LynneC’s review of His Last Chance at Redemption by Michelle Conder
Contemporary Romance published by Harlequin Desire 27 Nov 12
Michelle Conder is a new writer to Harlequin, and while her first book didn’t do it for me, this second one is a good read. And that’s what we’re looking for, isn’t it?
Leo has a son, but he doesn’t have hands-on with him. The boy is the result of a one-night-stand with a manipulative model who deliberately tampered with a condom. But Leo refused to let the model trap him into marriage. Instead, he provides all the monetary support the child needs and leaves the boy with his mother. Until the mother goes away on a vacation and tells Leo to pick him up from his day nursery.
Lexi is co-owner of the day care centre, and when Leo turns up to pick up his son, after her first obligatory isn’t-he-gorgeous”moment, she gets down to caring for the boy. She is currently bidding for another premises so she and her partner can expand the business, so when Leo offers her the job of looking after the child for the weekend, she is understandably reluctant.
You all know how this goes. She agrees, eventually she goes to the yacht, and one thing leads to another – she and Leo have a torrid affair.
While there’s nothing fresh about the trope, Leo and Lexi are agreeable characters, and I enjoyed my time with them. Lexi isn’t a bleeding heart, but she does care for children and she is a competent businesswoman. That is a nice change from the waif who can’t do anything properly and enchants the hero with her helplessness. Lexi can look after herself perfectly well. She doesn’t need Leo to validate her life.
Leo is harsh, and with reason. There is enough of his point of view given for the reader to get interested in him and his dilemma. He doesn’t think he’s fit to be a father, and he’s never had a paternal instinct before. Moreover, he doesn’t immediately think that he can’t possibly do without his son when he meets him properly, fall in love with the adorable poppet. The child doesn’t feature too much, and when he’s not needed for the plot, he kind of melts away. There is a big stretch of the book where they seem to forget about the little dink.
Lexi has to persuade Leo that he can be an adequate father. The reasons are the usual ones for Harlequin Presents, and there is a Saintly Woman involved, who I disliked as soon as I met her. In fact, the strongest parts of this story are the characters of the hero and heroine and the solid writing style. There are few purple passages and the character development is done well. The weakest is the plot, but Presents is hardly known for its stunningly original plots. That’s not the point. The point is getting there, treading a familiar path with new characters.
Grade: B
Summary:
His final undoing… Leo Aleksandrov is used to being obeyed – a perk of his cold-hearted ruthlessness. Having to explain to an enticingly pure crèche-owner exactly why he’s never met his own son? Not how he likes to operate. There are some secrets so dark they should never be told… Employing Lexi Somers as a stand-in nanny pushes this merciless tycoon to the edge. Her warm innocence could never even start to atone for the sins of his past, but if giving in to temptation is inevitable, blazing pleasure is the only thing he’ll allow himself to feel in her arms…
Read an excerpt.
