Grandfather's Legacy
Elaine CantrellContemporary romance
Available from All Romance Books
ISBN: 1-933548-01-0
June 2005
| Aleisha and Bart have a history, ten years ago, when
they were sixteen, they made love. In the uncertainty
and fear afterwards, Bart ruined any relationship they
might have had and their friendship ended. Now,
Aleisha is the part owner of a shop rapidly sliding
towards bankruptcy, and her grandfather’s legacy could
save the business. The only problem is that Aleisha
has to marry before Christmas and stay married for six
months to acquire the money. Bart offers to be the
platonic husband, hoping to change her mind. He has
been in love with her since he was sixteen and hurt
her with his comment then because he was scared. They
marry, and try to have a normal marriage, finding that
they still love each other and want to stay together.
As the six months come to a close, they plan their
delayed honeymoon in Hawaii. Then everything changes.
A lawyer from Charleston contacts Bart to tell him
that his college sweetheart, Amy, has been killed in a
car accident and that Bart has a five-year-old son.
Of course, Bart wants to raise his son and naturally
assumes Aleisha will also. Unfortunately, the teenage
Bart’s callous behavior has left Aleisha with a lot
less self-confidence that she should have. Adam is a
wonderful child and Aleisha finds herself drawn to
him, but she can’t help thinking that she is
everyone’s second choice, and that she is an outsider
in her own home. Bart tries to reassure her, but is a
little dense about her feelings. A handsome Scot, who
runs the coffee shop next to Aleisha’s, complicates
matters also.
This story is short, but has a lot going on in it. First, Bart and Aleisha’s almost romance in High School seems to have scarred her emotionally, and Bart seems to have made matters worse at the time. His college romance with a woman who might have been Aleisha’s sister, ended when he called Amy by the other woman’s name, since he never fell out of love with her, but he can’t manage to reassure his wife by sharing some of that information with her. The largest problem is that Bart just can’t wrap him mind around the problems that his wife might have coping with not only raising another woman’s child, but having to deal with the gossip and questions and pity of the residents of the very small town they live in! The other characters in the book are very realistic and seem to come to life in the pages of the story. Michael Stuart is a very appealing character also, and the author manages to make him very sympathetic and he becomes the voice of reason between the two leading characters. This is a very good book and I look forward to more of the author’s work.
Overall rating:
Reviewer: Maura Frankman |
