About That Man (The Trinity Harbor Trilogy, #1)

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About That Man (The Trinity Harbor Trilogy #1)

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 602 ratings · 36 reviews

The picture-perfect town of Trinity Harbor, Virginia, is in an uproar when Robert "King" Spencer's sensible spinster daughter takes in a modern-day Huck Finn she found hot-wiring her car. But Daisy, a spirited beauty with a tragic past, needs this orphaned 10-year-old boy to love. She's confident she can handle her bullheaded father (the self-appointed town patriarch), her...more

Mass Market Paperback, 408 pages

Published June 1st 2001 by Mira Books (first published 2001)

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Aug 13, 2009 Ceridwen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Ceridwen by: Who indeed?

Shelves: for-teh-ladies, not-for-me-maybe-for-you

So, I'm stripping the sheets off the guest bed after the second set of house guests have departed for parts Wisconsin, and I find this book lodged up on the window sill. We had two couples stay with us for three days each, with only enough time between them to throw new sheets on the bed and toss all the flotsam into the overstuffed closets. The first set were older, very religious family members; the other young, stylish banker-types. It may seem obvious to you who was the owner of this book, b...more So, I'm stripping the sheets off the guest bed after the second set of house guests have departed for parts Wisconsin, and I find this book lodged up on the window sill. We had two couples stay with us for three days each, with only enough time between them to throw new sheets on the bed and toss all the flotsam into the overstuffed closets. The first set were older, very religious family members; the other young, stylish banker-types. It may seem obvious to you who was the owner of this book, but I was stumped. I immediately discounted the guys, because I have yet to find a man who has willingly read a romance novel, let alone carried one cross country to read on vacation. So that leaves me an unmarried career gal and a long-married empty-nester. Nope, still no idea: I mean, it could really go either way, right?

I sit down with the book to do some sleuthing. I first looked for all the sex bits, because I'm immature. Plus, when men eat up the distance with their powerful strides, that always gets me hot. I determine that the protagonists are named Daisy and Walker, which makes me murderously irritated. Set in Virginia, the dialogue I read is written in Kentucky Fried dialect, with much talk of Yanks and mint juleps and porch swings and whatnot. I feel irritated for Virginians. The back flap describes the plot as Yankee comes to town, then everyone gets in an uproar because they assume he's humping the Sunday school teacher. From the sex bits, he is *actually* humping the Sunday school teacher. Moralistic gossips turn out to be a jerks, also probably hypocrites. The final marriage proposal/ coming together of Bluebell and Hunter takes place during the least likely marijuana bust in the history of DARE, where the pot dealer is depicted as a cross between a rabid wolverine and Scarface. The protagonists marry at the end, and I think get miraculously pregnant, although maybe not.

This is getting me nowhere. I could call them and ask, but now I feel weird. If it's the religious family member, I've now read all the sex bits of the book she left in my guest room. While I may not be squeamish about reading said sex bits and then admitting this on the Intertubes, I'm too much of a big, feathery chicken to have a conversation with this woman with me thinking about the sex bits. And I don't know how to ask my rad, super cool drinking buddy from the bad old days about this without giggling and generally being a horrible friend if it is indeed hers.

Thankfully, my husband comes home, I query him, and he nonchalantly says, “Oh yeah, that's totally [name withheld:]'s.” I am now struck by his nonchalance. Here I am having this big girl attack about how to situate this book into what I think about these ladies and their reading habits, and he's all yeah whatever. Romance novels are a weird thing, for the female reader. There's a lot of snarling, vitriol and irritation tossed their way, and I can count myself as one of those with my teeth bared, on occasion. But something like half of all fiction published today is a romance novel, produced for and consumed by women only. And before you start in about how that's because society is in decline and we're all going to hell in a handbasket or something, the novel since the very beginning has been smeared as a girlish form, not suitable for manly men and their manly manliness. Plus, it might make you crazy. (See: Northanger Abbey and similar.)

