Table for Five

In a story only Susan Wiggs could tell, Table for Five resonates with the sweetness and surprise of the unexpected paths life can take -- and explores what it really means to be a family. When Derek and Crystal Maguire are killed in a car accident, their three children are left to be raised by their designated guardians -- Lily Robinson and Sean McGuire. Brought together by tragedy, the two strangers are joined in grief and their mutual love for these orphaned children. Sean and Lily are about to embark on the journey of ups and downs, patience and understanding that makes a family. And along the way they will find a future filled with hope, happiness and the certainty that love is the best choice of all.

When Derek and Crystal Maguire are killed in a car accident, their three children are left to be raised by their designated guardians--Lily Robinson and Sean McGuire. Brought together by tragedy, the two strangers are joined in grief and their mutual love for these orphaned children. Sean and Lily are about to embark on the journey of ups and downs, patience and understanding that makes a family. And along the way they will find a future filled with hope, happiness and the certainty that love is the best choice of all.

Publishers Weekly

Two unlikely guardians and three orphaned children cobble together a family in this tragicomic novel, in which hardship offers everyone an opportunity for positive growth. Incorrigible playboy and former pro golfer Sean Maguire becomes caretaker for his nephew and nieces-teenager Cameron, third-grader Charlie, baby Ashley-when his brother, Derek, and former Miss Oregon USA sister-in-law Crystal die in a freak accident. Drawn into the maternal role-and ultimately Sean's arms-is fiercely independent teacher Lily Robinson, Crystal's longtime best friend. Sean does his loving best with the grief-stricken children (who also suffered through their parents' divorce the year before), but Cameron, full of anger, takes to vandalism; Charlie, suffering a reading problem, refuses to work at it; and Ashley can talk but isn't toilet trained. Shy of intimacy, Lily keeps her distance from Sean, but the family's need overcomes her reserve, and she gives up a summer vacation in Italy to join Sean and the kids on a cross-country tour for his comeback as a professional golfer. On the road, Lily loosens up, Sean settles down and the children begin to heal. Though the happy ending (plus some inconceivable golf shots) strains credibility, Wiggs offers readers a few hours of escape from their more conventional family lives. Agent, Meg Ruley. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: Sometimes it takes a leap of faith in order to soar . . . A gifted teacher, Lily Robinson adores her students, but fiercely guards her independent lifestyle. Deep inside, she is afraid of loving too deeply for fear of getting hurt. Only her best friend, Crystal, has ever been able to get close. Now an unthinkable tragedy has drawn Lily into the shattered lives of Crystal's family -- a family that suddenly needs her. Sean McGuire is a rolling stone used to living in the shadow of his famous brother, Derek. He's made his own way in life, playing by his own rules. Then one April night everything changes when a fatal car crash orphans Derek and Crystal's three children. In an instant, Sean finds himself in the role of guardian. Sean and Lily are brought together by tragedy, joined in their grief and their mutual love for these children. But raising three kids is a monumental job, and Sean realizes he's in over his head. And though Lily has been the unofficial aunt to these children since they were born, planting emotional roots means taking risks -- and Lily's not sure she can. The ups and downs of love and family life can be a roller-coaster ride -- thrilling, unpredictable and downright terrifying, yet filled with incredible delight. and Sean and Lily are about to discover the possibilities that make everything seem worthwhile -- a future filled with hope, happiness and the certainty that trusting love is the best choice of all. Contemporary Before an estranged couple is killed in an unthinkable tragedy, they designate two guardians for their childrena man and a woman who are essentially strangers and who have nothing in common except their compassion for the couple's three orphaned children. Thrown into this strange semblance of family, Sean McGuire and Lily Robinson work together to establish some kind of normalcy for the grief-stricken childrenand in the process discover the possibilities that make everything seem worthwhile. Lily Robinson, a gifted teacher, gives up her independent lifestyle to help Sean McGuire after he assumes guardianship of his nieces and nephew following the deaths of his brother Derek and sister-in-law Crystal--Lily's best friend, and together they work toward restoring the children to hope and happiness, and find love along the way "When an estranged couple is killed in a tragic accident, strangers Lily Robinson and Sean McGuire are named the guardians of their three orphaned children and must find a way to become a family."--WorldCat.