What do you think?
Rate this book
A Mother's Claim
Who has the best claim on the child?It’s been more than ten years since exhausted new mother Dana Stewart took a nap while her baby was sleeping and woke up to find him gone. The loss devastated her—and her marriage—and she’s never given up hope of finding Gabriel. She never expected that when she finally did, he’d be almost a teen, his name would be Christian…and he and his uncle Nolan Gregor would want nothing to do with her.Nolan, a former army ranger, proves as possessive of her son as Dana is. It’s like King Solomon’s worst she can’t rip her child away from the only parent he’s ever known. But she’s his mom, and she’ll never lose him again.
293 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2016
10 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Janice Kay Johnson
294 books193 followersJanice Kay Johnson is the author of over a hundred books for children and adults. Her first four published romance novels were coauthored with her mother, also a writer who has since published mysteries and children's books on her own. These were "sweet" romance novels, the author hastens to add; she isn't sure they'd have felt comfortable coauthoring passionate love scenes!
Janice graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in history and then received a master's degree in library science from the University of Washington. She was a branch librarian for a public library system until she began selling her own writing.
She has written six novels for young adults and one picture book for the read-aloud crowd. Rosamund was the outgrowth of all those hours spent reading to her own daughters, and of her passion for growing old roses. Two more of her favorite books were historical novels she wrote for Tor/Forge. The research was pure indulgence for someone who set out intending to be a historian!
Janice is divorced and has raised her two daughters in a small, rural town north of Seattle, Washington. She's an active volunteer and board member for Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter, and foster kittens often enliven a household that already includes a few more cats than she wants to admit to!
Janice loves writing books about both love and family — about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. Her Superromance novels are frequent finalists for Romance Writers of America RITA® awards. Along with her books for Harlequin, Janice has written the Cape Trouble series of romantic suspense novels, and is about to launch a new series, Desperation Creek, set in rural eastern Oregon.
Janice graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in history and then received a master's degree in library science from the University of Washington. She was a branch librarian for a public library system until she began selling her own writing.
She has written six novels for young adults and one picture book for the read-aloud crowd. Rosamund was the outgrowth of all those hours spent reading to her own daughters, and of her passion for growing old roses. Two more of her favorite books were historical novels she wrote for Tor/Forge. The research was pure indulgence for someone who set out intending to be a historian!
Janice is divorced and has raised her two daughters in a small, rural town north of Seattle, Washington. She's an active volunteer and board member for Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter, and foster kittens often enliven a household that already includes a few more cats than she wants to admit to!
Janice loves writing books about both love and family — about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. Her Superromance novels are frequent finalists for Romance Writers of America RITA® awards. Along with her books for Harlequin, Janice has written the Cape Trouble series of romantic suspense novels, and is about to launch a new series, Desperation Creek, set in rural eastern Oregon.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 6, 2017
Plot: 4/5
Characterisation: 4/5
Prose: 4/5
How much I enjoyed it: 5/5
Characterisation: 4/5
Prose: 4/5
How much I enjoyed it: 5/5
December 11, 2016
How would a mother react when the child stolen from her is found and she now has an opportunity to see that boy again? How would a man react who has helped raise that boy after his mentally ill sister commits suicide rather than admit she stole the child years earlier? And how would that mother--damaged by ongoing grief--and that man--fearful he may lose the boy he loves like a son--relate to each other when the boy represents a fight for the family each wants?
That is the story that plays out here, one fraught with emotions almost too hard to manage, emotions that link the adults to each other and the 11-year-old. In the background is the boy's birth father, long divorced from the mother, but threatening to sue for custody, if only to have a son again.
This story is the best of a love story--not just between the mother and the boy's presumptive uncle, but also between the mother who must accept that she can never get back the years when her son was not in her care, and between the boy and the only uncle/father he has ever known and whom he doesn't want to lose.
If you're willing to allow your heart to ache for these three, dive into this book. If you can't deal with it, tip into the story one toe at a time. You won't regret it.
That is the story that plays out here, one fraught with emotions almost too hard to manage, emotions that link the adults to each other and the 11-year-old. In the background is the boy's birth father, long divorced from the mother, but threatening to sue for custody, if only to have a son again.
This story is the best of a love story--not just between the mother and the boy's presumptive uncle, but also between the mother who must accept that she can never get back the years when her son was not in her care, and between the boy and the only uncle/father he has ever known and whom he doesn't want to lose.
If you're willing to allow your heart to ache for these three, dive into this book. If you can't deal with it, tip into the story one toe at a time. You won't regret it.
December 31, 2016
Man, this book was good. Epitome of Hqn Superromance, of love coming out of tragedy. Love that, and JKJ is (almost) always a hit with me. Only thing that brought it down from five stars was that after the night where Nolan tells Dana he was a Ranger... and she says something about "your sister and Christian"? Could not get that damn song out of my head. #MOTORIN!
September 12, 2017
Heart-tugging story about what happens when a stolen baby is discovered 10 years after the original tragedy. The hero has been raising his nephew ever since his parents died, because the boy's mentally ill mother, the hero's sister, isn't stable enough. A scary accident reveals that the boy's blood type is so different from his mother's, that she can't possibly be his mother. The heroine is the boy's birth mother, who has been in a kind of limbo since her baby was stolen from his crib. She is determined to be in her son's life, so she moves to the town where he lives with the hero. This is a book with angst dripping all over the place. The hero is determined not to give up the boy he's raised. The boy wants to stay with his beloved uncle, the only stability and safety he's known. The heroine just wants her son. She doesn't care that he's not "her baby" anymore. She knows he's 11 years old now. She just wants to be in his life. And his uncle is an attractive man with a good heart. This is a good read that lives up to the Superromance ideal of mainstream issues in a romance. I liked it a lot.
February 11, 2017
This story has it all, kidnapped baby, found 10 years later living with his uncle who is actually not a blood relative. What's a mother to do? Swoop in and take her son who does not know her, or move closer to him and the uncle in the hope he will accept he is her son? Add it a little romance, a lot of woe and laughter and you have story told by a wonderful author you won't want to miss.
November 19, 2017
Marlee has schizophrenia and kidnaps Dana's baby. Dana never gives up hope that
he will be found.
Eleven years later she finds out her boy is alive....
This is the base plot for a great story.. kleenex may be needed.
This is my third book by JKJ and I think I have found another favorite author ! :)
he will be found.
Eleven years later she finds out her boy is alive....
This is the base plot for a great story.. kleenex may be needed.
This is my third book by JKJ and I think I have found another favorite author ! :)
February 15, 2017
Not your normal storyline
This book was great! I loved it because it was from a totally different view than we are used to on baby stories. I don't want to to give any spoilers out, but Janice Kay Johnson wrote a really good story here. I realize, of course, that things in reality would have had the the law more involved and all, but just for the sake of the different story, I think this book was awesome!
This book was great! I loved it because it was from a totally different view than we are used to on baby stories. I don't want to to give any spoilers out, but Janice Kay Johnson wrote a really good story here. I realize, of course, that things in reality would have had the the law more involved and all, but just for the sake of the different story, I think this book was awesome!
December 21, 2016
Loved this book.
June 29, 2018
The cover definitely makes the book look incesty. Thankfully it is not.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews