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Alias Mommy
She Owed Him Her Life...
But He Wanted More
But He Wanted More
Rugges doctor Reeve Snyder had saved her and delivered her baby girl. He was her hero - the kind of man she would have liked to have as a friend...a lover...a father for her baby. If only...
Polly Black had been running from something - someone - when the accident had landed her in Reeve's care. He didn't want her gratitude: he wanted the truth, and he wanted her - for the three of them to be a family. Shomhow he had to convince Polly that the only place worth running to...was straight into his arms.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 2000
53 people want to read
About the author
Linda O. Johnston
132 books464 followersLinda O. Johnston's first published fiction appeared in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for Best First Mystery Short Story of the Year. Since then, Linda has had more short stories and novellas published, plus, by the end of 2018, she will have had fifty novels published, including mysteries and romance.
Linda currently writes the Barkery and Biscuits Mysteries cozy mystery series for Midnight Ink, and also wrote the Superstition Mysteries for them, both featuring dogs. She has also written the Pet Rescue Mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, which was a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series. And yes, they involved dogs, too.
Linda also writes for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, including a new miniseries about a K-9 ranch where dogs are trained. Linda additionally writes paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne including the Alpha Force miniseries about a covert military unit of shapeshifters--and all the werewolves also have cover dogs.
Linda, a currently inactive transactional attorney, now writes fiction full-time. She is a member of the Los Angeles chapters of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Romance Writers of America, including the Los Angeles, Orange County and Santa Clarita chapters.
Linda currently writes the Barkery and Biscuits Mysteries cozy mystery series for Midnight Ink, and also wrote the Superstition Mysteries for them, both featuring dogs. She has also written the Pet Rescue Mystery series for Berkley Prime Crime, which was a spinoff from her Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series. And yes, they involved dogs, too.
Linda also writes for Harlequin Romantic Suspense, including a new miniseries about a K-9 ranch where dogs are trained. Linda additionally writes paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne including the Alpha Force miniseries about a covert military unit of shapeshifters--and all the werewolves also have cover dogs.
Linda, a currently inactive transactional attorney, now writes fiction full-time. She is a member of the Los Angeles chapters of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She is also a member of Romance Writers of America, including the Los Angeles, Orange County and Santa Clarita chapters.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 15, 2025
1. The male mc has the personality of a wet mop.
2. The female MC should never drive, certainly not with children
3. Reads like a capitalist horror novel meets a pyramid scheme with how the FMC is forced to work off her medical debt of having a baby after a car crash by getting other people without funds to work off THEIR medical debt.
4. The "villianous" family was too overdone to even be a cartoon.
2. The female MC should never drive, certainly not with children
3. Reads like a capitalist horror novel meets a pyramid scheme with how the FMC is forced to work off her medical debt of having a baby after a car crash by getting other people without funds to work off THEIR medical debt.
4. The "villianous" family was too overdone to even be a cartoon.
April 17, 2018
November 29, 2000
Three years ago, Harlequin Intrigue's Hidden Identity series brought us Adrianne Lee's "Alias Daddy." Now Intrigue's Secret Identity series brings us Linda O. Johnston's "Alias Mommy." The only difference is how inferior this book is to that one. The pregnant heroine, Polly Black, runs off the road in a storm and is saved by Dr. Reeve Snyder. Reeve delivers her baby and can't help but notice the young mother's fear. Can Polly hope the young doctor can protect her from the danger she's fleeing?
I can't say I disliked "Alias Mommy." I've also given three stars to books which were better written and which I enjoyed more, so I can't give this one more than two. There were so many problems with the story that I can't even call it acceptable. Like most books built around a plot hook, the gimmick, the baby, isn't integrated into the story and comes off as unnecessary. Polly's motherhood serves no purpose in this tale. It could have been left out and it would have changed nothing. Polly could have been a regular woman on the run. She drives off the road, the doctor saves her, the story continues unaltered. Other than the forced climax, nothing would have had to change. The baby has no point in this story. Why is it even here?
