Book Dads!
It’s Father’s Day today. Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there. Unfortunately, my dad’s no longer with me, though I always think of him on this special day. Well, to be honest I think of him most days. I’m sure there are many of you in the same boat, and for those of you who are missing the father figure in your life, for whatever reason, I’m sending big hugs.
Today I thought I’d pay tribute to the fathers in my books. I often wonder if my relationship with Dad had an influence on the way I wrote the father/child relationship in my books. It’s hard to say. What I do know is that most of the dads I’ve created are very good ones - even the ones who mess up along the way and have to start over!
I should say that, during the course of each series, several of my heroes eventually became fathers. However, I’ve decided to focus purely on the men who were already dads in the books that they “starred” in. There is also one omission from this list that I really wanted to include, but couldn’t without giving away a huge spoiler. Maybe some of you will realise who that is. To the hero in question, I’m really sorry. You were an incredible daddy!
There are also book heroes who took on the role of a father figure but I’ve had to draw the line somewhere as there are already eight fathers to concentrate on. The fact that they are stepfathers or are willing to become stepfathers doesn’t make them any less important. If anything, their ability to connect with and love children who weren’t biologically theirs just made me love them even more.
Anyway, enough of the introduction. Let’s take a look at my book daddies!
Kearton Bay
Gabriel Bailey - There Must Be an Angel and Harry Jarvis - The Whole of the Moon
Gabriel was my very first book hero and my first book dad, so he’s always going to be special to me. He was a single father to Lexi, and had done his best to make it up to her after her mother abandoned them both. Lexi had had a tough time of it, and Gabriel felt responsible for that, so his priority was always his daughter.
When Eliza arrived in Kearton Bay looking for her own missing father, Gabriel was determined that - whatever his sister Sophie hoped - he was not getting involved. He worked as a carpenter from a barn at Whisperwood Farm, so avoiding Eliza became a lot tougher when she started regularly visiting Hannah, the owner of the farm.
Worryingly, Eliza also seemed to be growing closer to both his sister and - unnervingly - to his daughter.
It would probably be true to say that Gabriel had a very bad time during his marriage and in the years that followed. Only his total and unconditional love for Lexi kept him going through the darkest days, and he was fully committed to making sure his daughter knew she was loved and valued and that he would keep her safe.
So when Gabriel’s feelings towards Eliza started to change he was terrified. After everything he’d been through, could he really risk having his heart broken again? And more importantly, could he trust Eliza never to hurt Lexi? When he discovered something very worrying about Eliza’s behaviour it felt as if his worst fears were coming true. Did the two of them have a future after all?
Oh. Dear. Where to start with Harry? Now, many readers didn’t like Harry when he first appeared in There Must Be an Angel - and without giving away spoilers, all I can say is, no wonder! But you know, I really do like to redeem my characters when I can, and I always had a soft spot for Harry. Maybe it was his humour. He just made me laugh, even while I wanted to throttle him!
By the time I came to write The Whole of the Moon I’d long made up my mind who was the woman for him. Harry needed someone who could keep him on his toes. Someone who, quite frankly, he’d be very lucky to have, and someone he looked up to and admired. Rhiannon was just the person.
But before Harry and Rhiannon could find their happy ever after, they had issues to resolve. As single parents they’d both messed up their relationships with their children.
For Harry, his relationship with daughter Amy was practically non-existent. So for him, the challenge in The Whole of the Moon - and his absolute top priority - was to try to build bridges with his little girl. Unfortunately for him, Amy was hardly the forgive-and-forget type. She knew exactly how to play her father and stepfather off against each other, and poor Harry ended up tying himself in knots to try to put things right!
Writing this book was an absolute joy, and I loved the father-daughter relationship between Harry and Amy. I do think his obvious love for her was his one redeeming feature - and by the end of the book we see a whole new side to Harry Jarvis. I’m very proud of him!
Find out more about my wayward television presenter turned house renovator here.
Skimmerdale
Eliot Harland - Summer Secrets at Wildflower Farm/Summer Wedding at Wildflower Farm
Eliot. Ah, Eliot. I have to admit to having a huge crush on this character. It’s a good job I did because the Skimmerdale books were really difficult to write - especially Summer Wedding. With so many characters to keep track of and multiple viewpoints to handle, not to mention all the interwoven storylines, I had Post-it notes stuck everywhere in my office trying to juggle those books! Only my love for Eliot Harland kept me going. Yep, I admit it. He’s (possibly) my favourite hero - although he’s had some competition as time’s gone on!
