Before her death, Mama Jean, as she was fondly known by the foster children she took in, set in motion the plans for the Hertzel-Mendall Family Farm, a community established to offer homes to families that fostered children. The "Farm" offers therapeutic, recreational, and many other services all in one place to achieve the best outcomes for children in the foster care system.
"Mama" Jean Hertzel fostered teenagers who had run out of options. Teens who were considered unadoptable mostly due to their ages but sometimes for other reasons. She gave them a chance when they were out of chances. Through the years, six of those young people made it all the way through her innovative program, and this group, tight as any biological family, were named in her will as the team to assume not only her wealth, but the weight of caring for the oversight of the Farm. Each of them have overcome big odds, and each book in this series allows us to be part of their world for a little while.
In Book Three, Foster Passion, Katja truly adored all her foster siblings, but Lincoln holds a special place in her heart. He had already been with Mama Jean when they had taken her in, straight from the hospital; and through the pain of physical and emotional healing, they had become best friends, a friendship that endured through their childhood and into adulthood. The two of them are the glue that holds all of the others together. As a successful attorney, Lincoln is still very serious in nature, but thrives in his capacity as the one who handles all the Hertzel-Mendall Family Farm's legal and financial concerns. He is also the one everyone turns to for advice. Katja is the nurturer, a kind of mother figure to anyone who comes to the Farm. When she receives an offer of marriage from Lincoln's friend and partner, decisions have to be made.
