Jane's Gift by Karen Erickson

Jane’s Gift

By: Karen Erickson

A fire captain afraid of commitment.  A widow afraid of fire. Can the holidays bring them together?

 

A devastating house fire cost Jane Clark nearly everything: her husband, her confidence, and her looks, with the physical scars marbling her body.  Now, two years later, she’s living and healing back in her childhood hometown of Lone Pine Lake.  The upcoming holidays are the perfect opportunity to bring some Christmas cheer into her young children’s lives, starting with a visit to the firehouse, where her brother’s best friend has offered to help quell their residual fears.

 

Lone Pine’s resident playboy, fire captain Christian Nelson is happy with his single-guy lifestyle.  He’s an everyday local hero, so he’s never wanting for attention around the holidays.  But when Jane Clark shows up, Chris is immediately drawn to the beautiful widow--even though kids and commitment have never been his style.

 

Despite her brother’s warnings about his friend’s playboy status and dangerous occupation, Jane can’t help but fall for the gorgeous fire captain.  The holidays are a time of new beginnings, but can two scarred people find the strength to let go of their pasts to live in the present, when a lifetime together might be the sweetest gift of all?

REVIEW

 

Have you ever picked up a book and immediately KNEW you were going to like it?  That was my experience with Jane's Gift.  I was hooked with the second sentence.  Jane's Gift is a wonderful book that will have you rooting for Jane and Chris as they deal with the obstacles they face on their journey to a truly happy and fulfilling life.

 

How soon is too soon to move on with your life after you lose your spouse?  Should you feel guilty because you survived and they didn't?  Are you entitled to live a happy life and not worry about how other people think you should act?  These questions and more are posed by Jane, two years after a house fire killed her husband, Stephen, and changed her life forever.  Jane thought she had the perfect life, until one day it was gone.  Now she's struggling to fit into her new life as a burn-victim and single mother of three kids all under the age of eight.  Jane isn't sure if she has grieved enough for Stephen and if she should even feel attraction to anyone else.  In addition, her children don't want her to move on with her life.

 

Christian Nelson is known as a playboy for a reason. He prefers to keep things with women simple.  He's afraid of rejection and doesn't want to get hurt so he tends to leave women before they start to want more than he's willing to give and decide to leave him.  He's an only child from a divorced family and doesn't believe in love and marriage.

 

From the moment Jane and Chris met, they were attracted to each other.  I love the fact that Chris realized his attraction to Jane and tried to be cautious and not freak her out.  I thought Chris was a total complete DREAM.  I mean you have this guy who has absolutely NO experience with kids, but he wants to be around Jane and her kids all the time.  When he doesn’t see them, he misses them all.  He even makes himself sick, just so he can spend time with them and not let them all down.  I love Jane because she’s a survivor.  She’s doing the best she can with her situation and she’s doing an amazing job.

 

When tragedy strikes, Jane and Christian’s love is put to the test.  All of Jane’s fears come rushing toward her like a slap in the face.  This is one of the moments where you realize what Chris is really all about if you haven’t figured him out beforehand.  Jane wants this Christmas to be great for her and her kids.  Unbeknownst to her, Christian makes that and more possible.

 

I love ALL the characters in this book.  Jane is from a large family.  She’s the fourth of five kids and only one of two girls.  You can only imagine how Jane’s brothers react to Chris, the family scenes are great.  You know how before I said I knew I was going to love the book immediately?  I could not wait to look up information about the author and her other books, while in the middle of reading this book.  Jane’s Gift is the first book in a series of books!!!! (Happy dance going on for me!) I can’t wait to read the other books in this series.

 

Rating: 4 (I really really liked it.)

Release Date:  October 25, 2012

Book Length:  289 pages

Source:  NetGalley

Reading Format:  Available in only in eBook

Connect with Karen Erickson:

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Buy Links:   Amazon