Eliot was a single father and a widower. He was also a sheep farmer in the Yorkshire Dales, so having to care for three young children without help while working all hours on the farm was proving to be a nightmare, despite the best efforts of lovely Daisy Jackson - or maybe because of them!
He was carrying an extra burden, too, because he had a dark secret which involved his late wife and how she died. He’d do anything to protect his children from the truth, but keeping it from them meant living a lie, and down-to-earth, honest Eliot was struggling with that.
Eliot was a gruff, no-nonsense Yorkshireman, so when Honey Carmichael - the spoilt daughter of ageing rock star Cain Carmichael who sadly happened to be related to Eliot’s late wife, Jemima - arrived in Skimmerdale to act as nanny and housekeeper at Wildflower Farm, he was far from happy about it. But Honey was nothing like the woman he expected her to be. And as the summer rolled on, Eliot’s feelings towards her deepened and changed. But was this sheep farmer having the wool pulled over his eyes?
You can find out more about my sexy single dad here.
Bramblewick
Connor Blake - New Doctor at Chestnut House
Lovely GP Dr Connor Blake was my very first hero in Bramblewick. His story started the entire series and his relationship with his daughter continued to develop throughout all six books, although they only “starred” in one.
Connor was a new arrival in the North Yorkshire Moors village of Bramblewick, and he wasn’t at all sure that he’d done the right thing moving there.
Since his wife left, Connor had been fully responsible for his daughter, Gracie. It wasn’t easy juggling his demanding job with caring for the young girl, especially as Gracie was autistic - something her mother couldn’t deal with.
If it wasn’t for his own mother, Connor might not have managed. But when his new job took him further away from her, he was desperate to start afresh with his daughter, and hopefully keep her autism from his new neighbours. He was determined to prove he could cope alone, and that he didn’t need anyone’s help.
But Gracie’s behaviour meant it soon became obvious that he was going to need help. And when Connor himself fell ill he had to reluctantly accept the offer of assistance from Anna, the head receptionist at the village practice. Would Anna understand his neurodivergent child? And would Gracie be able to accept Anna? Or would the particular demands of Gracie’s autism drive Anna away as they did his ex-wife?
I loved exploring Anna and Connor’s relationship with each other, but also with Gracie. I wanted to tackle some of the particular challenges that can arise in neurodivergent relationships. As someone with several autistic family members I’m still very fond of this story, and I think Connor was the sort of dad who did his absolute best, but perhaps needed someone outside his situation to see things more clearly and make him understand that asking for help is nothing to be ashamed of.
You can find out more about my dutiful doctor here.
The Other Half
Jason Fletcher and Rafferty Kingston - full series
It’s a slightly different situation with these two, as they both featured throughout the entire four-book series of The Other Half. This was very much an ensemble series which told the story of two families - the Fletchers and the Kingstons - united by the marriage of the Fletcher’s eldest daughter to the Kingston’s eldest son.
Jason and Rafferty couldn’t be more different - not only as fathers, but as husbands, and in general.
Jason had a terrible upbringing, but had married Sally and together they’d raised two daughters, Summer and Billie. Their marriage was passionate and loving, and though money was always tight they were very happy.
Rafferty had a privileged upbringing, but his marriage to Elizabeth was cold and unfulfilling. Wealthy beyond most people’s dreams, the couple had three children - two sons that Elizabeth adored and a younger daughter she found hard to relate to. Since their eldest son married Billie Fletcher and lived and worked away from the family home, Elizabeth had devoted most of her attention and a lot of money to their middle child, Ellis, while spending little time with daughter Frankie.
It fell to Rafferty to try to keep Ellis from going completely off the rails, while making sure his little girl knew how much she was loved. But with his marriage growing increasingly unhappy could he continue to make his children’s welfare his priority?
As for Jason, he adored Sally, and he adored his children, but was that enough? Not, it seemed, for Jason, and his selfish pursuit of his own pleasures put intolerable strain on his loyal daughters.
