An #INSPYSundays Book Review | “A Home for the Twins” (Love Inspired) by Danielle Thorne

Acquired Book By: In (2020) Ms Thorne contacted me about her first Love Inspired novel (“His Daughter’s Prayer”) of which I reviewed and hosted her during @SatBookChat. Fast forward to 2022 and I caught a notice about her review team which led me to asking her about joining the team. I was delighted to receive her second release with Love Inspired as I had fondly remembered the joy I had in reading her debut with the publisher. I was grateful I could join her review team knowing how much I love her writing instincts for telling Contemporary INSPY Romantic stories as much as the fact I love reading stories by this publisher for Romantic Suspense.

I received a complimentary copy of “A Home for the Twins” direct from the author Danielle Thorne in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein. Per the badge at the end of this review, I am also a member of the author’s Review Team. All promo materials for this novel were provided by the author herself and are used with permission.

On returning to reading Love Inspired Contemporary & Suspense:

I had indeed planned to return to reading Ms Thorne’s novels and more Love Inspired stories quite regularly last year – around the time this novel arrived actually as I was trying to resettle into a regular rhythm of reading both Love Inspired Contemporary and Love Inspired Suspense. I share an affinity for the Suspense line of stories with my Mum and we oft will tag-team reading them together. We love having conversations about the different authors’ styles and the lives of the characters we meet against the pages. Those are wicked lovely adventures we take-on together but in respect to reading Ms Thorne’s novels, I simply lost my focus with reading last year and reluctantly had to admit I needed more time to re-pursue reading her lovely stories. The best difference this year has been the addition of Progressive lens in my life which is allowing me to have a bit more freedom when it comes to reading. My migraines have also reduced as part of their frequency last year were due to having issues with my vision. That isn’t the main cause of my chronic migraines but it was causing additional ones to occur and blessedly that has been nipped in the bud so to speak.

I’ve longed to resettle into both Love Inspired and Ms Thorne’s novels for two key reasons: a wicked uplift of inspirational joy to read and I’ve missed the spiritual threads of story interwoven with realistic characters living lives you want to become a part of as a reader. I’ve missed reading overall and now I have a new beginning with reading being able to see the words again with my new glasses. It feels like a restorative blessing this year for me to recapture a bit of the time I’ve lost and begin anew. I look forward to reading three of her stories back-to-back as well – as I have this lovely from last Spring, a Christmas one from last November and of course, her latest release The Beekeeper Next Door which I’ll be featuring next Sunday! Be sure to revisit with me in July as I will be featuring The Doctor’s Christmas Dilemma as a bit of Christmas in July. I have a few other stories planned within this same theme of context, too.

Overall, it is shaping up to being a lovely Summer – full of Romance, a few Christmas reads, Young Adult and Middle stories, a good dose of Fantasy, a wicked Suspense or Thriller thrown in for good measure and dash of Inspirational stories. I can’t wait to see how Summer continues to enliven my readerly life with the stories I’m choosing to read right now.

On why I enjoy reading stories by Danielle Thorne:

Thorne is one of the authors I appreciate reading because she carries a thread of relatability through her stories and her vision of her characters’ lives. I appreciate the topics she broaches through her stories but also, rooting us in the real world through her perception of what her characters can live through as she tells their story. Yet is how she visually places you into the setting which grabs your eye the most – being well-travelled through the Southeast, I knew of the route Thorne took to place us into this small towne of Southern Georgia. She even graced the setting with small touches of personalised observations seen through Claire’s description of arriving into Kudzu Creek (not my favourite name of a towne!).

There is a lot to unpack in this Contemporary Romance – especially the timeline of when Dori had Emily and when Claire took over her guardianship which is an interesting twist in the novel when you consider who the father is to Emily. I felt Thorne was doing a great job leading us into the quagmire of unearthing the past which connected both the timeline of her story but also with the events connecting all the central characters together. It is an interesting history of course and as those connections come to surface for the reader, it was lovely to see the revelations which meant the most to the characters took a bit more time to become disclosed.

Thorne approached referencing the faith centering her characters lives in a very subtle way. Bradley mentioned it whilst talking to his cousin Donovan in regards to how he changed his life for the better and how his faith is important to him even more now than it was in the past. This subtle way of inclusion worked best for the plot as both Bradley and Claire were at the start of new beginnings for the trajectory of their lives. She needed to prove to herself she could be self-sufficient and raise a daughter whilst Bradley was trying to make a name for himself as a historic restorator of homes.

