears mom will not be able to find them if they leave their home. His neighbor is mechanic Hannah Napier, whose fiancé dumped her after falling in love with her sister. Hannah is terrific with his kids while he fantasizes about her being with him. She is attracted to the family next door, but plans to leave Melbourne to follow her dreams. Christmas looks like it will be cold, as it has been since their mom died, to the Lawson family. This is an engaging second chance at love Australian romance with a solid support cast and strong likable lead protagonists each with relationship demons. The two young children are terrific as they have doubts about the move and their father falling in love; Ruby will remind the audience of Abigail Breslin in No Reservations with her fear of losing her mom forever. While Hannah fears being dumped again, Joe is afraid of losing someone else he loves and the impact on his kids of his wanting to make Hannah their mom. Fans will enjoy this fine contemporary as the cast makes for an entertaining tale. Harriet Klausner