A Secret Splendor

 

SANDRA BROWN

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Mira, 1983. Previously published under the pseudonym Erin St. Claire.

How acquired: Received from a BookCrossing member.

My thoughts: First off, this review will be full of spoilers.

Second, I generally love everything Sandra Brown writes, though I am partial to her mystery/thrillers. Of all her books I’ve read since being on Goodreads, I’ve given them either four or five stars, with the exception of STING, which I disliked so much I only gave it one star. So this is my first time giving her three stars.

Third, I work in the adoption and surrogacy fields. I’m always a little leery of reading a book with an adoption plotline, for fear it will be shown in a negative or unrealistic way. But A SECRET SPLENDOR is the first book I’ve come across with a surrogacy plotline. And that’s where all my issues lie.

Arden was in a bad marriage to an OB/GYN. After running his practice into the ground and going into debt, her husband agreed to find a woman to be a surrogate for a rich couple, who were paying him $100,000.00. The woman he finds? His wife, Arden. She’s reluctant, but then agrees on the condition that after the baby is born, she gets half the money, a divorce, and custody of their son, Joey, who was ill. I can’t for the life of me remember what was wrong with him, cancer or something. So her husband takes her to his clinic and inseminates her with the client’s sperm.

Arden would be what is now referred to as a traditional surrogate, in that she is the biological mother of the child. Traditional surrogacy is not practiced very often these days. In fact, in the state where I live, traditional surrogacy is not legally recognized, and is treated by the court as an adoption. But at the time this book was written, there probably weren’t many laws regarding surrogacy. Although even if there were laws, the way Arden’s husband handled this situation was probably illegal anyway. My state did not have any laws on the books until 2019.

Fast forward to after the divorce, and Joey dies. Distraught, Arden begins thinking about the other child she gave birth to, and decides she needs to find him or her. She never met the rich couple, and did not see the baby after it was born. She doesn’t even know if it’s a boy or girl. Well, by chance she sees a famous tennis player on TV who looks familiar, and then suddenly remembers a couple she saw when leaving the hospital, who were surrounded by paparazzi, and she realizes that the tennis player is the father. I kept hoping that when she got to know him she would learn that he was not in fact the father, but no, her instincts are correct. He’s now a widower, and the child, a boy, is 22 months old. Every time Arden thought about needing to see her child, I wanted to say he’s not your child, he’s their child.

Anyway, she finally manages to meet the tennis player, Drew, and starts dating him. And of course they fall in love with each other. Pretty soon she’s married to him and “step-mother” to the child, Matt. And she keeps thinking she needs to come clean and tell Drew who she is, but she puts it off because she doesn’t want him to think she only married him to be with the child. Also because she’s a cowardly liar.

And then the ex shows up, and blackmails her, and at first she gives him money, but then she finally gets a backbone and tells him she’s not paying anymore and she’s going to tell Drew the truth, but she goes shopping first, which gives the ex time to go to Drew and spill the beans himself. And of course Drew is furious, and storms out to go do his tennis stuff, and Arden gets angry that Drew is angry, even though he has every right to be angry, and just before he comes home a week later she packs up and leaves.

Of course, in the end, Drew tracks her down and they talk it out and profess their love and get their happy ever after, while I’m just frustrated, because the synopsis doesn’t say anything about surrogacy, just that there are “half-truths, secrets and unspeakable lies” surrounding Matt’s birth, so when I started this book I had no idea what I was in for.

To her credit, I really liked Drew. Sandra Brown has an uncanny ability to write wonderful heroes and I always fall in love with them (except the hero of STING, who I just could not feel any sympathy or empathy for). And I do like her writing. So the book still gets three stars from me.

Accidentally Family (Pecan Valley, Book One)

SASHA SUMMERS

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Entangled: Amara, 2020. 

How acquired: Fresh Fiction Box Not to Miss subscription box

First line: Today was always going to be a life changer, Felicity knew that. 

(For the Goodreads synopsis, scroll to the bottom of this post.)

My thoughts: The downside to reading a recently published first book of a series? Having to wait now for the next book in the series! I loved this book. I don't even know what to say in this review without just gushing about how wonderful this book is. 

Ok. So Felicity and her son have just watched her daughter graduate from high school. Her ex was a no show to the graduation ceremony, but for good reason – he's in the hospital after a car accident, which killed his girlfriend and injured his toddler son, Jack. And then he dies, but not before extracting a promise from Felicity to take and raise Jack as he has no other family. 