So what? I mean, so, what? Reading's a weird thing in general. Back when Plato was chillin' in his toga and writing The Republic, he smeared art as false and dangerous. This is in a culture that valued the crap out of art. So, on the one hand, here we are, modern readers, droning on about how reading is good for you, and scribbling thousands of op-ed pieces about the decline of readership and publishing houses and all that. Then on the other, when we (or maybe just I) are confronted with a romance novel in the guest room, we/I try to determine who is the big silly goose who left it there. So literature is a good thing, all full of manly social worth, unless is makes you a big weeping girl, and then it's a bad thing.

So, okay, put another charm on the feminist reading charm bracelet for this insight, Ceridwen. Good one. But I've been thinking about the twinning of pleasure and shame in women's fiction since my experience reading Twilight. I'm not necessarily sure that everyone would make this distinction, but I've always seen a difference between guilt and shame: guilt derives from self-loathing, while shame from empathy. Shame is the awareness of one's disconnect from the prevailing social ethic, and I don't think that's always a bad thing. I like when it's used as a verb, and it's almost always like this: “They shamed him into doing the right thing.”

So here's this stupid book, and it completely acts out all this stuff about how shame is inevitable because the social ethics are so often in conflict. Finger-waggers are bad because they fail to see nuance, also because while Buttercup was *actually* banging Tucker, their love was pure, and they did eventually get married and have babies. But then, there was some sort of sub-plot involving drug dealers or something. So it's okay to engage in the whole romantic love ideal, even if you do slip up and have some non-Platonic sex, but you shouldn't transgress other social expectations, like smoking reefer. And then, on top of all this, I go ahead and act out a bunch of shame and weirdness about my own overly careful position on fiction and women's fiction.

So, I don't know. I'm not enjoying reading this stuff, but I am enjoying all the talking and considering about women's fiction that my reading has provoked. I'm now currently stumped about how to rate this thing. The use of dialect + the names + offensive Southern caricatures = epic fail in my book. But I almost feel like I shouldn't be messing with the romance ratings, because I don't really have any interest in or understanding of what makes a good romance novel. Not that ignorance has ever stopped me voicing a strongly held belief before. One star it is, Marigold and Dexter, may you live happily ever after. (less)

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Feb 24, 2013 Jm rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lorsque Daisy Spencer, fille du plus riche notable de Trinity Harbor, découvre le petit Tommy Flanagan dans son garage en train d’essayer de lui voler sa voiture, elle décide d’accueillir chez elle le jeune orphelin. En tout cas le temps que les services sociaux de la ville trouvent s’il lui reste de la famille. Même si secrètement elle rêve que Tommy demeure pour toujours avec elle car il est peut-être bien sa seule chance d’avoir un enfant à elle. Une chose est sûre, c’est que sa famille, son...more Lorsque Daisy Spencer, fille du plus riche notable de Trinity Harbor, découvre le petit Tommy Flanagan dans son garage en train d’essayer de lui voler sa voiture, elle décide d’accueillir chez elle le jeune orphelin. En tout cas le temps que les services sociaux de la ville trouvent s’il lui reste de la famille. Même si secrètement elle rêve que Tommy demeure pour toujours avec elle car il est peut-être bien sa seule chance d’avoir un enfant à elle. Une chose est sûre, c’est que sa famille, son père King Spencer et ses deux frères Bobby et Tucker, ne voit pas cette histoire d’un très bon œil.

Walker Ames est inspecteur de police à Washington. Père de deux enfants qu’il ne voit que deux semaines par an et qui vivent avec son ex-femme, il n’a pas la vie idéale pour s’occuper de ce neveu qui apparaît de nulle part. Son ex-femme lui ayant répété de nombreuses fois quel père déplorable il est pour ses propres fils, Walker ne se sent pas capable de pouvoir prendre soin de Tommy. C’est sans compter sur la détermination de Frances Jackson qui est en charge du dossier de Tommy et qui va obliger Daisy et Walker à trouver une solution à cette situation. Pour laisser une chance à Tommy et à Walker de se connaître, ils décident donc que ce dernier viendra passer tous les week-ends à Trinity pour se rapprocher du garçon et, pour plus tard, pouvoir s’occuper de lui. Mais le rapprochement se fait également entre Daisy et Walker et tous les deux vont devoir contenir leurs ardeurs pour le bien du petit Tommy. Surtout quand certaines personnes bien pensantes trouvent la situation scandaleuse et commencent à s’attaquer à la réputation de la jeune femme.

