Ivy Parker never met a lost soul she didn't want to adopt; now she's taken on a whole town. After being banished at eighteen, Linc Galloway convinced himself home wasn't important--then he met Ivy. But Linc has one last chance for reconciliation with family that puts him in conflict with Ivy's fight to save her new home. When duty and honor are on the line, can two lonely souls afford to listen to...what the heart wants...

"Bringing her fresh writing style and rich characterization to Superromance, Jean Brashear makes a splash with her poignant story"   --Romantic Times (4 1/2 stars)

"...a book that deserves a space on your "Keeper" shelf." 5 hearts --The Romance Reader"

"Learning to listen to one's heart provides powerful motivation in Jean Brashear's WHAT THE HEART WANTS. Brashear captures these powerful motives and emotions with a graceful narrative rich in nuance."    --WordWeaving.com

~Excerpt~

In the doorway he stopped cold at the sight that greeted him.  In the middle of the deserted dining room, Ivy danced, a sleeping baby in her arms.  Her movements were a grace note, her voice soft and sweet.  Her back was to him, and he watched the sway of her hips until the words began to sink in—

He'd heard this song before...

Tendrils of memory stirred.  Linc could recall only a darkened room and the satin of wood against his arm, the press of warmth...the slow rocking and sense of safety, of being cherished—

His mother.  She had sung this song to him, a fretful small boy who often had trouble falling to sleep.  Linc had few memories of his mother, who had died when he was barely six, and he'd never had this one before.  But he knew as well as he knew his own name that the memory was real.

Once he had been loved.  He'd known what this small girl knew now, the feeling of safety.  Of real peace.

The feeling of home.

Raw from his discussion with Betsey, he took one step toward the oasis.  The floorboard creaked.

Ivy turned, and he saw tears hovering on her lashes.

He stepped back from a moment too private to intervene. Ivy looked right at him, and for countless seconds, time ceased.

Linc couldn't speak; there were no words for how this felt.  Intimate, surely.  Almost sacred.  He was a trespasser who had no right to cross over into Ivy's world—

No matter how she called to him, no matter how something inside him yearned—

Ivy's lips parted slightly.  In her eyes, he saw messages older than time.  Hope and comfort and longing...

For one endless moment, Linc battled temptation.  She was like nothing he'd ever seen before, like no one he'd ever met.  Before a foolish, long-dead boy could make a grown man yield to impulses that would only make this kind woman suffer more—

Linc remembered who he was and what he owed.

And made himself walk out the door.