The Good Daughter

January 15, 2013
The second in Porter's Brennan Sisters trilogy focuses on Kit: single, almost 40 and wondering when it will be her turn to have it all. In the large Brennan clan of San Francisco firefighters, police officers and nurses, Kit, an English teacher at a Catholic school, is the designated good girl. She is the peacemaker, the caretaker and the occasional doormat. Having just ended a long relationship that didn't include marriage, children or passion, Kit is thinking about adopting a child. This news sits poorly with her conservative friends and family, who want her to do it the old-fashioned way. She would too, but the men out there! First, there is Michael Dempsey, handsome and clean-cut, but their first date is disastrous. He is controlling and crude and then lets drop he's actually married. Then there is Jude Knight, a mystery man she met while at her family's Capitola beach house. He has the look of a romance-novel hero (long hair, taut muscles, cheekbones that betray his Native American heritage) but the tattoos and motorcycle of a bad boy, and Kit could never bring him home to her family. A week after their date, Michael Dempsey appears in Kit's class; he has reconciled with his wife, and his stepdaughter Delilah is now enrolled at the school. Although Kit imagines Delilah's life is strained (on their date, Michael confessed to hating his mouthy stepdaughter), she has no idea the extent of the abuse; but Jude Knight does: He's Delilah's next-door neighbor, and he gets a nightly earful of the fights, screams and punches. When Delilah gets in trouble at school, she calls Jude, and he and Kit reconnect. Will Delilah get away from her abusive stepfather? Will Jude win Kit over? Is naming the romantic hero Knight going a bit too far? Our heroine's dangerous romance with the "wrong man" is engaging enough, though Porter's examination of domestic abuse is too lightly handled.

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February 1, 2013

Porter's second Brennan sisters novel (after The Good Woman) introduces Kit as she focuses on what she wants out of life now that she is no longer with the noncommittal Richard. After waiting to begin a family with Richard, Kit realizes that she is ready and willing to do it on her own without a man or marriage for that matter. This is completely contrary to the way her Irish-Catholic family has raised her and to the way she has always tried to be the "good daughter." Kit knows she needs take more action for the life she wants. Jude, the tattooed, motorcycle driving, long-haired rebel, only seems to challenge Kit's notions and beliefs even more. VERDICT Porter again succeeds with a charming, enthralling, and emotional read that will not disappoint her fans or other readers who enjoy smart women's fiction.--Anne M. Miskewitch, Chicago P.L.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2013
Porter continues the Brennan family series (The Good Woman, 2012) with Kit, who knows she will make a good wife and mother, if she can find the right man. After investing nearly a decade in a relationship that turns out to be a dead end, Kit tries online dating with no success. Even a chance date with a friend of a friend turns out to be a bust when Michael Dempsey informs her that he's not technically divorced. Kit considers the possibility of adoption as a way to start a family on her own, but puts that plan on hold when Michael shows up at the Catholic school where she teaches to enroll his stepdaughter, Delilah. Suddenly Kit is caught up in the plight of a young woman whose own home life is anything but perfect. Deftly switching viewpoints between Kit and Delilah, Porter tells a wrenching tale about complicated family dynamics, caring for a dying loved one, and spousal abuse, but her deeply perceptive writing and exhilaratingly authentic characters ultimately make this an optimistic story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)