"Beautiful love story"

Luna McGraw lost custody of her daughter when her husband took her to court with proof that she was an unfit mother because of her drinking. After four years of out of control alcoholic bingeing, she hit rock bottom and finally entered rehab. Now she is four years sober and her ex- husband has transferred custody of their daughter Joy to her. Luna looks on this as a second chance to be the mother that her daughter needs but she is scared that she will fail her.

Thomas Coyote is a two-time loser in the divorce wars. His second wife cheated on him with his brother after they learned Thomas is sterile; now she is pregnant and married to his sibling. The last thing he wants to do is fall in love for the third time but when he meets Luna, the attraction is electrifying. Luna feels the same way but she is fighting it because she fears rejection from her daughter as much as from Thomas.

A PIECE OF HEAVEN is a beautiful love story starring two scarred individuals who still have issues from previous relationships they have to resolve before they can think of coming together. The likable characters are realistically drawn, especially Joy who is wise beyond her years. Barbara Samuel has written a relationship drama that will appeal to fans of Kristin Hannah and Barbara Delinsky.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted January 28, 2003

2004 RITA Finalist for a Novel with Strong Romantic Elements

Summary

In the sun-baked hills of New Mexico, Luna McGraw has lived a lifetime of regrets, struggling to conquer the demons that destroyed her marriage and caused her to lose custody of her beloved daughter. But as Luna fights to rebuild a relationship with the troubled teenager, she remains haunted by images of her own childhood and the father she barely knew.

Strong and resilient as the houses he builds, Thomas Coyote comes into Luna's life one extraordinary night when his grandmother nearly dies while conjuring a fiery brew of spiritual enchantment. Luna does not need a man— especially one with a needy ex-wife—to complicate her fragile dreams of the future. Their attraction pushes them both beyond reason into a place where there is only possibility. Yet it will take more than passion to recover the tattered pieces of Luna's soul, more than time to forgive the sins of an offending husband, and more than promises to mend the broken heart of a child.