Voilà une romance contemporaine très simple : une petite ville côtière de province, une jeune femme fragilisée par une ancienne histoire d’amour et un homme pas assez bien pour elle. Sherryl Woods dépeint ici tout le charme d’une petite bourgade du Sud avec ses bons (paysage idyllique, rythme de vie plus paisible) et ses mauvais côtés (commérages dignes d’une autre époque). Même si l’histoire sent le déjà-vu, on se laisse prendre par les évènements et les sentiments des personnages. Et tous, que ce soit le trio vedette (Tommy, Daisy et Walker) ou les personnages secondaires, nous emmènent dans leur petite vie pas si paisible que ça. On peut voir les sentiments des uns et des autres évoluer doucement et on se prend d’affection pour chacun d’entre eux. Pour conclure, cette romance n’est pas digne des meilleures romances contemporaines qu'on a déjà pu lire mais elle nous fait passer un bon moment et nous donne envie de lire le tome 2 qui arrive très bientôt.(less)

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Jan 16, 2012 Chrissy rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: spare-yourself

It had the potential of a pretty good storyline, after all, the description lent me to believe it was a deeper story than it turned out to be. But, after I got to chapter 11, I had enough. Maybe its just because its not my type of book? I like books about life and overcoming, and don't mind the occasional romance, but the story seems to take a backseat to the ridiculous romance.

Daisy is a single woman in a small town who will never have children of her own. Jilted because of this revelation, sh...more It had the potential of a pretty good storyline, after all, the description lent me to believe it was a deeper story than it turned out to be. But, after I got to chapter 11, I had enough. Maybe its just because its not my type of book? I like books about life and overcoming, and don't mind the occasional romance, but the story seems to take a backseat to the ridiculous romance.

Daisy is a single woman in a small town who will never have children of her own. Jilted because of this revelation, she continues her daily life surrounding herself with children as a schoolteacher, Sunday School teacher, etc. Until one day she finds an orphaned boy in her garage and decides to take him in. That is until the local social worked finds family--a DC cop. Meanwhile her proud, bullheaded father is more concerned about reputation than people's lives tries to meddle and get the kid away from Daisy.

From the first page I thought I would like the story. In fact, I probably would have, except for the juvenile-harlequin"esque" immediate introduction of a lusty romance. Its one thing to build up a storyline and see a romance develop. Its quite another to see upon the first introduction they would share an unexpected kiss while they searched for the missing kid. HUH? And of course like a bad soap opera, every time they are in the same room, there is more description than reality allows about their lustful tension and attraction. You can hear the soap opera music building up when the man comes back to spend a get-to-know-my-nephew weekend at the house and they end up in a make-out session when she shows him to his room. And of course this is while the dramatic music plays noting the arrogant patriarch is in the kitchen wondering what is taking so long.

That's where I stopped. Normally I try to plow through a book, but this is silliness to me. The obsession is a bit too sudden and completely unrealistic to me. It doesn't help that the key players of course are gorgeous--like reality would allow that. So, I'm finished with the book and will assume it all works out in the end as these cheesy romance things usually do.(less)

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Sep 28, 2009 Ronica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When Daisy Spencer catches 10-year-old Tommy Flanagan trying to hotwire her car she instantly falls in love him. Daisy sees this as a cry for love and attention and decides to take him into her home, much to the outrage of everyone in the town of Trinity Harbor.

Walker Ames is an overworked, burned out D.C. cop, he is stunned when the news of a nephew he never had is delivered to him in the form of a phone call from social worker Frances Jackson. In order to get to know his long last nephew Walke...more

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Oct 16, 2009 Patty rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, contemporary-romance, family, fiction, romance, southern-fiction, virginia, women-writers, northern-neck-virginia, trinity-harbor-trilogy

Life has been hectic, so I can hardly concentrate on my "serious" reading. Which is why I love romances. I can read, which I need to do to unwind, but I don't have to think too much.

