"Enjoyable Family Drama"

Craig Lofgren is under suspicion of murder. His wife has disappeared leaving him with their two children and now, a year and a half later, he is still trying to cope. His eleven year old son, Britt, is having problems in school and is acting up out of sadness and anger. His new teacher, Robin McKinnon, is trying to help. Her son, Malcolm, and Britt had been good friends so when they start playing soccer together, their friendship resumes.

Ann Caldwell has recently been promoted to detective. Her father had been trying his best to convict Craig of murder and now Ann plans to carry out her father's wishes as certain as her father, that he is a murderer. Craig is dismayed to find himself and his children being questioned again and again, not to mention his neighbors and friends. He has been isolated from so many of his former friends who think that he is guilty. How could his wife disappear with no trace?

Craig is attracted to Robin -- she is one of the few people in town that treat him like a human being without judgment -- but how can he have any kind of a relationship until the mystery of his wife's disappearance is cleared up?

I am consistently amazed at just how good the Harlequin SuperRomances are. Harlequin has some very good writers who tell very good family stories. MOMMY SAID GOODBYE is another of their intriguing stories, part of the Single Father series. Janice Kay Johnson keeps the characters interesting with good pacing and dialog in a contemporary setting. I liked both hero and heroine as they try to cope with the prejudices of the small town and as they try to make a good life for their children. As the mystery is played out and the attraction grows between the couple, it all comes to a satisfactory ending in another very good book by Janice Kay Johnson.

Reviewed by Marilyn Heyman
Posted April 12, 2004

Summary

What would you think if one day your wife disappeared, and everyone believed you were responsible?

How would you feel if the only thing that kept you from being arrested was your child's insistence that his mommy told him she was leaving?

And what would you do if you suspected your son was lying?

One day Craig Lofgren came home to discover that his wife was gone. He and his kids have been living in a nightmare ever since. The police think he killed her; the neighbors do, too. The only bright spot is Robin McKinnon, the one person who believes in Craig. But until his wife is found he has nothing to offer her. Welcome to purgatory.