Heartfire

by Karen Rose Smith

Overview

"Ms. Smith is one of the best contemporary family drama authors." Harriet Klausner, Reviewer.

Tessa Kahill, renowned journalist who traveled the world, is falling in love with her best friend's husband all over again. Tessa and Max Winthrop dated before he met Leslie. But then Tessa left with secrets and dreams to follow her career. Afterward Max found Leslie to be the kind of woman he needed, one who wanted to be a mother, live in a small town and have roots. Tessa had somewhat kept her distance after Leslie and Max became involved, then married. But she visited a few times a year because she was their son's godmother and she still felt close to Leslie in so many ways. Keeping her distance from Max became a habit and a necessity. When Leslie was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, Tessa became her confidant. If she couldn't be there physically, she was on the phone with her friend, talking about her concerns and her fears. After Leslie died, Tessa visited Jenkins, Connecticut, for Ryan's sake, always staying with Leslie's parents.
Now, three years after Leslie's death, Tessa comes for a visit and learns Ryan is having problems in school and making friends. After a serious conference with Ryan's teacher, Tessa offers to stay a few weeks for Ryan's sake. Accepting her help this time, Max insists she stay with them since Leslie's parents have moved away from the small town. But something is different during this visit. Tessa and Max feel electricity that hasn't been there over the past nine years. They're both confused and unsettled by it. After all, Max doesn't understand or approve of her lifestyle. She would feel trapped in his. She's kept her feelings all tied up with her secrets—her mother's abandonment of her in a school when she was seven, the cycle of foster homes where she didn't get along, the sense of isolation because she never belonged anywhere. Little by little Max realizes why Tessa seeks the life she does. He also sees what a wonderful mother she would make. Ryan adores her and she can relate to him on a level that Max can't. Would Tessa ever stay in Jenkins? Would he dare risk his heart to find out? After all, she left him before. If Tessa tells Max she loves him, what will that mean to him? He wants a wife like Leslie and Tessa can only be herself.

A rocky road, a man and woman who are searching for love and a little boy who holds his own secret. They could become a real family if they could all become vulnerable and honest with each other. A heartfire has been burning for years. Will it lead to everlasting love?

Previously published as HEARTFIRE, HOMEFIRE with Silhouette Books.

Contemporary romances, each with a different twist, in Karen Rose Smith's Search For Love series.

NATHAN'S VOW, Book 1 Search For Love series romance/paranormal
JAKE'S BRIDE, Book 2 Search For Love series romance/marriage of convenience, secret baby
ALWAYS DEVOTED, Book 3 Search For Love series romance/mystery
ALWAYS HER COWBOY, Book 4 Search For Love series, contemporary ranch romance
HEARTFIRE, Book 5 Search For Love series, contemporary reunion/family romance

Product Details

BN ID:	2940032802440
Publisher:	Karen Rose Smith
Publication date:	10/07/2011
Series:	Search For Love , #5
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	NOOK Book
Sales rank:	99,068
File size:	608 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Award-winning author Karen Rose Smith was born in Pennsylvania. Although she was an only child, she remembers the bonds of an extended family. She and her parents lived with her grandfather and aunt until she was five when her parents built a house next door. Since her father came from a family of ten and her mother, a family of seven, there were always aunts, uncles and cousins visiting on weekends. Family is a strong theme in her books and she suspects her childhood memories are the reason.
As a teenager, music became as important to Karen as reading. The Beatles were her favorite group. But she and her cousin took their first sojourn into writing by collaborating on a script for the MONKEES television program. They sent that script to every concert venue where the group appeared that summer!
In college, Karen began writing poetry and also met her husband to be. They both began married life as teachers, but when their son was born, Karen decided to try her hand at a home-decorating business. She returned to teaching for a while but changes in her life led her to writing romance fiction. Now she writes full time.
Her first romance was published in 1992; her 80th romance will be published in 2013. A winner of New Jersey's Golden Leaf Award in Short Contemporary Romance, Colorado Romance Writers Award Of Excellence for short contemporary, as well as the Phoenix Desert Rose Chapter's Golden Quill for Traditional Romance, she has also been honored with Cataromance.com's award for Best Special Edition. Her romances have made both the USA TODAY list, and the Amazon Romance and Contemporary Romance Bestseller lists.
Karen's SEARCH FOR LOVE ebook series will soon be available in audiobooks as well as ebooks. She has added book 7, HER SISTER, a contemporary women's fiction novel to the series. As well as indie publishing, she writes Harlequin Special Editions and will see the debut of a mystery series for Kensington in December 2013. Readers can follow her on Facebook (Search--Karen Rose Smith)or on Twitter @karenrosesmith. They can also contact her through her websites at www.karenrosesmith.com and www.karenrosesmithmysteries.com. She welcomes interaction with her readers and would love to chat about plotlines, titles, emotions, heroes, heroines, music, books, gardening, cooking, or anything else readers deem noteworthy!