For a slow-brewing romance what was more disheartening were the dramas unfolding behind the romance itself – especially when it concerned Bradley’s parents. Thorne did a wonderful job at showing how strict and reserved parents can become when they are blinded by their own influence on their children’s lives. I felt she handled that part of the story with as much grace as she could as a writer owning to the realism of what people have to contend with given similar circumstances. in the background of course is this lovely community – where neighbours and community members are the found family you never knew you were seeking but were thankful to have within your inner circle. It was also the kind of place you could start over and determine for yourself the kind of life you wanted to live and that was the best message of all.

-quoted from my review of A Promise for His Daughter

A Home for the Twins
Subtitle: A little double trouble turns a house into a home
by Danielle Thorne
Source: Author Review Team

Becoming the chef at her aunt’s small-town inn is exactly the new beginning single mom Lindsey Judd needs. But balancing her job with her twin boys proves harder than she thought, especially when she discovers that lawyer Donovan Ainsworth wants to buy the inn for his own reasons. As Donovan starts to fall for
Lindsey and her boys, will her little troublemakers become matchmakers as well?

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Inspirational Fiction & Non-Fiction, Sweet Romance, Contemporary Romance

Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781335585646

Also by this author: Josette, His Daughter's Prayer

Published by Love INSPIRED

on 28th March, 2023

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Pages: 224

Published by: Love Inspired (@LoveInspiredBks)
an imprint of Harlequin Books (@HarlequinBooks)
which is now an imprint of HarperCollins Publishing (@HarperCollins)

Note on Formats: Happily, Love Inspired novels have the same kind of flexibility as Harlequin Heartwarming wherein you can receive these print copies in Regular Print, Larger Print or True Large Print for those who are vision impaired and/or have low vision. I personally love the Larger Print editions for Harlequin Heartwarming, Love Inspired Contemporary Romance & Love Inspired Suspense as it is much kinder on eyes of a migraineur! Generally, I receive Larger Print copies of Love Inspired and/or Harlequin Heartwarming novels – however, I do on occasion receive Regular Print which I can’t read whilst in the throes of a migraine or shortly after one but when I’m migraine-free I can soak back inside them; hence why having different sized fonts available is a lovely gesture by the publisher for readers like me.

Converse via: #SweetRomance, #SweetRomanceReads or #SweetRomanceBooks

and #LoveInspiredBooks as well as #ChristFic, #ChristianFiction, #ContemporaryRomance,
#INSPYRomance or #ChristianFictionBooks on #bookstagram

More Inspy Romantic stories by Danielle Throne:

His Daughter’s Prayer (2020) | see also Review

Falling for the Coach (2022)

A Promise for His Daughter (2022) | see also Review

A Home for the Twins (2023)

The Doctor’s Christmas Dilemma (2023)

The Beekeeper Next Door (NEW release: 25th June 2024)

A Guardian Until Christmas (*forthcoming, October, 2024)

my review of a home for the twins:

Twins are wicked curious characters, and the beauty of Archer and Leo is how innocent they are to their surroundings and situation. For them, it isn’t the kind of move to worry about but rather focus on the more important things in life – like the food you can ask to eat or the things you can explore on arrival. There was so much chaos happening all at once when Lindsey arrived at the Azalea Inn, that it was hard not to chuckle out loud reading about their exploits of adventure. Leo was the twin who was more forward with his actions – he couldn’t sit still if you asked him too, whilst Archer held back a bit and was a bit more of a mama’s boy in that respect as he didn’t go off by himself all the time. Leo on the other hand was definitely the instigator of curious escapades and I felt might be the one who gets the twins into trouble the most. Not that he meant to be naughty, but his habits of discovery were less than to be desired by his Mum, Lindsey!

At the centre of the story as we first begin to become introduced to everyone is the plight of the Azalea Inn being in jeopardy of a future whilst Lindsey’s Aunt Daphne tries to sort out the finances of the Inn by having Lindsey become the new chef. I personally love staying at B&B’s (ie. Bed and Breakfasts) because of the charming quaint settings and the hospitality of the hosts. It feels more personal and less commercial, too, because the Inns are usually like taking up residence in a bedroom that could be your own house and eating a lovely homemade meal in the mornings. You usually can have snacks and drinks outside of breakfast by selecting something from the kitchen on your own time. I love how their generally located within walking distance of the city or towne you’re staying in and that gives you a bit of mobile freedom too without having to use your car. At least by my own experiences. In this way, it doesn’t take me long to settle into a story that features an Inn or B&B because it is like getting to go on holiday without leaving my own house! Laughs. Whilst reminding me I need to book more stays at Bed and Breakfasts in the future as I do miss that method of travel.

