Title: A Suitable Father
Author: Patricia Crossley
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published in 2004 by Zumaya Publications
IBSN: 1-894942-58-2
Strange that one man can so unsettle a person, but that is exactly what the article in the paper had done to Maggie Rainer. It isn’t his being in the news so much as the picture that accompanied the article. To see Kurt’s face, even in the grainy photo his eyes seemed to follow her, accuse her, and again the guilt descended. Why this happened, she didn’t know, for it was not Maggie who ran away. Kurt had left her just when she needed him most, and never a phone call, a note, a letter, or a word was heard from him until now. Twelve long years, and now he returned to haunt her dreams with a vengeance. Strange how his very name can do that to her, but it seems it wasn’t something she could then, or can now control completely. For selected periods of time when he was away maybe the pain was lessened, but he is too close. Now if he would just disappear for good, she would be more than happy, but alas it is not to be. His grandmother, Frieda Haydon lived here in this house forever, it seemed, and so of course he just has to be here.
Of all the things to be happening in her life, having Kurt drop back in on her at this point was upsetting to say the least. The facts of Kurt’s abrupt entry again into her life, and that he is apparently a wanted man is another story entirely. Maggie is not certain she can or wants to help him. He broke her trust once, and she is not anxious to put herself on that position again, especially not with her son in the picture. Jeff is her life, and Kurt just a passing pain. Jeff has her total devotion, and Kurt had given that privilege up when he walked out on her. Even so, she struggles with mixed feelings, the desire for a stable home, a loving family, and the illusion of happiness has blinded her to what might be, but she doesn’t care anymore. The hurt has been too deep for too long, and she would much rather have a man like Roger Saint George than one like Kurt Rainer. She would much rather have the certainty, a man of calm stability rather than the reckless bad boy. Those days are long past…water under the bridge of her life.
It has been said that a man’s gotta do, what a man’s gotta do, and in this case, Kurt Rainer has to stay alive. The fall was bad enough, but the rest of it he could do without. Joe has said he will take care of it, and Kurt believes him. The plan had worked too well though, and the attack Kurt suffered in the hospital was just another reason not to stay too long. He needed a place to go to ground, and he knows that Oma will help. She will not turn him away, and so he finds himself facing the one woman in his life who can hurt him worse than he already is, who can kill him with her indifference, who had tried before with her rejection of his proposal. Why he finds Maggie Robbins in his grandmother’s home is a question he really doesn’t want to ask, but then, Oma always did have a soft spot for her. Oma was a lifeline, and Kurt remembered her kindness when it seemed as though his world was turning upside down. He needed to see her again, to talk to her and explain. He owed Oma that much, and maybe Maggie would take him to her.
That his grandma was a resident of Glenhaven did not make Kurt happy, but he understood Frieda’s desire to be there and away from the responsibility of the house. Oma was no longer young, but she knows Maggie, and maybe she can give him some insight to the way things are now. At any rate, he is not expecting the strength of the feelings he is experiencing still for the woman who swore her love, then rejected him the moment his plans became inconvenient to her. She was always so convinced that her family was so important, that she could never see Kurt’s desire to have her and start a family of her own. He was better off without her then and now, so why do the feelings persist, and why does she still haunt him now more than ever?
Patricia Crossley has written a poignant story of abuse, mistrust, jealousy, passion and misunderstandings, and through it all, one has to admire the courage it takes for Kurt to face it all again. Tall, dark, handsome, and with a bad reputation, Kurt Rainer is a man that has suffered the abuse of a cruel and demeaning man, and yet managed to survive brilliantly on his own terms. The love of his life, Maggie Robbins, is a blockheaded and stubborn girl who is searching for something that is truly only an illusion. Placing her family over all is her way of hiding, of eliciting sympathy, and in the biggest sense, she is not doing herself any favours. Already she has lost love once, and it was because she did not have the courage to grasp what she wanted, what was best for her. The question remains…will she give up a second chance at happiness with a man who truly loves her, or will she move moronically into another bad relationship for the sake of the illusion she seeks?
A Suitable Father is a real trial of the heart, and although I wanted to shake some sense into the heroine at every turn, I found the story immensely satisfying. The character of Maggie, was not my favourite heroine material, for she was too shallow, not placing value in finding the real truth, but in ignoring that which upset her world, and not dealing in reality. The biggest examples were the ease in which she believed the worst of Kurt, the fact that she never really went through her ex-husbands things to put him behind her, and her inability to admit she was wrong, and apologize to Kurt. For all the damage Kurt suffered, he is in a much better place than Maggie is in with all her pompous “family first” ideas. Kurt has done more than survive, he has succeeded with style and he would make an eminently Suitable Father. We can only hope that he can pass on some of his knowledge and life experience to Maggie. A Suitable Father is a good book, in spite of the less than admirable heroine, and it will make you run a gamut of emotions, but in the end, it will definitely be a favourite. A Suitable Father is available now from Zumaya Publications.
Yours in good reading,
Rose!
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