Fireside

Avalon is a quaint town--the type most of us would want to live in, where neighbors help neighbors.

Kimberley Van Dorn returns to Avalon after a painful breakup that resulted in her losing her job. She finds that her mom has hid her financial condition--a condition that has required her to start taking in boarders.

Bo Crutcher lives in Avalon because he's a player on an Independent League baseball team in the town. He's known he had a son for 12 years but respected the child's mother's decision to not allow him to be part of the child's life. But when the mother is rounded up by INS, his son is shipped off to him, and Bo has to become a parent in a short time while at the same time trying to develop an opportunity with the Yankees and show more fulfill his lifelong dream of playing major league baseball.

AJ is unsettled by the changes in his life. He misses his mother and can't see that the adults are working toward resolving the situation. He also knows little about his father and assumes his father doesn't want him long term.

Despite Kimberley's vow to "be done with athletes" she gets talked into working with Bo so that he doesn't have to desert AJ to go to the official team-sponsored one. Bo's honesty wears down Kimberley's resolve and she allows herself to trust again.

What I didn't like: Kim and Bo decide to sleep together before being married--and even before a firm commitment to each other. After fathering a child out of wedlock, one would think Bo would have learned his lesson about sleeping with women. show less

Fireside is a sweet, sticky, formulaic romance with a little more plot than most books of this type, but still not my cup of tea. 5th in a series, yet stands alone too. Not really bad (the author does a good job with grammar, spelling, and punctuation), but not good enough to make me want to look for the previous four books, nor any that may come after... or anything else by this author.

Character development is far too slow and tentative in this book, almost experimental, or so it seems. Too much description, too little action, and too little dialogue to the story for it to be really good. Fully half of the book was past before I sensed any realistc characteristics to the people involved in this story... and then I could not bring show more myself to care overly much for any of them. Why'd I finish reading this if I don't like it? I'm clueless about that myself... it surely wasn't worth wasting my time.

Recommended to those who like sweet and sticky, mostly plotless and formulaic romance novels; anyone else should steer clear of this... This review has been simultaneously posted on Amazon.com, Dragonviews and Library Thing. show less

Loved the characters and Susan is an awesome author! Baseball hopeful Bo Crutcher is about to get his shot at the majors. That is, until life throws him a curveball. When AJ, the son he’s never met, lands on his doorstep, Bo’s life becomes a whole new ball game. He needs help—fast. Enter Kimberly van Dorn. Hired to smooth Bo’s rough exterior for the media, she expects the kind of shallow pro athlete she’s used to handling. But Bo is willing to sacrifice everything for his vulnerable son. Kim can train him to hit a home run with the press, but over a breathtaking winter on frozen Willow Lake, she realizes he has far more to teach her about the game of life…and putting love first

Another too long Romance avoidance angst story,
enriched by both Baseball and the reality of false deportations to Mexico.

Winter in Avalon, NY. Baseball player Bo Crutcher has finally gotten his big break with the Yankees--but he unexpectedly gets custody of the son he's never met. Sports PR person Kim Van Dorn retreats to her mother's house when her career and love life implode simultaneously. Bo needs media training. Kim has sworn never to work with another athlete.

Not the best in the series, but a decent way to spend a few hours.

Fireside is about Kim who is a sports PR who falls for Bo a pitcher. In my opinion I would have liked more of the story line to be on Daisy and the two guys who want her. But all in all it was a good book. Predictable happy ending like all of the Susan Wiggs books that I've read.

Another satisfying addition to the Lakeshore Chronicles series.