It was annoying enough to see a book sold on a hook that is insignificant in its pages. Then I realized the HERO was unnecessary to the story. Reeve is barely developed past a tragic back story that is pushed too hard and then discarded too soon once it's finally explained. He has no personality and no distinguishing characteristics. The two-dimensional secondary characters are as fleshed out as Reeve. Less than a quarter of the story is told in his point of view and nearly all of that is him reacting to other people's actions. He seldom takes any action of his own and what he does is inconsequential. Except for the minor bit about calling other doctors, one part in Chapter Fourteen and his role in the ending, Reeve could have been taken out of the story too and nothing would have changed. A plot hook that isn't integrated well is a minor problem. A hero who plays almost no role in the story is a big one. Polly is only slightly better, and only because we see so much of the story through her eyes.
If the hero is underdeveloped, the romance is nonexistent. I must have missed the falling-in-love part; I guess it took place in all those lunches Reeve and Polly have that aren't shown. They move from not trusting each other to having sex with no transition. After that it is taken for granted that they are in love. The romance disappears and except for when they were having sex I honestly couldn't tell the difference in the way they acted toward one another before the consummation and after.
There are also problems in the storytelling. Johnston repeats the same notes too many times. Reeve asks Polly not to run. She can't make him any promises. That one has to be repeated at least ten times. The scene where Polly listens to a news report about her and gets scared is repeated so often it starts to seem ridiculous. Johnston also explains what happened to Polly early on in the narrative, which sucks the impact out of the moment where Polly finally explains it all to Reeve later. She has to have Polly tell Reeve later. Why not wait to tell us then too? The revelation scene falls flat and lacks any drama because we know all of this. It's just repetitious. "Alias Mommy" is also hindered by a lack of mystery. Books where the killers are known from the start can work, but not like this. Like "Hers to Remember" earlier this year, this is a book where we are left waiting for the villains to show up. Every reader knows what part of the story this will happen in (the beginning? The middle? The end?) and though the author offers more than that earlier book did to hold up the sagging middle it still drags. The story is predictable, with too little done to change that.
Anyone looking for a good read should check out "Alias Daddy." "Alias Mommy" is not worth the time.
Three years ago, Harlequin Intrigue's Hidden Identity series brought us Adrianne Lee's "Alias Daddy." Now Intrigue's Secret Identity series brings us Linda O. Johnston's "Alias Mommy." The only difference is how inferior this book is to that one. The pregnant heroine, Polly Black, runs off the road in a storm and is saved by Dr. Reeve Snyder. Reeve delivers her baby and can't help but notice the young mother's fear. Can Polly hope the young doctor can protect her from the danger she's fleeing?
I can't say I disliked "Alias Mommy." I've also given three stars to books which were better written and which I enjoyed more, so I can't give this one more than two. There were so many problems with the story that I can't even call it acceptable. Like most books built around a plot hook, the gimmick, the baby, isn't integrated into the story and comes off as unnecessary. Polly's motherhood serves no purpose in this tale. It could have been left out and it would have changed nothing. Polly could have been a regular woman on the run. She drives off the road, the doctor saves her, the story continues unaltered. Other than the forced climax, nothing would have had to change. The baby has no point in this story. Why is it even here?
It was annoying enough to see a book sold on a hook that is insignificant in its pages. Then I realized the HERO was unnecessary to the story. Reeve is barely developed past a tragic back story that is pushed too hard and then discarded too soon once it's finally explained. He has no personality and no distinguishing characteristics. The two-dimensional secondary characters are as fleshed out as Reeve. Less than a quarter of the story is told in his point of view and nearly all of that is him reacting to other people's actions. He seldom takes any action of his own and what he does is inconsequential. Except for the minor bit about calling other doctors, one part in Chapter Fourteen and his role in the ending, Reeve could have been taken out of the story too and nothing would have changed. A plot hook that isn't integrated well is a minor problem. A hero who plays almost no role in the story is a big one. Polly is only slightly better, and only because we see so much of the story through her eyes.
