The House on Briar Hill Road

When Brian Conway hits a bully who is taunting Hayden MacNulty he becomes her hero. He invites her trick-or-treating, and she finds herself falling in love with the twelve year old as only a little girl can with her savior. Hayden finds herself feeling more and more at home with Brian and his mom, Kathleen until one day when she is in high school; she never goes back to her mother's home. Kathleen feels like she is the daughter she never had and can't bear to see how her mother treats her. Holly Jacobs is a talented author who takes her craft one step further with THE HOUSE ON BRIAR HILL. This reader has been following Ms. Jacob's novels since 2000 and this may well be the best one she has written. Harlequin's Everlasting Love line has brought her into her element with a novel that spans decades and shows how love evolved from friendship to romance. As Kathleen battles cancer and lives out her last days on Earth, she and her family reminisce about the past and the memories that turned them from neighbors into a family. Hayden and Brian may have met as children, but they both found their one true love after many trials in the place they began - THE HOUSE ON BRIAR ROAD. Hayden's mother may have mistreated her, but when Brian and his mom moved to her neighborhood, she learned what real family should be, and finds a place in Kathleen's heart that only a girl could fill. When Brian goes off to college and later moves to California for a job, Hayden misses him something fierce but he thinks of her a kid sister. It takes his mom becoming ill for him to realize she is all grown up, yet they still can't find a way to take their love to the next level as more than friends. When they finally realize just how important they are to one another, it is their daughter who makes them realize they are meant to be a couple, and in turn create a family that includes not only the daughter, but each other. Ms. Jacobs takes one chaotic past and turns it into a story that will leave readers sighing as finally Brian and Hayden get their happily ever after, and then crying in sadness as they realize other parts of the family have lost their ever after. This is a novel to be cherished; it will remain in the heart of this reader for a long time to come. Review Courtesy of LoveRomancesandmore

Nurse Hayden McNulty knows her best friends are Brian Conway and his mother, Kathleen. They are her family in every sense except biological. When Kathleen informs them she suffers from breast cancer, Hayden and Brian worry about their "mom". This leads them to seek solace which turns into making love for the first time and she gives birth to a daughter Livie, but rejects his pity proposal. Kathleen recovers Eventually Brian marries and moves to California, but ultimately gets a divorce as he never forgot Hayden, who he wants to marry because he loves her. He decides to try to convince her they belong together because of their love for one another. As she considers accepting his offer, Kathleen announces the cancer has returned. THE HOUSE ON BRIAR HILL ROAD is a fascinating relationship drama that is a serious take on When Harry Met Sally even though they met much younger as preadolescents enjoying Halloween. Hayden and Brian are nice people who care for one another so much so they hide their not sibling love from the other so as to insure their friendship survives that is until Livie is born, changing the dynamics though a minor player. However, what makes Holly Jacobs' contemporary a delightful read is the author avoids turning the story line into a melodramatic soap opera driven solely by mom's battles with cancer; instead Kathleen, like her son and "adopted" daughter, is three dimensional so readers sympathize and root for her to conquer the illness. This is a strong character driven drama in which the romance enhances the relationships. Harriet Klausner