Sherryl Woods writes good contemporary romances. As I have said before she tackles current issues, really makes them part of her storyline, but never forgets what kind of book she is writing. Which makes the reading good for me.

This is the first volume of a series set in a part of the world that I am just learning a...more

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Nov 22, 2011 Mirella Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: violet-books

Seri 1 Trinity Harbor Novel. Novel yang ngisahin perjalanan cinta 3 bersaudara Spencer...

Ceritanya so sweet... dan berhubung settingnya di Virginia yang ada di selatan US... (mungkin kita kudu bilang bagian tenggara kali yeee), yah, tau sendiri Southern US beda banget ama Northern US alias si Yankee Yankee itu...

Di Selatan Amrik kayanya tercipta suatu adat istiadat turun temurun deh. (Termasuk perbudakan tentunya). Di selatan sini, masyarakatnya lebih konservatif ketimbang di utara atas sono. C...more

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Aug 21, 2010 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, sherryl-woods

This is the first book in the Trinity Harbor series, and it's about Daisy. She's a 30 year old school teacher who is just getting used to being out from under her dad's thumb. She's currently the talk of the town because she took in a child whose mom recently died. The boy is labeled as out of control and a possible criminal but she knows he just needs some help. Daisy is annoyed when the boy's uncle Walker comes into town to get to know his nephew. And sparks fly between Daisy and Walker.

I real...more

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May 16, 2011 Luisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

I didn't love this book. Although Bobby and Jenna feel like great persons, you get the feeling that Jenna is a screwball and isn't capable of taking on a project with the magnitude of designing and constructing the boardwalk. Then she literally has to bully Bobby into giving her the project? and all this time there are sparks flying between them? I didn't sense any of this on the book and it didn't get good for me until I was two thirds into the book. From there on, I liked it very much.

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Oct 08, 2012 Justin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: e-book, kindle

I was already a fan of Sherryl Woods but am evenmore so now. I enjoyed everything about this book from the characters to the storyline. I hope to see more of Tommy, Daisy and Walker in future Trinity Harbor novels. I have a feeling we'll see Daisy's brothers paired up with women in future stories somewhere down the line.

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Mar 12, 2013 Kara rated it 2 of 5 stars

My feelings are mixed: easy to read and stay interested, but the fact it was so predictable...that's what earned the two stars. I liked the writing style well enough to try another book by this author. Maybe this wasn't her best work.

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Mar 07, 2012 Ayu Wirdha rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Covernya bagus dan percaya banget ada tempat seindah itu di Amerika bagian Selatan sana heheh. Saya malah membayangkan setting Trinity Harbor itu dengan dermaganya, sungainya, rumah besar King Spencer...wow like postcard.

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Feb 25, 2011 Mum rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: beach-read, romance

Once I realized when it was originally written, I was fine with the language. It was a cute, if not entirely believable story. I did like Daisy, and her focus on HER goals. Somehow a town that mean-spirited, and yet so forgiving strikes me as unbelievable. I wonder what attributes made it feel like "home," and how those overcame the constant "rush to judgement/ gossip gone berserk" syndrome of the community.

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Jan 21, 2012 Judy Bagley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012

Sherryl Woods books are like a warm blanket and a cup of hot tea....comforting. I always love her characters, and I love knowing things are going to work out. With the craziness of life, I appreciate some happy endings.

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Apr 22, 2011 BarkLessWagMore rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance

Still updating my old reads. Ugh, what a tedious task. I read this many years ago for All About Romance. The review is archived HERE .

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Feb 27, 2010 Donna rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was ok. It was a little hard to get into and some of the characters were a little over-written, i.e. the interfering father was a little too interfering, etc. It was more interesting by the end. Her newer books are much better.

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Feb 26, 2013 Peggy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: finised-books

I loved it one woman in a small town takes in a young boy who's Mom has passed away.
But what she dose not expct is to fall in love with the boys unckle.
It was funny sweet page turner for sure.
Great book.

