Three Hearts

New Zealander Darcy Farrell has been raising her orphaned niece, Brooke, for the last eight years. Her sister had died in childbirth and had listed the father as unknown on the birth certificate. So when Travis Denton suddenly arrives from America and claims that not only was he her sister's husband, he is Brooke's father too, she's stunned! She's not convinced that Travis knows what he's talking about. However, Travis is determined that his daughter will come to America and live with him. How can Brooke part with the child she's loved as her own for the last eight years? As Darcy and Travis spend time together in order to allow Travis to get to know Brooke, they begin to have deeper feelings for each other. Darcy isn't sure that Travis's feelings for her alone, or because of his daughter. Can they form a family together? Three Hearts was an enjoyable read. I grew to care about both Travis and Darcy, even though occasionally you want to hit Travis for his totally oblivious determination to tear his daughter from the only home and mother she's ever known. While the story occasionally slows to a crawl, I was still invested in Travis and Darcy's finding their happy ending together. Three Hearts is most certainly an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon!

At the start of the book I hated Travis Denton who came over as arrogant, self opinionated and judgemental. He made assumptions about Darcy Farrell's way of life, employment and from that he decided that she was not a good guardian for Brooke who he thought was his daughter. There were times when Travis was lovable and I began to warm to him but always he reverted to the kind of person he was when he arrived in New Zealand. On the other hand I wanted to know if the two main characters became a couple so that it had a happy ending for the child. I particularly enjoyed the tour of parts South Island - areas which I visited in February 2006. It brought back such lovely memories of the people and the beautiful landscape together with the folklore wrapped around it. I took this book on my EBookman to Mexico for a holiday read and found that I couldn't put it down. It was both annoying as well as moving and it was easy to imagine this as a true life situation. A good story, easily enjoyable and well worth settling into.

A delightful romance. Set mainly in New Zealand, readers are sure to enjoy their little 'tour' of the beautiful South Island. Appealing characters - you'll fall in love with Travis! Definitely a "curl up on a rainy day" book. Enjoy!