Gail Gaymer Martin

Kelsey Rhodes wasn't looking for love. She was too busy, to say the least. But when handsome single father, Ross enters her life, she soon finds it wasn't by accident.

After his wife's death, Ross must handle the growing stress of his daughter's rampant emotions and heart disease on his own. A pre-teen on the cusp of womanhood, he wonders how he's going to make it without a woman's gentle guidance.

And Kelsey must fight her own demons. Years after her husband's infidelity and subsequent show more abandonment, she must struggle on her own and battle her daughter's brain tumors - trusting doesn't come easily when Ross steps into her life. With two very sick girls, is it wrong for them to hope for a future together? Or is this God's plan?

I enjoyed this book. Ms. Martin doesn't sugarcoat these girls' medical issues and paint them as little angels with no feelings or bad attitudes. They behave like regular pre-teens, complete with the rolling of the eyes and cattiness toward their peers. I especially enjoyed watching Ross teach Kelsey that not every man is going to behave as her ex husband did. The most difficult thing about the book was how Kelsey endeavored to forgive her scoundrel of a husband and it was difficult for me to read his attempt at a lame apology. However, the author did a great job in capturing Kelsey's struggle and the important lesson of forgiveness was there and believable. show less

It was a cute story and I enjoyed the dogs (Fred and Suzette). I'm guessing the "in training" part of the title was that many of the characters in the book learn life lessons, including Nick (the groom).

Nick is likable, but his chronic lateness would have driven me crazy and probably made me think that he didn't care as much as he said he did. (Actions speak louder than words--a discussion I remember having with a now ex-boyfriend). Yes, there were times that his lateness was excusable (when show more he had to rush Suzette to the vet, for example) but most of the times, his lateness was not for a reason like that. Nick eventually comes to see how others perceive this. Nick also has to learn that his past failed relationship was not his fault.

Nick's brother, Martin, learns that he's the one who put pressure to be perfect on himself. His family would love him even if he wasn't perfect. He also learns about perception and realizes comparing himself to his brother isn't the right thing to do.

Nick's mother learns patience and learns to appreciate what she has, even if it is an assisted living facility.

Steph has to get past the guilt she feels about her past marriage and the suicide of her husband. The feeling that she should have noticed something to be able to prevent it; the feeling that it happened because she wasn't good enough. She also learns to trust God.

Steph's brother, Hal, has to learn to stand on his own and stop mooching off of and stealing from others.

However good the life lessons learned are, the idea of a "groom in training" doesn't appeal much to me though I can't really explain why. I guess all of us are somewhat in training because we are learning things as we go along. Each relationship teaches us something, but the idea of training a spouse as we train a dog (since dogs are a big part of this book) doesn't sit well with me. show less

A friend sent me this book in a box of Love Inspired books. I believe I've read other books by this author.

The title was a bit confusing to me when I stopped to think about it. It almost makes it sound like either Carly (the child) was looking for a mother to love her or that Rick (Carly's father) was looking for a mother for his daughter. (Instead of it being a romance between Rick and Angie.)

There is also the complication of Glenda (Carly's mother) seeming to be more wrapped up in her work show more than she is with parenting her daughter. (And, as we find later, more wrapped up in her new love than in spending time with her daughter.).

It's a catch 22 for Glenda, I guess. She's trying to be a single parent who needs to work to support herself and her daughter. But this means that Carly is in day care much of the day and then Carly reports her mother often tells her to play by herself with quiet activities such as puzzles. When you add in that Glenda needs to find time for this relationship with John from Germany . . . a man who doesn't sound thrilled about parenthood or children from the little we learn of him.

On the other hand, I know that it's easier for the parent who only sees the child a limited amount of time to be considered "the fun parent" because he/she plans activities to do with the child and spends time with the child with minimum of disciplining.

I admire Rick for fighting to keep his daughter in the US instead of just letting Glenda have her way and take Carly to Germany. He is correct when he says the courts tend to favor the mother. show less

All four stories were unique and different. All had people who needed to let God lead them when it came to following their heart. I laughed and I cried with some of these characters and enjoyed each story.

In 'Out on a Limb' Karen and Eric meet and realize the feud between their grandfathers is something that needs to be addressed. Those two grandfather's though brought a smile to my face at times just seeing how they went about irritating each other. Karen and Eric's growing attraction to show more each other will hopefully help bring the feud to an end.

In 'Over Her Head' Lana finds herself giving up her plans a lot to help out Mark, a new youth director. Lana will learn the hard way that being in control isn't always necessary. The circumstances she got herself into made me laugh at times. And the love her and Mark find was also a joy to see develop between the two of them, all while taking teenagers on a camping trip. What fun.

In 'Seasons' I found myself a little irritated at times at Sally, a recently widowed young lady, who tends to listen to others and forgot to seek out God and His advice when it comes to falling in love again. She meets Brad at a support group and the two of them slowly fall in love, but with Brad having lost his wife and leaving two small children behind, the blending of two families doesn't come easily. It did show some of the obstacles that come with finding love the second time around.

In 'Secrets Within' I was surprised by the mystery going on in this story. Laine finds herself having to take in her orphaned niece when her sister dies. A new place, a new niece and a new handsome neighbor, Jeff, all make for a very interesting story, especially when it seems someone is after diamonds that they think came with the niece and circumstances will eventually cause a lot of distrust between the budding romance between Jeff and Laine.

All four stories kept my attention and I appreciated the way the author always wrote about her love for God as well as Michigan in her stories. show less