Marianne (Australia) (2012/10/23): Caroline’s Child is the third of the Heart of Texas series by Debbie Macomber. Promise’s postmistress, Caroline Daniels is the unmarried mother of five-year-old Maggie. While she’s known him for years, lately her verbal exchanges with Grady Weston, older brother of her good friend Savannah, have become remarkable in their rancour. Surprising, really, because she likes and respects the man, although his occasional shouting does upset Maggie. Eventually, Grady plucks up the courage to ask Caroline out. But does he have a rival for her affections in his younger brother, Richard? As usual, Macomber adds a bit of intrigue (what is Richard running from? who is Maggie’s father?) as well as setting up the characters for the next instalment in the series (Dr. Jane Dickinson is having trouble fitting into Promise). The ghost town of Bitter End features again. While the plot may be a little predictable, some of the dialogue is delightfully snappy. An entertaining read. Dr Texas is the fourth of the Heart of Texas series by Debbie Macomber. Dr Jane Dickinson has moved to Promise from California to pay off her student loans faster, but she has been having trouble fitting in with these Texans until Dovie Boyd and Ellie Patterson decide to help. Cal Patterson has sworn off women after Jennifer Healy left him at the altar, but he somehow finds himself walking Dr Jane home and offering to teach her to ride horses. Dovie has finally had enough of Sheriff Frank Hennessey’s procrastination about marriage and broken off relations with him. Frank is missing her company and trying to get her to reconsider, but he really starts to worry when he hears she is going on a singles cruise. Richard Weston is still holed up with his stash of supplies in the ghost town of Bitter End. Having sworn young Maggie Daniels to secrecy after kidnapping her, he is lucky that Dr Jane is curious about the ghost town, as his life depends on it. This installment revisits all the favourite characters of the Texas Hill Country town of Promise, as well as introducing a new character who appears later in the series. As always, Macomber’s novels are a joy to read