Donovan was a surprise of a character – he’s quite uptight round the edges and very matter-of-fact but with a charming allure to him, too. You had the feeling that there is more to Donovan than what he is willing to share and that he holds a bit of himself back from view of everyone. He definitely acts like a lawyer and likes a neat and tidy way of life but at the same time, he can adapt and bend when life throws him a curveball – such as twins disrupting his peace and quiet and making a bit of a muck of his living space with dirt and grime. I couldn’t quite decide how I felt about him at first glance, but I knew more of him would become revealled soon and I would simply have to be patient to understand him better.

Lindsey had a strong faith about turning things round once they’ve become a bit challenging to sort out. I liked her instantly because of her positive attitude and her willingness to sort out the challenges in life as they arise. Her Aunt was grateful for her as well, as she was still dealing with the passing of her husband. Her partner in life and business and I felt that by having Lindsey and the boys here with her was a bit of a calming influence on her nerves about the future. Counter to their path was Donovan’s motivation to start a charity though in my mind, a bit misguided on the timing of it. Not that I felt he shouldn’t pursue the charity itself but rather, he should have held back a bit from sharing the idea of what it involved due to the other people it would affect and how their lives might be altered due to his choices. I felt like he was great at being a lawyer and in that sphere of influence but when it came to life, love and friendships – he faltered to know how to keep the balances in order.

I felt like his cousin Bradley understood that well, too, as he was oft giving Donovan advice in that respect. Donovan was definitely a man who saw life in black and white; once he made up his mind about something, he was driven to see it through but sometimes, that is where life becomes a bit muddled. You can’t always stay on that track if other peoples’ lives are involved, and I knew that that was his first misstep in his plans to set up the charity.  Plus, he put his own considerations for life and love on hold whilst he kept single-focused on everything else. Whereas I was thrilled to see Lindsey thriving in her new environment and finding a path forward when previously she felt a bit more unmoored by how her life was turning out before she took the leap of faith to relocate.

The children featured in the story steal the scenes – from young Emily, whose Claire and Bradley’s daughter (she’s four) to Leo and Archer (Lindsey’s three-year-old twins) – each of them has their own personalities on display and are the cutest additions to the storyline. I loved seeing them in different scenes or being a part of the background of what was going on in the story, too. You knew they were ‘there’ even if they weren’t readily seen. Children make wonderful additions to stories overall but with gently told romances they a joy of delight to be inclusive of the building romance between the adults.

My favourite part of the story was when we started to see Donovan internally change – he was very one-sided in his thinking for most of the story and only when he was given insight into how others’ might perceive his intentions, did he start to take a more humbled view of the situation. He wasn’t a bad person as he had a good heart but sometimes, I had a feeling he was used to being able to carry out his plans without any challenges to his pursuit of them. That is all well and good, but it isn’t always how life will play out. I loved the ways in which Lindsey and the boys were stirring his heart in another direction, too, but moreso to the point, how their presence in his life was expanding the choices he could have if he would trust his feelings and his heart rather than being too logical and analytical about everything.

Having Claire, Bradley and Emily as constant companions and friends in the story was lovely, too. You could tell how wicked close Bradley and Donovan were – as they were more like brothers than mere cousins. Claire felt for Lindsey, too, as she knew as much as Bradley that Donovan and Lindsey were trying to forestall their emotions for each other from developing as both of them felt they weren’t quite ready for that part of their lives to take hold. Claire and Bradley were the voices of reason for Donovan and Lindsey and having them ever present in the background of the story gave the story a beautiful anchour of grace, hope and advice for the two who struggled most to reconcile their minds, hearts and spirits. Whilst the canopy of community members funnelling in and out of the Inn was a delight of joy, too. Especially the ladies of the Book Club who met their regularly and that of course, included Donovan’s mother! Laughs. They each had a unique viewing on everything from the towne to the books to the evolving romances of everyone else.

