Picking Daisy

It's never too late...

to find the love of a family.

When divorcee Elise signs up to be a foster parent at the age of 50, she wonders if she made a huge mistake.

Her fear increases when her first placement comes straight from the police station in the middle of the night. Elise struggles to care for the angry teenager who is more difficult to love than anyone she's ever met before.

At only 15, DJ has lived a harder life than most other orphans.

A terrifying step-father and a string of unfit foster parents has left DJ with a fragile heart that keeps its distance. That way no one can ever hurt her again.

When DJ is sent to live with Elise temporarily, the two struggle to connect while DJ makes secret plans to run away. But as Elise shares God's love, both hearts begins to soften and believe that a happily family might not be completely out of reach.

Fans of Karen Kingsbury will enjoy the realistic characters and faith-driven novels by Valerie Howard.

Get this book in Kindle, paperback, hardcover, or audiobook format.

Editorial Review:

"I had the privilege of working on this book with Valerie.

On the surface, it is a story of a woman who takes in a foster child. They both learn a lot about themselves and each other.

It may not be a romance, but it is a love story.

Below the surface, Picking Daisy shows the reality of the system where children bounce from home to home at the mercy of adults who do their best, but are all too human. The emotional scars from going through any long-term foster care may never heal. The day a child ages out of the system is, at the same time, the anticipated day of freedom, and the terrifying day when they are pushed into the world without support.

Deeper yet, the story is one of redemption, of loving past the brokenness in our lives. It's about second, and third chances, of a refusal to give up on hope, and learning when we are in the darkest of places, we are not alone.

I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of books which brought tears to my eyes.

Picking Daisy is one of them."