That's the start of a book that's just packed with characters and plot lines, all integral to the overall story and seamlessly woven together. Sometimes when there is a large cast of characters it can be a little confusing in the beginning, but I never had that issue here as they were all so well written. The POV switches around also between the characters, but at the core of the story are Felicity and Graham. Felicity and her ex and Graham and his wife were good friends before Felicity's divorce, and before Graham's wife died. Graham is a doctor, and he and Felicity reconnect at the hospital, and quickly renew their old friendship, except this time that friendship begins to blossom into romance. But they both have busy lives and family issues getting in the way – Felicity preparing to take Jack home when he's released from the hospital, to her own son's dismay, and Graham dealing with his teenage wild child daughter who's been acting out since losing her mother.

Not necessarily a romance book, but if you like small town contemporary character driven family relationship stories with a couple of romances thrown in, this fits the bill. I hope there will be another Pecan Valley novel soon!  

Goodreads synopsis: Welcome to Pecan Valley, where the town may be small but the townspeople will always lend a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on. Where good times, good humor, and good people will always lead to happily ever after.

Life for Felicity, and her teen children, is finally back on track. After her divorce, she wasn’t sure if her sweet family would ever be the same. But things are good––right up until her ex’s spirited toddler lands on Felicity’s doorstep. If the universe is going to throw lemons at her, thank God she has her best friend, Graham, to help her make lemonade out of them. How did she never notice how kind and sexy he is?

Graham is still recovering from his wife’s death years ago and trying to help his teen daughter get her life together. Who is he kidding? His daughter hates him. Forget lemons––he’s got the entire lemon tree. So when Felicity suggests they join forces and help each other, he’s all in. And suddenly he can’t stop thinking about her as more than just a friend. Too bad their timing couldn’t be worse…

Because life rarely goes as planned. Luckily there are many different kinds of family to hold you together and lift you up...plus maybe even a little love between friends.

Balancing Act (Silhouette Special Edition No. 1552)

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT SOME MAY CONSIDER SPOILERS.

LILIAN DARCY

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, 2003.

How acquired: BookCrossing

First line: Brady Buchanan would be here with his little daughter in twenty minutes, maybe less.

(For the Goodreads synopsis, scroll to the bottom of this post.)

My thoughts: What would you do if you discovered that your adopted toddler daughter had a twin sister who had been adopted by someone else? Libby packs up her belongings and moves across the country. A bit grudgingly, but in order for the girls to have a relationship and grow up together they need to live near each other, and Libby is in a better position to move than Brady, who owns a construction company.

"They laughed, and looked at each other, and the kiss they were both thinking about seemed so real that Libby could almost see it in the air."

Of course Libby and Brady are immediately attracted to each other, but they've both been through bad marriages, and Libby and her daughter, Colleen, are only staying with Brady and his daughter, Scarlett, until Libby can find a job and a permanent place to live.

Like a good romance should, there is plenty of conflict between Libby and Scarlett. Neither completely trusts the other, and both agree that they just need to get along for the sake of the girls. But while Libby is the one who uprooted her life and moved, I still felt Brady got the short end of the stick more often. He seemed to try harder, make more of an effort, while Libby was secretive and standoffish. Even towards Scarlett a little bit. I get that she was afraid of getting too attached to Scarlett, in case things went south and she and Brady went their separate ways, but still.

After awhile I got a little tired of Libby keeping things from Brady and trying so hard to maintain her independence. Not that there's anything wrong with independence. But again, Brady was making an effort, and to his credit he would back off when he realized he was pushing her too much. 

By the time Libby needed to have fibroid surgery, she and Brady had slept together. Yet she did not tell him about her upcoming surgery and the more she kept putting off telling him the more irritated I felt towards her. She didn't like her new doctor, so she arranged a trip home to finish packing up her house and decide whether to sell it or rent it out, and scheduled the surgery with her previous doctor to coincide with the trip, asking her mother to also fly out to help with Colleen. I really thought that something was going to go wrong with the surgery and her life would be hanging in the balance and mom would call Brady and the thought of Libby possibly dying would make him realize how much he loved her and he would rush to be at her side. To my surprise that's not what happened, and I was pretty happy at how it was all finally resolved in the end. 

Goodreads synopsis: Four days ago, Libby McGraw had never even heard of Brady Buchanan. But if his claim was true, her carefully constructed life was about to be blown apart. One glance at the silky-haired baby cradled in Brady's arms told Libby more than any blood test could. Her adopted daughter had an identical twin sister!
Libby wanted to believe she was only marrying Brady to keep the girls together, but her heart wasn't buying that malarkey. Not when the feel of Brady's lips on hers told her they might be destined for a more powerful union....

