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    A Man to Hold on To
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    A Man to Hold on To
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    A Man to Hold on To
    Audiobook11 hours

    A Man to Hold on To

    Written by Marilyn Pappano

    Narrated by Loretta Rawlins

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    A Tallgrass Novel
    A MAN TO HOLD ON TO
    Therese Matheson doesn't know if she'll ever get over losing her husband in Afghanistan. Surviving Paul's death has been hard, but raising his sullen son and his thirteen-going-on-thirty daughter alone has been even harder. All they need is a fresh start, and Tallgrass, Oklahoma, could be the perfect new beginning . . . especially when Therese meets Sergeant Keegan Logan. The sexy combat medic and single dad soon awakens a desire she'd thought long buried.
    Keegan always wanted to be a father . . . someday. So when his ex-girlfriend disappears, leaving her daughter in his care, Keegan's hands are tied. He has to find the girl's father. His search leads him to Tallgrass and to a beautiful brunette widow who has no idea her husband was ever unfaithful. What begins as a friendship soon ignites into something far more and gives him the courage to be the kind of man-and father-he always dreamt he could be. But his secret still stands between them. Can Keegan reveal the truth and convince Therese they share something too special to lose-a love that can bring two families together?
    (95,000 words)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateFeb 25, 2014
    ISBN9781478928737
    Unavailable
    A Man to Hold on To
    Author

    Marilyn Pappano

    Author of 80+ books, Marilyn Pappano has been married for thirty+ years to the best husband a writer could have. She's written more than 80 books and has won the RITA and many other awards. She blogs at www.the-twisted-sisters.com and can be found at www.marilyn-pappano.com. She and her husband live in Oklahoma with five rough-and-tumble dogs.

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    Reviews for A Man to Hold on To

    4.5/5

    26 ratings3 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Good book with a very realistic feel to it. Therese is a member of the Tuesday Night Margarita Club, also known as the Fort Murphy Widows Club. Like her friends, her husband was killed in Afghanistan, and she is left to pick up the pieces. In her case, she also has custody of his two children, a sullen eleven year old boy and a bratty thirteen year old girl. In the first book, A Hero to Come Home To, there were glimpses of what she has been going through with them. At the beginning of this book, Therese wonders if it would be better to give up custody and give the kids back to their mother or into foster care. She feels like she has failed them and her husband, and they might be better off with someone else. When the kids return from a week with their mother, her stress goes even higher.Keegan is caught in a dilemma. His ex-girlfriend has disappeared, leaving her three year old little girl behind. Keegan is listed as little Mariah's father on her birth certificate, but he isn't. Sabrina had had an affair with a visiting army officer, and the child is his. Keegan isn't ready to be a father, especially to someone else's child, so he goes hunting for her real father. He arrives in Tallgrass, only to discover that the man is dead and his widow has no clue about Mariah's existence. He isn't sure whether he should tell her and leave Mariah with her or find something else to do with the child. But there's something about Therese that draws him in and he decides to stick around for awhile. Though there is attraction between them from the very beginning, the relationship between Keegan and Therese begins as friendship. Keegan is at a complete loss as to how to deal with Mariah, and Therese steps in to help him. I loved the scene when Keegan shows up at her house with a screaming Mariah and a desperate plea for help. He has kept an emotional distance from the child and that has had the expected result on their relationship. It was sweet to see Keegan grow into the role of father to Mariah. There were several really adorable scenes between the two of them. Though Keegan had briefly considered making up to Therese as a prelude to dumping Mariah on her, that idea doesn't last long. He's far too interested in Therese herself, even though he has no interest in a relationship. Therese is surprised to find herself attracted to Keegan. It raises a bit of conflict in her since she feels slightly disloyal to her husband because of it, but she also likes feeling alive again. She's not interested in a relationship with another military man, but a fling might be enjoyable. She doesn't expect to start feeling something more for him. I liked seeing them move from friendship and mutual support to exploring what is growing between them. Their dates were pretty sweet, and the increasing heat was terrific. As they grew closer, Keegan felt guilty about keeping the truth about Mariah from Therese, but didn't know how to tell her without risking their new relationship. When she does find out, she is hurt and angry. I loved seeing how she worked through her feelings and her attitude when she did. I felt that it was realistic, without making her husband out to be scum, but not letting him completely off the hook either. I felt that the relationship between she and Keegan became stronger because of it. Therese's two stepchildren were really interesting. In the previous book both came across as total brats and I wanted her to toughen up on them. When they arrived back from their visit to their mother, there were some positive changes in Jacob. He seemed to be coming out of his funk a little bit, treating Therese with a little more respect. I liked seeing the little things he started to do and their effect on his relationship with Therese. Abby, on the other hand, came back with even more attitude than when she left. I really understood Therese's horror at her appearance, and loved how she dealt with it. It was great to see Therese stand up to the little tyrant. I was completely amazed at the difference in her attitude when little Mariah was around, and began to hope that maybe things would get better. As the book went on, I liked seeing the improvement in the relationships between the kids and Therese, and the hope it gave Therese that things would work out with them. The surprise arrival of the kids' mother, and what she wanted threw everything into upheaval. I ached for Jacob and was happy to see that Keegan was able to help him. Abby had mixed reactions, and I wondered how things were going to go. I also ached for Therese, who was kind of getting what she had wanted but who realized that maybe she didn't want it after all. The kids' mother was a real piece of work, and I completely enjoyed seeing Therese stand up to her. That final confrontation was very emotional. In the end, Therese realized that she was partly to blame for the tension between her and the kids, as she understood what had been driving them. I hurt for the kids as they had to deal with the truth about their mother, but was happy to see that they began to appreciate what they had in Therese.I also enjoyed seeing more of the ladies from the club. All of them are dealing with their losses in their own ways. I liked seeing more of Carly and Dane from the first book, and how their relationship is progressing. There are also sections that dealt with several of the other women, including Jessy. She is headed down a slippery path and I am looking forward to seeing how she gets through her challenges.*copy of the book received in exchange for honest review.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars.