Rafferty and Jason were poles apart, but the one thing that united them was their love for their children. How they dealt with the problems that faced them while trying to be good dads was an interesting story that I loved telling over the course of four books. It’s probably one of my favourite series.
You can find out more about the taxi driver and the barrister here.
Home for Christmas
Cary Bishop - Christmas with Cary
Lovely, lovely Cary. I loved this man! Can you tell? But oh, what a tale of woe…
This is the story of Cary and Molly and how fate kept getting in the way of their happy-ever-after. By the time we met the couple, they were in their late fifties, and they’d had a lifetime of disappointment and disaster.
But as Molly decided to give their relationship one last try and looked back over a lifetime of missed opportunities with Cary, we discovered that their story was also one of deep love and a sense of duty to people who didn’t always deserve their loyalty.
We learned that Molly was a mother, but gradually we discovered that Cary was a father. And it’s that single fact which drives the story to its unexpected conclusion.
It’s very hard to discuss this plot without giving away huge spoilers! What I will say is that Cary was the kindest, most loyal person you could ever hope to meet between the pages of a book, and I adored him.
If you’d like to learn more about my man of many talents(!) you can do that here.
Tuppenny Bridge
Jonah Brewster - Second Chances in Tuppenny Bridge
Jonah Brewster was my hot farrier! His relationship with Kat Pennyfeather was one I particularly loved writing about - not least because I learned a lot about the art of shoeing horses and got to watch lots of videos of farriers at work. And before you make assumptions, I should say that was a pleasure because I love horses! Horses, people! I also learned about the amazing things blacksmiths create, as Jonah was another man of many talents!
Anyway, Jonah’s another of my single dads - but with one difference. His son, Tommy, wasn’t actually his. Strictly speaking, I should perhaps have classed him as Tommy’s stepdad and left him out of this blog post, but I decided not to because Jonah had adopted Tommy when he was very young, and since Tommy no longer had a mum, Jonah had become his lone parent and thought of the little boy as his.
Caring for Tommy meant that Jonah’s business had suffered a little, as he could no longer work the hours he used to. That was pressure enough, but Jonah also had to deal with his own mother’s obvious dislike for her adopted grandson and her refusal to accept him as family. Then there was the added fear that, one day, his child’s real father would enter the picture…
So when single mum Kat, who had once been part of his circle of friends until a tragic event broke them all apart, offered to look after Tommy it was an answer to a prayer. Before long, the two of them had moved beyond friendship to the possibility of something much deeper and potentially life-changing.
But with Kat keeping a secret, could Jonah allow her into his life and his heart, and risk Tommy losing yet another mother figure?
You can find out more about my talented farrier and blacksmith here.
Ghosts of Rowan Vale
Max Meyer - Loving Spirits at the Vintage Teashop
Max is my latest book hero, and my latest book father. You’ll read all about him in my forthcoming release, which is book two in the Ghosts of Rowan Vale series.
Max is a widower with a grown-up daughter. He has moved away from his home in London following his wife’s death to start afresh in the Cotswolds, taking a job as Head of Languages at the Chipping Royston Academy.
He and his daughter were very close when she was a child, as his wife’s career as a surgeon meant she was very busy at work, and Max put his own career on hold to be their child’s main caregiver. Since his wife’s death, though, he and his daughter have drifted apart. Max has been drowning in his own grief, while his daughter has rebuilt her life, going to university and finding a job.
When Max discovers that she has been lying to him about her situation he is devastated. Not just because of the circumstances in which he finds her, but because their once close relationship has become so distant. He blames himself entirely for this and wants only to put things right.
The trouble is he’s unable to accept her current life choices, and is convinced she can do much better for herself. He hates the fact that she’s living in Rowan Vale, and believes she should be making use of her degree.
When Max teams up with teashop owner Shona to solve a family mystery that connects them both, it puts him in direct conflict with the daughter he adores. And as his friendship with Shona transforms into something else entirely, will this put further pressure on his relationship with the child who still blames him for selling the family home so quickly after her mother’s death?
If it comes to a choice between his beloved daughter and his new love, is it really a choice at all?
I hope you enjoyed this little trawl through my list of book dads. The book I’m working on now features older characters, and yes, my hero is also a dad. Maybe when I’m done I’ll add him to this list…
Have a great week!
