Redeeming Claire

by Cynthia Rutledge and Melanie Milburne

To avoid family and career problems, Claire Waters and Tony Karelli pretend to be engaged. Then they fall in love for real, and life seems very good. But when scandal arises, they must use the power... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373871589
• ISBN13: 9780373871582
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Harlequin Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

The older Steeple Hill novels are better

One of the many reasons I loved this book was because I could actually relate to these Christians. Claire didn't really like being around kids and had even thought about having pre-marital sex with a guy, and Tony (a minister), lied by omission by allowing the townspeople to believe he and Claire were engaged so he could keep his position (as the townspeople wanted a married minister). That said, I love the setting, a quaint little Iowa town called Millville. I am not into western settings or stories set in Texas. I am from a small town in southeast Missouri, so I could really relate to this place. As a Christian, I get sick of reading about Christians who are always nice even when someone isn't nice to them and never do anything wrong (or even have an impure thought!), or, if they have sinned in the past, they have repented and sin no more. I like to read about real people because perfect people are boring. By perfect, I don't mean good, because Tony and Claire were good people, they just weren't perfect, even though they were Christians. I assumed at the end that Claire was amenable to the idea of a child or two (assuming that Tony wants children and this is important to him), even though she isn't exactly the mothering type (at least not in the beginning), but Claire did a lot of growing up (which is why grown-ups raise children), and I think she'll be ready for the child(ren) if or when they come. As for the cover, it was perfect--a little white country church in the wood. This is, by far, the best Steeple Hill novel I have read, and I most highly recommend it.

She?s Not Cut Out to Be a Pastor?s Wife, or is She?

Claire Waters doesn't like children, doesn't like the settled down kind of married life either. Her best friend has twins, they are a handful and all she wants is away from them. Her father is disappointed that she hasn't married and she'd like to get away from him for a while too. So she decides to look up fun loving Tony Karelli, who she hasn't seen in a couple years.Tony has just graduated from seminary school and has accepted a position as pastor of small town Millville, outside of Des Moines, Iowa. He wants to do a good job, believes he can too. Then his land lady asks when his fiancée is going to arrive. It turns out that there had been a mix up. The town wants a married pastor and somehow they'd gotten Tony by mistake. Tony is just about to tell her about the problem, when happy go lucky Claire shows up on his doorstep. Even though she'd walked in on the middle of the conversation, she quickly gets the gist of what's going on and to Tony's horror, plays along at being his fiancée and before long she has the whole town eating out of her hand.So what is it going to cost Tony when the truth comes out? What's it going to cost Claire? Even as Tony is contemplating these questions, he finds himself falling in love in this inspirational romance that had me hook, line and sinker from page one. This is simply a wonderful story and one that you shouldn't miss.

highly enjoyable

I really enjoyed this book. It seemed realistic and you could relate to the people. I especially loved the old lady who loved to gossip and how people effectively cut her off. I would recommend this book to anyone. It dealt with what new christians deal with when first going back to church. It showed how God does the changing and people should not judge.

Stand Alone Sequal

For those of you who have read "The Marrying Kind" you might remember Taylor's old friend, Tony, and the "baracuda" that Nick was trying to escape named Claire Waters. For those of you who haven't, you'll love "The Marrying Kind", but you don't have to read it to enjoy "Redeeming Claire".In this book Claire wants her dad off her back about something so she decides to look up Tony and "convince" him to pretend to be her fiance. When she arrives she is surprised to find that Tony is a minister and that his parshiners think he has a fiancee. Claire takes advantage of the situation and off it goes.This story is absolutly hilarious, but it has some serious points involving a girl who gets in over her head. Claire has a lot of growing up to do and . . . well, read the book. You'll see what I mean.