A TIME TO COME HOME

Author: Darlene Gardner ISBN: 0373713967 1/2007 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HARLEQUIN

Nothing's harder than moving back to your hometown after you've hit rock bottom—unless it's telling your high school sweetheart he's the father of your nine-year-old daughter. Diana Smith still has feelings for Tyler Benson. But they're not lovesick kids anymore. He's a straight-arrow prosecutor, and she's a single mom struggling to make a fresh start. And there's the not-so-little matter of her lie coming between them. Worse, she learns that revealing her secret will ruin Tyler. Diana protected him from the truth once before. Now she has to risk her own future to do it again.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Darlene Gardner writes with warmth and compassionate insight.

Highlighted by a wonderfully sketched heroine and a touching second chance story, A TIME TO COME HOME is a moving, heartwarming—sometimes heartbreaking—narrative.

A TIME TO COME HOME showcases Diana Smith's struggle to get her life back on track after an almost 10-year downward spiral. As a pregnant teenager, Diana told some outrageous lies about herself so her boyfriend could fulfill his dream. The ensuing years haven't exactly been kind to Diana, but she has finally freed herself of drug addiction to come home and right some wrongs.

Except nothing is as simple as Diana would like.

And secrets have a way of coming back to bite you.

Diana is a wonderful character, flaws and all. Her love for Tyler Benson—a remarkable, understanding hero—is beautifully told. Their love story is another special treat of A TIME TO COME HOME.

Like its prequel, A TIME TO FORGIVE, A TIME TO COME HOME again touches on the aftermath of violence and the devastating affects on a victim's loved ones.

A TIME TO COME HOME is a touching, hopeful tribute to worthy people deserving of second chances.

Debbie Jett