      After reading A Man to Hold on To I am officially hooked on Marilyn Pappano's delightfully heartwarming Tallgrass series. In this latest installment centered around a close-knit group of war widows, Therese Matheson and Keegan Logan are facing difficult decisions about the children unexpectedly left in their care.

      Three years after her husband Paul's death in Afghanistan, Therese is struggling to build a healthy relationship with her two grieving stepchildren when she meets Keegan. Therese loves Abby and Jacob, but she is on the verge of relinquishing custody of the unhappy and resentful kids after they return from a visit with their self-centered mother. The last thing she needs is another complication in her life and when Keegan arrives looking for Paul, she is surprised by her attraction to the handsome soldier.

      Keegan has never met Paul, but their lives intersected when Keegan's girlfriend Sabrina had an affair with Paul right before Paul's last deployment. The affair ended Keegan and Sabrina's relationship but when his ex abandons her daughter, Mariah, Keegan becomes the little girl's guardian. The only problem? Keegan is not Mariah's father; Paul is. Keegan travels to Tallgrass with the intention of leaving Mariah in Paul's custody but after he learns of Paul's death, he keeps quiet about Paul's connection to Mariah. A surprising friendship blooms between Keegan and Therese and when their feelings deepen into love, Keegan continues to keep his secret but how long will it take for Therese to uncover the truth about Mariah?

      Following an incident with Abby, Therese's relationship with her stepkids has deteriorated to the point where she is considering giving up custody of them all together. Not having arrived at a final decision when they return from their mom's, she is encouraged by the changes in Jacob's attitude but she is disheartened by Abby's renewed hostility. Keegan is a welcome distraction from the current turmoil in her life and she enjoys the serenity she finds in his company. Of course, underlying all of their interactions is a spark of attraction that neither can ignore and they decide to explore their burgeoning emotions.

      At first, I was not sure if I was going to like Keegan since I did not understand why he was so determined to give up Mariah. Once I figured out what motivated his decision, my reservations about him began to disappear. But he completely won me over when he decided to protect Paul's memory for Therese but then I kept holding my breath waiting for her figure out the truth about Mariah! All in all, I thought this part of the storyline was very well done and the final resolution was not as dramatic as I thought it would be.

      My heart really went out to Jacob and Abby. Jacob is such a typical boy in so many ways, but he has a really good heart. I think he finally saw his mother's true nature during their visit so he came home with a new appreciation for Therese.

      And then there's poor Abby. Yes, she was awful, but with all that she has been through, Therese was an easy target for all of her anger and unhappiness. As easy as it was to feel sorry for Therese, she also bears some of the blame for their problems and I was glad when she finally realized that.

      Marilyn Pappano weaves all of the various story arcs in A Man to Hold on To into an emotional and heartfelt novel of love, loss and new beginnings. The overall plot is poignant but it is perfectly balanced with plenty of humor. The characters are fully fleshed, three dimensional and easy to relate to. Tantalizing glimpses of Jessy Lawrence and Dalton Smith neatly set up the next book in Tallgrass series, and I must confess, I am very eager to read their story.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this one. We were introduced to Therese in the first book and learned a lot about the isssues she had raising the two children from her husband's first marriage. Keegan came into her life in this book and their relationship built naturally. Everyone reacted how you would expect to issues that came up and both Therese and Keegan grew. Very well written and I'm looking forward to the third installment in this series.



      ** I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.