By the end of the story, I felt satisfied by how the story came to a close – even though, my heart stopped a bit at the circumstances that nearly uprooted a happy for now kind of ending. That conflict and tension was well-timed and placed as it forced the hand for a few of the characters to truly take stock of what they wanted and how they wanted their futures to play out. Whilst at the same time, I felt Aunt Daphne was a bit too harsh on Lindsey even if she made amends lateron. This was definitely a slow-burning romance to the point where if it burnt any slower, we might have needed a few more chapters to see how it turnt out. I applaud Thorne for not rushing the romance as her characters in this story needed the extra time – they both were in a place of hurt and ill trust and that isn’t easily resolved for either party. A lot of what fuelled the story was both characters were seeking approval and redemption for moments in their lives they were not entirely in control of changing but wanted to forge ahead and prove their own worth and capability. The theme of ‘home’ what how ‘home’ is defined was also beautifully explored, too. The best bit of course is how it all ties together and how it has such a lovely uplift of a conclusion.

on why i appreciate ms thorne’s inspy romantic styling:

Donavan is the cousin of Bradley, who was the romantic interest in her novel A Promise for Her Daughter of which I reviewed previously. I knew the last name sounded distinctively familiar and that’s why I grabbed my copy of the book and promptly had my answer! There was something about how this story started that just felt as if I had been here previously – of course, with everything going on in my life over the last few years, I’m surprised I remembered the familiarity. Throne has a cosiness about her style and a welcoming comfort to how she sets her stories alive with the small towne(s) she chooses to place them inside.

I especially liked the continuity between the two stories – of how we can continue to walk with Bradley, Claire and Emily as their story shifts forward in-line with Donovan and Lindsey’s. It created a lovely framework for the towne itself as much as it gave a lovely view of ‘what happens next’ for characters we were previously enjoying getting to know in a different installment. Not that this is a series per se but there is a continuation of place, setting and characters. You can get so dearly attached to certain characters but generally, with one-off stories you don’t oft get to see what happens just after you exit their adventures. In this way, it was a blessing for me as a reader to catch-up with Bradley and Claire.

By expanding our stay in Kudzu Creek, we get a fuller image of the small towne Thorne has been creating for us to explore in depth by the characters’ whose lives we care about seeing come full circle. I look forward to returning to this lovely small towne in the next story which features it – The Doctor’s Christmas Dilemma. Thorne showcases the choices people have to choose for themselves to make their own happier ever after as they face challenges and disappointments. Her gently told Inspirational Romances give the reader an enjoyable pace of narrative with a slow-burning romance and a lot of inspiration betwixt and between, which is one reason why I continue to read her stories. Her characters have their flaws but at their heart, they are everyday people just trying to find a path towards a better tomorrow and that is something everyone can relate to whilst reading Thorne’s novels.

Small fly in the ointment:

I love the sweetness of Thorne’s style of writing an Inspirational Romance, even though there were a few moments where some of the passages in this novel felt a bit too predictable or too sweet in how they were delivered. Either that, or it felt like more ‘telling’ than ‘showing’ as they were revealling things that could have been showed more through interactions with the characters than just being informative for the reader. Sometimes I like my romances to evolve through a story rather than just to be positioned and told in different intervals of revelations. Plus, I felt some of the tensions between Donovan and Lindsey were well placed and other times, it felt like they were a bit out of step with how it could have played out between them. It is hard to pin down really – but some of those choices I felt were a miss for me this time round.

This book review is courtesy
of the author: Danielle Thorne

This lovely badge I’ve created to reflect the fact I am part of the Review Team for Danielle Thorne. As such, per my usual disclosures when I have a connection to an author – I approach each story I read by an author with fresh eyes and give my honest impressions of how a story sits with me as a reader. I treat each book as a ‘new experience’, whether I personally know the author OR whether I am reading a book by them for the first time or continuing to read their releases as they are available. In regards to being on an author’s review or street team – each story is uniquely told in of its own and my opinions and thoughts upon those stories are reflective of each experience I have with reading the stories I am given an opportunity to read.

{SOURCES: Cover art of “A Home for the Twins” as well as the book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Danielle Thorne and blog tour banner were all provided by Danielle Thorne and used with permission. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: #INSPYSundays banner, Danielle Thorne Review Team badge and the Comment Box Banner.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2024.

I’m a social reader | I share my readerly life on #bookstagram (@joriestory3)