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Family at Last
Sixteen years ago Nina Lockhart left Moscow to escape her past. Now she's helping a small Russian boy fit into his new life with his adoptive father, Jarrod Morrison, here in the States. But part of helping seven-year-old Sasha means returning to her former country.
Every instinct tells Nina to refuse.
But she can't. For the sake of the man who wants to be a good father - and the little boy who needs her so desperately - Nina Lockhart is about to step back in time to when she was Nina Kamarov. And that will force her to face her family and uncover the truth.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 22, 2015
3.5/5
Second reading. I quite enjoyed this book the first time around, a few years ago, and I enjoyed it again. There are weaknesses, but overall it made for a solid read.
As for weaknesses - it was occasionally dry, with more details in some places than I really needed.
For example, I'm not sure why I needed to know so much about the "B Plot" lovers. I like it when longer romances have a B-Couple, along side the "A Plot" characters, as it generally gives the story more layers, but in this one I wasn't sure why I was hearing so much. It felt throughout like they were being set up for their own book, but then it seemed like not. The strange thing is, there was a lot of extra stuff going on with them, but it all seemed very rushed and cursory, anyway, and they were rather cookie-cutter, over all. This was a weakness in the book that occasionally broke my engagement with the main story.
Further, there were strange goings-on at time that made me wonder what happened there.
For instance, it seemed at one point that the hero was "reduced to the poverty level" by some sort of stock crash, but then didn't have to adjust his lifestyle at all...? I wasn't sure what was going on. Perhaps this, too, is meant to set up another book...? Honestly, it was mentioned quite briefly for the main hero (it had more impact for the B Plot hero), but never came up again, so if I had blinked I might have missed it. This happened throughout the book, as it sped through many events, and often resorted to just info dumping or telling me what had occurred, or mentioning things so briefly I likely missed things.
Now, as to the positive side - the A Plot couple was very fine. I liked them both, and the kid, and the relationship was undramatic and rational. There was not one ounce of alphole behaviours from the hero, and the two interacted like regular, equal people. This was very nice to see.
The romantic characters are all a bit on the Mary Sue side, with very few flaws, mountains of "sympathetic lures", and, in some cases, super-skills, but most of them were nice and likeable.
As a side note, I might suggest the hero had a bit too much tragedy in his past - recently dead mother, check; father dead too young, check... why did he also have to have a dead brother, who died as a teen due to a car accident? It seems that this was extraneous, and made it seem like the book was trying too hard to make him sympathetic. It irked me a little bit, since his brother was never mentioned again, and could have been dropped easily.
Nevertheless, I bought the hero as a desperate dad to a troubled adopted child, and I liked the heroine as tutor. The hero was a bit unconventional in his anxiety, vulnerability, easy-going nature, etc. He was a bit older than most romance heroes, and he acted quite mature. Some readers might find him a bit on the wimpy side (i.e. his yearning towards fatherhood due, in part, to loneliness; his panic attacks; etc), but I liked him a lot. He seemed responsible, mannered, and, well, good. I appreciate these characteristics, so the hero worked well for me.
The heroine was intelligent, mature and attractive, and the settings/situations were memorable. Her mother was an asset to the book, as well.
Overall, very worth reading, and I'll likely hang onto it in case I want to read it again.
Second reading. I quite enjoyed this book the first time around, a few years ago, and I enjoyed it again. There are weaknesses, but overall it made for a solid read.
As for weaknesses - it was occasionally dry, with more details in some places than I really needed.
For example, I'm not sure why I needed to know so much about the "B Plot" lovers. I like it when longer romances have a B-Couple, along side the "A Plot" characters, as it generally gives the story more layers, but in this one I wasn't sure why I was hearing so much. It felt throughout like they were being set up for their own book, but then it seemed like not. The strange thing is, there was a lot of extra stuff going on with them, but it all seemed very rushed and cursory, anyway, and they were rather cookie-cutter, over all. This was a weakness in the book that occasionally broke my engagement with the main story.
Further, there were strange goings-on at time that made me wonder what happened there.
For instance, it seemed at one point that the hero was "reduced to the poverty level" by some sort of stock crash, but then didn't have to adjust his lifestyle at all...? I wasn't sure what was going on. Perhaps this, too, is meant to set up another book...? Honestly, it was mentioned quite briefly for the main hero (it had more impact for the B Plot hero), but never came up again, so if I had blinked I might have missed it. This happened throughout the book, as it sped through many events, and often resorted to just info dumping or telling me what had occurred, or mentioning things so briefly I likely missed things.
Now, as to the positive side - the A Plot couple was very fine. I liked them both, and the kid, and the relationship was undramatic and rational. There was not one ounce of alphole behaviours from the hero, and the two interacted like regular, equal people. This was very nice to see.
The romantic characters are all a bit on the Mary Sue side, with very few flaws, mountains of "sympathetic lures", and, in some cases, super-skills, but most of them were nice and likeable.
As a side note, I might suggest the hero had a bit too much tragedy in his past - recently dead mother, check; father dead too young, check... why did he also have to have a dead brother, who died as a teen due to a car accident? It seems that this was extraneous, and made it seem like the book was trying too hard to make him sympathetic. It irked me a little bit, since his brother was never mentioned again, and could have been dropped easily.
Nevertheless, I bought the hero as a desperate dad to a troubled adopted child, and I liked the heroine as tutor. The hero was a bit unconventional in his anxiety, vulnerability, easy-going nature, etc. He was a bit older than most romance heroes, and he acted quite mature. Some readers might find him a bit on the wimpy side (i.e. his yearning towards fatherhood due, in part, to loneliness; his panic attacks; etc), but I liked him a lot. He seemed responsible, mannered, and, well, good. I appreciate these characteristics, so the hero worked well for me.
The heroine was intelligent, mature and attractive, and the settings/situations were memorable. Her mother was an asset to the book, as well.
Overall, very worth reading, and I'll likely hang onto it in case I want to read it again.
May 24, 2013
A really lovely book!
August 6, 2009
Excellent
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews