Given their past, Lauren is suspicious of Alex’s motives – and she should be. But Lauren’s young daughter, Rebekah has autism and the money Alex is offering would pay for special schooling that Rebekah desperately needs. Reluctantly she agrees to accept his sponsorship, but is determined that her relationship with Alex will remain strictly business. Alex, however has other ideas.

Lauren and Alex are fully developed characters that any reader will be glad to spend time with. The love scenes do not move beyond kisses and a few caresses, but they are written with great passion that reveals the strength of their desire for each other. As Alex recognizes his love for Lauren he makes a conscious choice to wait until marriage to become intimate with her. As is consistent with the most passionate of stories there is more going on than just lust here.

On the whole this is a very well written book. I feel that Ms. Warwick still has some fine tuning to do on her craft, but I’m equally sure that she is up to the task and that we will see great things from her in the future.

Finally, I must comment on the beautiful portrayal of the relationship between Lauren and her daughter, Rebekah. As the mother of a child who has a disability, I can tell you that she’s hit the nail right on the head when she writes about the love and protectiveness as well as the guilt and helplessness a parent can feel. Thank you, thank you, thank you Ms. Warwick for this touching picture, for introducing the concept of person-centered language and for pointing out the ways in which our children are like all children instead of just showing how they are different.

Overall rating:
Sensuality rating: Mildly sensual

Reviewer: Kara Lynn Russell
June 28, 2007