Close to Her Heart by CJ Carmichael

Dani Carrigan has always relied on logic when making important life decisions, but when she discovers she’s pregnant – and that there’s a chance her baby may be born “not perfect”— logic lets her down.

It would help if the baby’s father would pop the question, but widowed father Adrian seems more interested in protecting his six-year-old daughter than committing to his new relationship with Dani.

The last time she felt this alone and scared was when she was 16 and her mother died, leaving Dani to raise her younger sisters with precious little help from her distant and disapproving rancher father. She felt so inadequate then, but is she any more prepared to be a mother now?

Support comes from an unlikely source. Dani always saw her next-door neighbour and friend, divorce attorney Elliot Gilmore, as a charming, handsome, playboy-type. But with each challenge she faces, from pregnancy, to delivery and beyond—Elliot reveals himself a better man than she ever guessed.

Is it possible that Elliot hasn’t been playing the field—but waiting for her? 

While Close To Her Heart was full of emotion, it was a lacking.

 

Dani Carrigan is pregnant and there’s a chance her baby could have Down Syndrome. She’s not sure if she wants to have further testing to determine if the initial diagnosis is correct, so she chooses to do nothing.

 

When she informs the baby’s father that she’s pregnant, Adrian tells her he has to put his six-year-old daughter first and ends their odd little affair.

 

Now on her own, Dani finds herself relying on her neighbor Elliot Gilmore. 

 

I just couldn’t connect with Dani. She was willingly to be Adrian’s dirty little secret then act as though her world came crashing down when he didn’t as her to marry him. I seriously had to question why someone would want to be someone’s mistress who was hidden away and only brought out when Adrian wanted to play.

 

While she was struggling with the possibility there could be something wrong with the baby she was carrying, she couldn’t turn to her family for support because she kept her pregnancy hidden from them for nearly the entire book.

 

Elliot Gilmore is Dani’s neighbor and one of her best friends. Although during the first half of the book, Dani’s not talking to him because of his feelings toward Adrian. The fact that Dani was mad at Elliot for stating the obvious about her doomed relationship with Adrian was more than a bit annoying.  Elliot was too beta for my liking. I would have liked to see him take charge a bit more

 

While I could feel the emotional pull Dani felt as she was coming to terms with possibly having a child who was disabled, I couldn’t really get a good feel for either character because so much of the book took place in Dani’s head. I would have loved to have seen more dialogue thrown into the mix.

 

The chemistry between Elliot and Dani was nonexistent. In all honesty, I was a bit surprised when they finally ended up with each other because I couldn’t even find a spark of attraction between them. I think that was also due to the lack of dialogue between the characters.

 

Overall, this book just didn’t pull me in. The characters seemed unable to connect with each other or me.  The chemistry was lacking, as was the dialogue.

 

Book Details

Title: Close to Her Heart
Carrigans of the Circle C Book 3

Author: CJ Carmichael

Publisher: Tule

ASIN: B00N56EGLK

Release Date:  September 23, 2014

Format: eBook

$3.99

How I Read It: Purchased From Amazon

Rating: 1 Cups

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