If the hero is underdeveloped, the romance is nonexistent. I must have missed the falling-in-love part; I guess it took place in all those lunches Reeve and Polly have that aren't shown. They move from not trusting each other to having sex with no transition. After that it is taken for granted that they are in love. The romance disappears and except for when they were having sex I honestly couldn't tell the difference in the way they acted toward one another before the consummation and after.
There are also problems in the storytelling. Johnston repeats the same notes too many times. Reeve asks Polly not to run. She can't make him any promises. That one has to be repeated at least ten times. The scene where Polly listens to a news report about her and gets scared is repeated so often it starts to seem ridiculous. Johnston also explains what happened to Polly early on in the narrative, which sucks the impact out of the moment where Polly finally explains it all to Reeve later. She has to have Polly tell Reeve later. Why not wait to tell us then too? The revelation scene falls flat and lacks any drama because we know all of this. It's just repetitious. "Alias Mommy" is also hindered by a lack of mystery. Books where the killers are known from the start can work, but not like this. Like "Hers to Remember" earlier this year, this is a book where we are left waiting for the villains to show up. Every reader knows what part of the story this will happen in (the beginning? The middle? The end?) and though the author offers more than that earlier book did to hold up the sagging middle it still drags. The story is predictable, with too little done to change that.
Anyone looking for a good read should check out "Alias Daddy." "Alias Mommy" is not worth the time.
April 17, 2024
3.75 rounded up stars.
July 9, 2008
Catherine (Polly) is on the run from her family that are in the political arena and want to silence her for thier own gain. During her escape she finds herself with Dr Synder who is fighting demons of his own. He want to help Polly but she doesn't want his help. She wants to know what is motavations behind helping her are. Will he betray her like all the rest?
At first I had a real hard time with this novel. Sometimes I just like for the characters to establish thier relationship early so that that story can start to take sharpe early on. Intrigue novels have to remain fast paced for me but in some cases character delvelopment, in the end, works better when you take your time. I suppose I'd have liked this book a little better if there had been a tad more action, but overall it was well worth finishing.
At first I had a real hard time with this novel. Sometimes I just like for the characters to establish thier relationship early so that that story can start to take sharpe early on. Intrigue novels have to remain fast paced for me but in some cases character delvelopment, in the end, works better when you take your time. I suppose I'd have liked this book a little better if there had been a tad more action, but overall it was well worth finishing.
August 7, 2015
I picked this book up for an easy read. I enjoy a nice romance with some intrigue in it and Alias Mommy had just enough. The story starts off with Polly driving on a stormy night. She is on unfamiliar roads and falls asleep behind the wheel.
She is discovered and a doctor is called to the scene to help so that she doesn't die. Polly is 8 months pregnant and Dr. Reeve Snyder sees her and has a memory of his own. Polly is hiding something and Reeve is concerned about her.
Polly is running away from her family and is afraid for her life and the life of her new baby daughter. She doesn't want to trust anyone because of her past, what she is running away from and being hurt again. This was a nice easy fun read.
She is discovered and a doctor is called to the scene to help so that she doesn't die. Polly is 8 months pregnant and Dr. Reeve Snyder sees her and has a memory of his own. Polly is hiding something and Reeve is concerned about her.
Polly is running away from her family and is afraid for her life and the life of her new baby daughter. She doesn't want to trust anyone because of her past, what she is running away from and being hurt again. This was a nice easy fun read.
January 25, 2015
Pretty good. I liked the plot and the characters. Although I did want to knock them upside the heads a few times. I liked the suspense and the tenseness throughout, there were definitely plenty of emotions, lies and a few little twists, and a good HEA. This one didn't really pull me in but I did enjoy reading it. Good for something just to read or passing time.
July 6, 2012
pretty bad.. storyline was there but not properly developed
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews