A Less Than Perfect Family is a really wonderful heartwarming read, with more than enough potholes in their highway to happiness to keep you involved. There really wasn’t a slow part in this book, though sometimes I wanted to tell Janie to snap out of it and take a good look at Sam but that only added to the experience for me. The characterization was wonderful, the emotions were so real that the hurts these two suffered brought tears to my eyes in more than a few places, but then I also giggled and even laughed out loud a time or two as well.

When Janie meets Sam she falls for him – literally – as she trips on her skirt and starts to take a tumble. One look into those amazing blue eyes and she feels tremors she thought were gone since she buried her husband a year ago. Sam teases her but looks concerned he’s missing his grand daughter who has wandered off in the book store. Janie knows right where she is…and chastises him for leaving the little “pumpkin” alone. And the start of a wonderful friendship is born.

Fast forward two years and they are still friends – albeit long distance since Janie is in Texas and Sam in California. After a horrible car accident Sam’s daughter is killed and he needs Janie’s help to make sure his wicked ex-wife doesn’t get custody. Sam convinces Janie to marry him, knowing it is more than just to guarantee custody of his granddaughter. Janie agrees but worries that this will be the end of their friendship even though she’s attracted to him – he has to be the sexiest grand da I’ve ever read about, long black hair, blue eyes and ummm, well you get the picture.

Less Than Perfect Family is a very touching story. The characters go through a lot of ups and downs and more than their share of pain. They also learn that sometimes it’s the little things that cause the biggest problems. Ms. Hanawa perfectly portrays the issues experienced by a “second” family. I’d definitely recommend a visit with this Less Than Perfect Family so kick off your shoes, sit back and curl up on the couch and stay for awhile you’ll be very happy you did.