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Jan 07, 2012 Gina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great story, loved the characters. Still trying to track down book #2 in the three book series, but can't wait to catch up with the Spencers again

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Oct 21, 2011 Laura Beasley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Quick read. Good but predictable story. Light plot. Enjoyable though. Love reading books about small towns and look forward to reading the other ones in that series.

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May 09, 2010 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance

I enjoy her style. The plot is mostly predictable yet enjoyable. Nice romance with a little sizzle. I'd recommend it if you like romances.

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Feb 14, 2013 Michele rated it 4 of 5 stars

A romance trilogy, perfect for Valentine February - Book 1, done.
Few do romance better than Woods.

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Feb 04, 2012 Grannyvango rated it 5 of 5 stars

Good light romance with some adventure thrown in.Read right thru kept my interest to the end

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Feb 03, 2013 Mary Baker rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

This book was a fun read! I enjoyed the dialogue between the two main characters.

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Jul 05, 2009 Maryann added it

good book, start of a series, should be fun to read the rest.

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Nov 30, 2012 Janine Graham rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very formalistic, but entertaining characters.

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Sep 19, 2010 Gail Jorgensen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

enjoyed it while at the beach listening to the waves.

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Feb 08, 2013 Colleen rated it 1 of 5 stars

ugh....no meat to it..

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Jan 02, 2012 Beverly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: women

I loved all three of the series!!!

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Aug 09, 2011 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good book!

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Jan 29, 2012 Helen Kl rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A nice easy book with no surprises.

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Nov 29, 2011 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a good read.

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About Sherryl Woods

With two other careers to her credit before becoming a novelist and four states in which she's lived for extended periods of time, Sherryl Woods has collected friends and memories, along with way too much unnecessary junk.

"The friends are the only things I've brought with me through the years that really matter," she says. "I could probably live without one more chintz teacup, another tin-litho sa...more With two other careers to her credit before becoming a novelist and four states in which she's lived for extended periods of time, Sherryl Woods has collected friends and memories, along with way too much unnecessary junk.

"The friends are the only things I've brought with me through the years that really matter," she says. "I could probably live without one more chintz teacup, another tin-litho sandpail or another snowglobe, but I need those friends."

The theme of enduring friendships and families is always central to Sherryl's books, including her latest Chesapeake Shores series — THE INN AT EAGLE POINT, FLOWERS ON MAIN and HARBOR LIGHTS.

Author of more than 100 romance and mystery novels, Sherryl Woods grew up in Virginia. Over the years she had lived in Ohio and Florida, as well as California. Currently she divides her time between Key Biscayne, Florida and Colonial Beach, Virginia, the small, river-front town where she spent her childhood summers.

A graduate of Ohio State University School of Journalism, Sherryl spent more than ten years as a journalist, most of them as a television critic for newspapers in Ohio and Florida. For several years she also coordinated a motivational program for the more than 8,000 employees at the University of Miami-Jackson Memorial Medical Center.

Her first book, RESTORING LOVE, was published in 1982 by Dell Candlelight Ecstasy under the pseudonym of Suzanne Sherrill. Her second book, SAND CASTLES, under the pseudonym of Alexandra Kirk, was published later that same year by Bantam. She began using her own name when she moved to the Second Chance at Love line at Berkley Publishing. In 1986, she began writing full-time and also began her long career at Silhouette Books with the Desire title NOT AT EIGHT, DARLING, set in the world of television which she covered for so many years.

In addition to her more than 75 romances for Silhouette Desire and Special Edition, she has written thirteen mysteries — nine in the Amanda Roberts series and four in the Molly DeWitt series.

When she's not writing or reading, Sherryl loves to garden, though she's not at her best on a riding lawn mower. She also loves tennis, theater, and ballet, even though her top spin has long since vanished, she's never set foot on a stage, and she's way too uncoordinated to dance. She also loves baseball and claims anyone who's ever seen Kevin Costner in "Bull Durham" can understand why.
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About That Man (The Trinity Harbor Trilogy #1)

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