The Boss Next Door (Harlequin Heartwarming)

ROZ DENNY FOX

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin, 2013 (previously published as HAVING IT ALL).

How acquired: I think I got this book when I was subscribing to Harlequin's Reader Service.

First line: Sherry Campbell pirouetted in front of her sleepy roommate, seeking an opinion on her new appearance.

My thoughts: I can always count on Roz Denny Fox to deliver an enjoyable, amusing and heartwarming story that I zip through before I even realize how late I've sat up reading. Her characters are never one dimensional, including the children who are always integral to the plot and not just there. And she must research the crap out of everything, because I learned more than I ever thought I'd want to know about the process a college goes through when hiring a new dean. And if she just made all that up on the fly, then she is a very convincing writer.

I liked that the relationship between Sherry and Garrett built slowly and gradually, with both characters, but Sherry especially, continually denying her feeling and fighting them, not to mention fighting each other. There's lots of bickering between them, which I also really like. And the last chapter had me in tears.

I recommend reading ANYTHING YOU CAN DO... first, which is about Sherry's brother, Nolan. But while there are a few references back to happenings in that book, this one can still stand on it's own.

And then I recommend reading TROUBLE AT LONE SPUR, which has no relation to this book but is one of my favorites of the author's works.

Goodreads synopsis: Garrett Lock wants it all. He's a single father with a child he adores. He has a successful career. And now he wants a second chance at marriage, another shot at love—with Sherry Campbell.

Despite her desire for a family, Sherry doesn't believe that love and independence are compatible. But when Garrett becomes her boss—and her neighbor—she starts to question her assumptions, falling first for his eight-year-old son…and then for him.

Maybe with a bit of compromise and a lot of trust…you can have it all? 

Sweet Tea and Sympathy (Southern Eclectic, Book One)

MOLLY HARPER

Synopsis from Goodreads: Beloved author Molly Harper launches a brand-new contemporary romance series, Southern Eclectic, with this story of a big-city party planner who finds true love in a small Georgia town.

Nestled on the shore of Lake Sackett, Georgia is the McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. (What, you have a problem with one-stop shopping?) Two McCready brothers started two separate businesses in the same building back in 1928, and now it’s become one big family affair. And true to form in small Southern towns, family business becomes everybody’s business.

Margot Cary has spent her life immersed in everything Lake Sackett is not. As an elite event planner, Margot’s rubbed elbows with the cream of Chicago society, and made elegance and glamour her business. She’s riding high until one event goes tragically, spectacularly wrong. Now she’s blackballed by the gala set and in dire need of a fresh start—and apparently the McCreadys are in need of an event planner with a tarnished reputation.

As Margot finds her footing in a town where everybody knows not only your name, but what you had for dinner last Saturday night and what you’ll wear to church on Sunday morning, she grudgingly has to admit that there are some things Lake Sackett does better than Chicago—including the dating prospects. Elementary school principal Kyle Archer is a fellow fish-out-of-water who volunteers to show Margot the picture-postcard side of Southern living. The two of them hit it off, but not everybody is happy to see an outsider snapping up one of the town's most eligible gentleman. Will Margot reel in her handsome fish, or will she have to release her latest catch?

Stats for my copy: ebook, Gallery Books, releasing November 21, 2017.

How acquired: NetGalley.

My thoughts: I previously read SAVE A TRUCK, RIDE A REDNECK, Book 0.5 in this series. I’m not a big fan of novellas, just because I like to get more story, more characterization, than the shorter form allows. But I enjoyed it, so I was eager to try one of Ms. Harper’s full length novels and see how much deeper she can go. And she did not disappoint. 

Our heroine this time is Margot, a big city event planner who finds herself out of a job and shunned by the event planning community after a disastrous flamingo incident. We met Marianne, and her brother, Duffy, in SAVE A TRUCK. Margot is their cousin, though she’s never met any of the family. Her mother left her father when she was three years old, and her father has been completely out of her life since then. But Tootie McCready,, her father’s aunt and the matriarch of the McCready clan, contacts Margot out of the blue and offers her a job in the family business, McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. With no other prospects on the horizon, and about to not have anywhere to live, Margot reluctantly accepts.

I very much liked Margot. She’d pretty much had the rug pulled out from under her, and her whole world turned upside down. Settling down to life in Lake Sackett, Georgia, was quite a culture shock for her. Not to mention meeting her biological father, for whom she, understandably, harbors a lot of resentment. She didn’t plan to stay permanently, just until she found a job that would take her back to Chicago or some other civilized city. Watching her navigate her new life was at times eye-wincingly funny.

