Mr. Family

by Margot Early

Published 1 May 1998

"Margot Early's stories pack a powerful punch. She writes with warmth, wit and emotional depth. A sheer pleasure."-Debbie Macomber

Kal Johnson is a still-grieving widower with a young child. He can't imagine marrying again-not for love, anyway. But it's becoming increasingly clear that his daughter needs someone besides him. A mother. Kal's solution is to place an ad in a local magazine.

Wanted: Woman to enter celibate marriage and be stepmother to four-year-old girl. Send child-rearing philosophies to Mr. Family....

Erika Blade is a woman who's afraid of love. And sex. She answers the ad, figuring she's probably the only person in the whole world to whom a "celibate marriage" would appeal. After all, she does want children but she doesn't want to acquire them in the usual way. As it turns out, Kal likes her letter-and soon discovers that he likes her. More than likes. He's attracted to her. The one thing that wasn't supposed to happen.

"Compelling from the first paragraph, Mr. Family- steals the reader's breath with its rare honesty and sensitivity."

-Jean R. Ewing, award-winning author of Scandal's Reward

"Mr. Family proves again that there is no voice quite like Margot Early's when it comes to the language of the heart."

-Laura DeVries (a.k.a. Laura Gordon), author of contemporary and historical romance