A Family for Daniel: You, Me & the Kids

by Anna DeStefano

Ten-year-old Daniel has had a rough year. His mother’s unexpected death has landed him in a small South Carolina town, in the custody of his uncle, elementary school principal Joshua White. Josh is a pro when it comes to dealing with other people's kids, but he can't get through to Daniel.

The only other child in the school who’s having a worse time is Daniel’s classmate Becky. Her mother, Amy Loar, left a troubled marriage and is now fighting to rebuild her career in Atlanta while Becky stays with her grandmother in Sweetbrook.

Amy and Josh were friends as teenagers . . . with a hint of something more. Now they find themselves thrown together as they try to help Becky and Daniel. Coming together as a family would be the best thing for the children—but can Amy ever trust a man again?

Genres: Romance

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 14, 2005

About the author

Anna DeStefano brings to life heart-warming, emotion-packed stories about community, family and second chances. Her award-winning, nationally bestselling small town romances spotlight family, friendships and the forgiveness that nurtures her characters’ dreams…as they explore the issues all contemporary families face.

Anna’s imagination is forever inspired by our ability to claim an unlimited and exciting future—by honestly confronting and bravely overcoming the setbacks of the past.

She’s the author of more than twenty-seven books, including the Echoes of the Heart and the Mimosa Lane novels that are set in Chandlerville, Georgia, and her Atlanta Heroes series.

Look for her other titles featuring the reader-favorite Dixon family: Here in My Heart, Let me Love You Again, His Darling Bride, and Book 3 of the Seasons of the Heart series, Love on Mimosa Lane.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Anna’s lived in the South her entire life. Her background as a care provider and adult educator in the world of crisis and grief recovery lends itself to the deeper psychological themes of every story she writes.

A wife and mother, she currently writes in a charming northeast suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, not all that different from her characters’ beloved Chandlerville.

She is also a workshop, masterclass and keynote speaker, a writing coach, and a freelance editor.


Get to know Anna at annawrites.com/blog and the Anna DeStefano: Author page on Facebook, where she shares her inspirations, her challenges, a healthy dose of honest optimism, and tidbits about upcoming projects.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

So… this book is a romance book. I don’t typically read romance books and despite how clean this book is I could do without the romance. It doesn’t seem necessary. I also don’t need descriptions of romance. I know that some people really love things like "'I love you, too,' she said, still scared, but believing a little bit more by the second. Her breath mingled with his for another kiss. 'I really do.'" For me the book would have been better without the romance.

I enjoyed reading about how things were working with social workers and school systems. At times things were highly unrealistic and the happy ending is also highly unrealistic but at the same time it was much better done than the social services are typically portrayed in popular media. I do think that the author would have been better off leaving the romance behind and diving further into the relationships and challenges between the children and the adults. Although, the romance was fine it seems like it actually would have been a terrible time to start a romance. Josh White has his nephew who is just adjusting to living with him the addition of another adult in his life so soon following the current change as shown may cause an initial positive reaction the likelihood is that there will be more acting out in the future.

Either way, I could debate the portrayal of social services and children’s reactions to abuse for quite some time and to be fair to the book it didn’t do a bad job and did a better job than many books. Overall, it was a quick read that was mainly fluff.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Josh White and Amy Loar were close as kids in Sweetbrook, but went their separate ways in high school. Now both are sort of back - Josh as the elementary school principal after a divorce, and Amy's brought her daughter Becky back to stay with her mother after a painful divorce in Atlanta. Josh's nephew Daniel is now in his custody, but both Becky and Daniel are struggling. Together, the four come together to help each other and form a family.

Pretty realistic, clean, with a happy ending.

[Dale Pearce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joshua White finds himself trying to raise his nephew, Daniel. He just can not seem to get through to him. Daniel's classmate, Becky is also having a bad year. Becky's mom, Amy, left a troubled marriage and is trying to get her life back on track. Josh and Amy were more than friends when they were teenagers. Can these two come together and create a happy family?

[Patricia Solla · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wholesome story of two friends who drift apart after the boy tells the girl she shouldn't be marrying the man she's chosen. Now as grown ups the man has never left the small town they lived in and the woman is trying to make it on her own in the big city after divorcing her husband. The two are drawn back together in the small town as the man has guardianship of his young nephew after his mother's death. The small boy is dealing with a lot of issues. The woman has left her daughter in her mother's care so she can work hard and establish herself in her chosen profession. The problem is that her daughter too is dealing with issues of her mother leaving her. The young boy is the catalyst to getting the man and the woman back together and the woman's daughter is the catalyst to getting the woman to come home to solve her issues.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. I like family stories, and this one kept my interest.

If you're a parent or have a lot of family, this book does help you understand young children and how parent's decisions can affect the child

This is one book I didn't want to put down.

Anna DeStefano is a good author who makes you relate to her characters.