Darcy McCary came to Nashville with some big expectations--to find her birth parents. She had no plans of making a life in Tennessee. But when her sources lead her to Eduardo Keller, her heart took over, and plans changed. Eduardo Keller is a man who goes after what he wants and he doesn't have time for playing games. Darcy is exactly the woman he's been looking for to assist him in business and be his partner in life.Because he loves Darcy, Ed promises to help her find the answers she seeks. What he doesn't know is that if Darcy finds the secret to her past it might mend her curiosity; however, it might also tear apart a branch of the Keller family.
Bestselling Author Bernadette Marie writes contemporary romances and believes in Happily Ever After. The married mother of five believes in love at first sight, quick love, and second chances. An avid martial artist, Bernadette Marie is a certified instructor and holds a second degree black belt in Tang Soo Do. She loves Tai Chi, traveling to Disney parks, and having lunch with friends. When not writing, or running her own publishing house, Bernadette is probably immersed in a Rom Com, from which she will often quote one liners.
There are books you like, and then there are books that reach out, grab you by the collar, and refuse to let go. This is one of those.
From the moment Darcy stepped into Nashville with her heart full of questions and hopes tangled in uncertainty, I was hooked. Her emotional journey, entwined with the strong, magnetic force that is Eduardo Keller, had me flipping pages like my life depended on it.
The romance? Chef’s kiss. The stakes? Deliciously personal. And the writing? Smooth like Tennessee whiskey, with just enough burn to keep it honest.
As someone who's lived and breathed the rollercoaster of love and identity in my own stories, I felt this book in my bones. This isn’t just a story about finding family, it’s about choosing it, risking everything for it, and still coming out stronger.
Even as a bestselling author, I couldn’t look away. This book made me proud to be a reader first. If you love character-driven, heart-rich, soul-shaking love stories… this one deserves your whole heart.
Highly recommend. Now excuse me while I send this to every book club I know. 🥹📚❤️
The Keller Family Series continues in this fifth book by Bernadette Marie. Darcy McCary comes to Nashville in search of her birth parents, literally runs into Eduardo Keller in a coffee shop, and lands an assistant job with him in his family's construction company. I loved the story told in this installment with it's love of family, romance, a bit of drama, and a lovely happily ever after.
Has a way of repeating itself, except this time instead of an assistant falling into her future boss & husbands lap, the new assistant gets doused in Starbucks cold iced latte. That is Ed met Darcy and hired her that day. Darcy came to Nashville to find her birth parents. But things get quite interesting.
3.5 stars for me. I would have liked at least one chapter dedicated to Darcy and her bio mom (this is a big deal), this is such an important part of the Keller family history, so I was disappointed when it was just glossed over at the end. Overall not a bad addition to this series.
Ed Keller is now Vice President of Benson, Benson, and Hart. He accidently meets Darcy McCary in a coffee shop in his building and there starts the beginnings of love which echoes the 1st book in the series where Zach met Regan. Ed realises how similar his situation is Zach after hiring Darcy to be his P.A and in homage even takes her to the hotdog stand for lunch as Zach did. Darcy has come to look for work at his firm for a reason she keeps to herself. She is looking for her birth parents and the reason why they gave her up. Benson, Benson, and Hart is becoming a lucky spot for love to bloom as is the house owned by Arianna where various members of the Keller family have lived as have prospective partners.
Ed was the child we learnt most about in the previous books, the eldest son, he was a caring, loyal boy and I hoped he still had those characteristics as an adult. He does. He's stubborn and tries to keep himself away from Darcy rather than admit he's in love with her. Darcy doesn't help the situation though, she's very bitter and is fighting with herself whether to love or carry on her investigation into her parents.
This book is set 20 years after the previous book Center Stage and is about the next generation of the Keller Family. I was concerned that this was not a good move and was just and attempt to prolong a series of books which had come to a timely end. I was wrong, this book is equally as good as the rest of the series.
I found this series after searching for authors similar to Melody Anne. The main similarities to I can see is that the series focuses on a family and each member has a book dedicated to their love story. There is an individual plot in each book but also there's characters and a plot as an undercurrent through several books. I enjoyed reading the book. The characters are believable, genuine and there's just enough plot to show the development of each character and their relationship. It makes a change to have a contemporary romance without detailed sex scenes, which I'm not opposed to, but they just aren't needed here and gives a certain class to the stories (there's none of the pants straining, groin twinging etc every other paragraph). I ended the book with a smile on my face looking forward to the next in the series.
Having enjoyed very much all the previous books in this series and absolutely loving the family, I knew where this book was going with Darcy’s search for her mother – I have to say even though I knew the answer I couldn’t put the book down as I wanted to know how she would find out! I did have a bit of a cry during the book and I felt the whole matter was dealt with brilliantly during the story.
It was lovely that during the book you were reminded of the history of each of the family members and like other reviewers it took me some time to get used to the fact that those family members we had got to know in earlier books were a lot older!
I thought Ed was lovely, and so was Darcy and it was a nice sweet romance – I especially loved Christian and can’t wait to read his story although Clara’s is the next one later this year.
So I have really enjoyed this series thus far however this book was just book 1 all over again but less stellar. I like the characters but their courtship was way too fast and way to sweet. Why was there not more about Darcy dealing with the brothers or her new family. This story could have been more layered and interesting but it was light and sweet than anything else. Wish it lived up to the other books in the series.
Darcy and Eduardo have instant chemistry, and the way his family accepts her was the stuff of dreams. While her search for her birth parents was rife with complications, Darcy comes to the conclusion she didn't need to know her parentage to acknowledge the person she was -- the person her adoptive parents raised her to be. Necessary distraction at the end, of course, which leads to a better-than-expected HEA.
This is the 5th book in the series and another great story from the Keller family. I thoroughly enjoyed it and read it in a heartbeat, however I only gave it 4 stars as I felt in a way the plot was fairly predictable, i still thought we might get a surprise along the way and I would have liked to see Ed working harder to get the girl, but hey I'm addicted to this books, I look fwd to read about Clara next and I hope I don't wait too long for Christian's story!
It's strange having just read the earlier books in this series (beginning with The Executive's Decision) only a couple months ago, and now the characters in the first 4 books are in their sixties....this book picks up the series 20+ years later. That being said, I do love Madeline and Carlos' children, and this was a sweet story about Eduardo and Darcy. The ending was a bit rushed though.
Well i've been waiting for Eduardo's story for months, but after i've read this book, i'm a little bit disappointed, i just can't feel their connection, the chemistry, the spark.. I like Christian and Darcy's moments more than Darcy and Ed's, and i just can't wait for Christian's story, im inlove with him :D
So I totally fell in love with the Keller family and was excited to read about Eduardo but I felt like it was rushed and a lot of time went by with no backstory. Was a good read but I wanted a Title more.
Read book in one day. I have to admit the I did read the books out of order. I read the 1st two books in the series and then read this one. Absolutely loved this book. I got choked up several times. I already knew the ending from reading the previous books. Highly recommend - beautiful love story.
It was a great start to the new generation of Kellers. I also loved catching up with everyone else who are a little older but just as vital and interesting. I can't wait to read all of the siblings' stories!
Wow I have read all the Keller family stories and I fell in live with them. This was the icing on the cake, I have laughed, cried and got mad with them all and I just lived every minute of it
the ending was actually a bit hanging.. but generally it was nice .. Christian was so funny.. I used to laugh with his crack jokes.. even when his in the middle of serious pain.. hahaha