"A moving story"

Tulsa based historical restoration architect Sam Solomon works on his dream project, restoring Moonlight Grove, Oklahoma, a town flooded when Greer Dam was built in 1939. However, Sam has an immediate personal problem to contend with when his ex-wife Andrea calls to tell him she is going into a cancer treatment clinic with a life threatening disease. He will have to raise their ten-year-old daughter Meggie, who's mentally equivalent to a three-year-old.

Sam's mother hires wannabe children's songwriter Christy Lane to serve as Meggie's nanny. Christy had a crush on Sam back in high school, but he does not recognize her. As Christy begins improving the behavior of Meggie by showering her with love, praise when warranted, and involvement in activities like softball, she and Sam fall in love, but both knows the child comes first.

The romance takes a back seat to the efforts to nurture Meggie, which is well done, but fails to show the toll on the adults lovingly doing this. The story line works because no miracles occur that magically turns Meggie into a fully functioning ten-year-old, but the hard work of Christy enables the child to have friends. Christy is Mary Poppins while workaholic Sam struggles to balance work with the needs of the four women (his mother and ex-wife as the others) in his life. Darlene Graham provides a deep look at raising a mentally handicapped child with an endearing romance to lighten the intense tale.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 25, 2003

Summary

Meggie is coming to stay!

Normally, architect Sam Solomon would be thrilled that his daughter, Meggie, is coming to live with him. But he's not happy with the circumstances—his ex-wife has suddenly become ill and is unable to take care of their daughter. On top of that, Sam has just started a huge restoration job that promises to eat up all his time. And Meggie is a handful, requiring a lot more attention than an average ten-year-old because she's mentally handicapped.

Taking care of his daughter is a full-time job, so Sam hires a nanny, Christy Lane. Before he knows it, Christy has the unruly Meggie cleaning up her toys, eating her vegetables and playing sports. Christy is so different from any woman he's ever met—it's as if she's from a whole other world. A world he never would've known if it wasn't for the child who brought them together...