Holly‘s review of Inherited: One Child by Day Leclaire
Contemporary romance released by Silhouette Desire 14 Jul 09

I’m always looking for new authors to try when I browse eHarlequin.com and the blurb for this one caught my eye. I’m glad I picked it up, because it turned out to be a good read. This story is told almost completely from the hero’s point of view. That was kind of refreshing. Too often I think we spend too much time in the heroine’s head speculating about the hero. 

Jack wasn’t much of a parental figure to his niece, Isabella, in the beginning. He didn’t know how to relate to her and honestly I don’t think he wanted to. Finding a nanny to marry was the solution that kept him from having to get his hands dirty. Naturally at first I wasn’t very impressed with him, but once Annalise explained that he needed to be more hands on, he really got into the spirit of things. I liked watching him fall in love with his niece. And her nanny.

He and Annalise were really good together. I think she forced him to realize what was important and to take time away from work to relax. I really got a good sense of him and what made him tick, so I wasn’t surprised or upset when he acted cold or gruff. It just added another layer to him and the story.

I liked that Annalise jumped right in with Isabella. She didn’t shy away from standing up to Jack or making sure he knew what was important to Isabella. She was strong and capable. Her reaction to Jack’s proposal really seemed to fit with her personality. Up until the end, I thought she was great and his perfect match. But more about that later.

I had issues with a few technical things in the plot. For example: I doubt a social worker, who was having serious doubts about the well-being of the child, would have no problem leaving said child in the home as long as it was a couple instead of a single. Especially since the time frame was like 6 weeks. So in 6 weeks uncle meets nanny, talks her into marrying him so he can keep niece, and case worker believes it’s a HEA and decides to leave child in home? I was able to suspend disbelief enough to read the story, but it always niggled at the back of my mind.

Aside from that I didn’t have any complaints about this book – until the very end. Then the heroine drops a bomb that really had a WTF-type quality. Because of clues the author dropped throughout, I had a feeling it was going to happen. Even so, my reaction was W.T.F., and not in a good way. Especially because the heroine was the one who screwed up, but it was the hero who had to apologize. She walked away and he went chasing after her. That made NO FREAKING SENSE.

I’m just going to spoil it. Skip the next part if you don’t want to know…..

***SPOILERS***

The niece was adopted by Jack’s sister and BIL. As it turns out, Annalise, the heroine, is her biological mother. Annalise decided to get a job working for Jack to make sure he was taking care of her little girl.

Which works, I suppose. The problem for me was that when the truth finally came out, Annalise stormed off and Jack had to chase after her, at which time he apologized to her for getting upset with her. I didn’t understand that at all, because it was HER who lied. She was the one who kept that secret from him. At that point he’d already confessed he wanted a real marriage with her, so her storming off and saying she wouldn’t come back unless he agreed to a real marriage made no sense.

***END SPOILERS***

Aside from that twist at the end I really enjoyed this story. Unfortunately the twist – and the way the characters dealt with it – is going to detract from my grade.

Grade: B+

Summary:

Billionaire businessman Jack Mason had devised the perfect strategy for keeping custody of his orphaned niece. He’d hire the right nanny and seduce her into marrying him. It should prove easy enough. He was, after all, irresistible.

Annalise Stefano was ideal. The attractive new nanny had quickly bonded with the little girl. And Jack was anticipating their wedding night more than he’d imagined. Even so, he couldn’t have predicted that Annalise wouldn’t want to become his wife. Or that the secret she was keeping could jeopardize his plans for creating the perfect family….

Read an excerpt here.