I loved Kyle, a widower with two young daughters. After a scorching make out session in his truck, he thereafter runs hot and cold with Margot. He doesn’t date much, and he never brings his dates around his daughters. Which is fine with Margot, for while she lusts for him she has no intention of becoming emotionally involved with him. She doesn’t know how to talk to children, and of course she plans on leaving town at the first opportunity.

The first time Margot saw Kyle, she was drawn to his sad eyes and haunted countenance. It was a great way for Ms. Harper to introduce him, because he ticked my boxes also. Of course Margot ends up spending more time with Kyle and his daughters than planned, and some of her interactions with young June were hilarious. I also enjoyed her interactions with Marianne and another cousin, Frankie, who also worked at the funeral home. I really hope Frankie will be the heroine of a future book.

As with the novella, I sometimes had a little trouble keeping all the family members straight at times, but that didn’t really impede my enjoyment of the story. There’s plenty of humor, which I love in a romance, but there was also some angst and ultimately some soul searching for Margot when she finally has an opportunity to leave Lake Sackett.

Very enjoyable, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for other books by Ms. Harper.

One Night of Scandal (Fairleigh Sisters, Book 2)

TERESA MEDEIROS

Synopsis from Goodreads: Proper decorum has never come easily to Carlotta Anne Fairleigh --- not even tonight, when the lovely, impetuous miss is finally making her debut. As she waits to make her entrance, she can't help wondering about the darkened house next door, the supposedly abandoned home of Hayden St. Clair, the man society has dubbed the "Murderous Marquess." Certainly one small peek through his window before the festivities would be harmless...

And, naturally, this latest "adventure" ends in disaster, thoroughly compromising the budding debutante's reputation and leaving her suddenly, unthinkably ... betrothed! Soon she's en route to the wilds of Cornwall in the company of the handsome, mysterious marquess whose name the ton whisper with fear and loathing.

Yet there is something thrilling --- and surprisingly tender --- about her dark, unreachable groom, and the desire in his eyes is undeniable. But before Lottie will surrender to the yearnings in her heart, she must unlock the secrets of Hayden's past, no matter how scandalous --- or perilous --- they may be.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Avon Books, 2003.

How acquired: Via Book Mooch.

My thoughts: My thoughts are still in a bit of a jumble about this book. Where to start? Oh, Hayden, of course. Dark and brooding, curt, not arrogant really, though he probably was before he became known as the Murderous Marquess, the nickname given to him after his first wife took a dive from a cliff. Of course he was wildly attracted to Lottie as soon as he met her. Of course after inadvertently putting her in a compromising position he gave in and married her, even though the last thing he wanted was a wife. Of course he didn't bother to tell his new wife about the horrid little girl she was now step-mother to. I loved Hayden pretty much from the beginning, despite everyone believing he murdered his wife and his best friend. 

I read the previous book, A KISS TO REMEMBER, eight years ago, which was about Lottie's older sister, Laura. I remembered very little about that book or about Lottie, but since ten years have passed, ONE NIGHT OF SCANDAL is basically a stand alone, and Laura and her husband are peripheral characters for the most part.

Lottie was a fun, spunky heroine. After being seen with Hayden through a window, her family are in despair over her reputation now being ruined, and afraid she will have no decent prospects now. Therefore, her brother-in-law and guardian, Sterling, demands that Hayden marry her. When Hayden refuses, Lottie takes matters into her own hands and, suffice it to say, gets Hayden to agree to the marriage.

From there the story moves from Lottie's home with Sterling and Laura to Hayden's home, and what is pretty much a whole new, dreary, world for Laura. And that's when it really got good. I loved Lottie's interactions with Hayden's daughter, Allegra, and appreciated that Lottie didn't magically win her over and quickly become her best friend. Allegra was a bit overly dramatic at times, and with mysterious music playing behind the closed door of a locked room and the servants all convinced the house was haunted, the story began to have a gothic feel to it. Which was just fine by me.

And the kittens! Oh my, I loved how the kittens always seemed to be in Hayden's way and he was forever nudging one aside with his foot or prying another's claws out of his pants leg or sitting down only to jump back up at the sound of a squeak coming from beneath him.

This book was just perfect for me, with plenty of laughter amid the gloomy gothicness, not to mention the sexual tension between Hayden and Lottie. The night I finished it I read past my bedtime because I couldn't put it down, and I literally cried over it. It was wonderful.