Jo Calloway

Leigh-Anne picks up a hobo who has jumped off a freight train and injured his leg. Pushing each other's buttons, she feels responsible for him since he has no money and no place to go. Putting him up in the apartment over her garage, he heals and decides to get a local job to repay her the money she paid for his hospital visit. Along the way, things change. He changes. Can Leigh-Anne trust those changes? Can he?

I enjoyed this story. Leigh-Anne and Anthony are opposites. At first Leigh-Anne seems judgmental and Anthony seems feckless but slowly their stories emerge. Leigh-Anne has an incredible amount of patience. She slowly pulls out Anthony's story. She shows him other paths he can take. Leigh-Anne is strong-willed but she has a sense when to push and when to back off. He does change. He learns to take responsibility for his actions and learns he needs to go back to his past to begin healing. The chemistry between the two is strong.

This is one for my keeper shelf. I felt so good when reading it.… (mehr)

Amanda Phillips (who's 26) is tired of her job working for an insurance company. She wants to do something exciting, find new friends, escape her routine humdrum life. She eventually gets a job working for four months as a pianist on board a Mississippi riverboat, the Cotton Queen. While on the boat she meets an interesting assortment of people---Bob Barnes (the handsome ship's captain), Dallas Melson (the blond cruise director), Jayne Syndow (the friendly social-director), and hero Jay Farrow (a 37-year-old writer who has written books about the Civil War). Amanda finds herself especially attracted to Jay and a romance develops between them during the trip. But it seems Jay is just interested in an affair, and Amanda discovers she wants more.

I enjoyed this book. I really liked how the story took place on a riverboat. It was a nice setting. I liked the heroine Amanda. At first I found the hero Jay a bit bland but he eventually grew on me. There was also some friction between the men as they all seemed to be vying for the heroine Amanda. This was a pleasant read from the 80's.… (mehr)