#TBRChallenge Review: Meant-To-Be Family

The Book: Meant-To-Be Family by Marion Lennox

The Particulars: Harlequin Medical Romance #734, Book 2 in Midwives On-Call continuity series, 2015, out of print, available in digital

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: After discovering Marion Lennox a few years back I started glomming her backlist. My records indicate this was a used bookstore find back in 2019.

🧨 Warning: All The Spoilers! 🧨

The Review: One might think that the hostess of this challenge would be ahead of the curve and not procrastinate. You would be wrong. It was Saturday afternoon before I went looking for a book that fit this month's Second Chance theme, and I figured my cupboard full of Harlequins was a good place to start. This was the second book I pulled off the shelf, it fit the theme perfectly, and I knew with Lennox writing I was going to get some angst - and boy howdy, did I get the angst.  The spoiler warning? Yeah, that's because this book has some heavy trigger warnings. This review is basically a public service.

Emily Evans is having a day. Her foster daughter isn't doing well and she's distraught. Gretta has Down's Syndrome and an inoperable heart condition. The little girl is dying.  Emily knew going into this that Gretta would die. There's nothing anybody can do. Her mother, who helps Emily with Gretta (age 4) and her foster son Toby (age 2) practically pushes Emily out the door to work, which she's running late for. She's a midwife at Melbourne's Victoria Hospital, a job she loves and while her ice queen boss is in a better mood these days thanks to her recent engagement, there's still gonna be hell to pay for being late.  Naturally it all goes from bad to worse when she swings her sturdy family sedan into her parking place only to side-swipe a flashy vintage Morgan. Could this day get any worse?  The answer is yes, yes it could.  Because the man sitting behind the wheel of the Morgan is none other than her estranged husband, Dr. Oliver Evans.

Of all the hospitals in all the world, he had to walk into hers. Oliver and Emily were married ten years ago, five of which were spent on heartbreaking, grueling IVF treatments.  Finally they get pregnant, only to have their son, Josh, be delivered as a premature stillborn. Emily puts her foot down after that. She's done with IVF. She cannot do it anymore. But she desperately wants children (as does Oliver) and she tells him, let's look into adoption.  Oliver snaps.  This man, yes THIS MAN, tells her "Em, I can't. I know adoption's the only way, but I can't do it. I can't guarantee to love a child who's not our own." Shortly thereafter they separate. That was five years ago.

Medicals are one of Harlequin's slimmer lines (about the length of a Presents or Desire) and there is A TON to unpack here. The reader learns about what split up Oliver and Emily in Chapter 2, so pretty early on you're going to hate this guy. Of course there's a backstory to why Oliver feels the way  he does about adoption - he was adopted. His parents ended up getting pregnant some years after he was adopted and once they had "their own son" they literally start comparing Oliver to a cuckoo. Oliver grows up, becomes a doctor, marries a wonderful woman - none of that matters. He's not their "real" son. So while I wanted to throat-punch Oliver, one would see how he would have hang-ups about adoption.

Emily is the exact opposite.  This is a woman brimming with love. The kind of woman who gives freely of herself, even though she knows it will open her up to heartache. Her and Oliver never divorced. They're still married at the start of this story, and she finds that telling. She moved on. She became a foster mother. Oliver did go to the States, continued his training, but there's been no one else. No new girlfriends, no children (even though he too wants children), nothing. 

This entire book is an emotional gut-punch. Oliver is emotionally broken, and what Emily realizes over the course of this story is that he was that way before they even met and got married. Oliver was damaged goods when they said "I do" - but it took the heartbreak of their journey towards starting a family to unravel their relationship.  I also really appreciated that it was the dude hung up on "we can't have 'our own' children" BS that runs amok in the genre.  So often it's the heroine flailing herself against those rocks.  This is also a romance where the ethical issues of the couples' jobs aren't hand-waved away for the sake of getting the couple a happy ending.  These two have to work for it, and it comes in the form of Oliver learning that found family can be the sweetest family of all.

That said, there's a lot of landmines in this story.  Remember Gretta?  This is a book with no miracle cure. The four-year-old girl dies over the course of the story folks, don't say you weren't warned.  Also, while I'm glad Oliver realizes what an ass he is, that he learns to open himself up to love and all the good and bad that goes along with that, this is a dude who needs therapy.  Like, no joke. Emily actually mentions it to him once, that the hospital has some very qualified folks he could talk to, but it doesn't happen over the course of the story.  Sure, sure, he and Emily reunite and live happily-ever-after but true love does not unravel the years of emotional abuse that Oliver experienced with his adoptive parents (thank the sweet Lord they stay off page). Couple this with Gretta's death, and that Toby also has health issues, when stress meets Oliver's baggage - I'd like to believe he'll have the tools in place to not backslide - and I'm not entirely convinced he does by the end of the story.

The secondary characters are welcome additions (Emily's mother, her neighbors who were FANASTIC!) and while this is part of a continuity series, it stands alone well.  It's not a book for everybody.  It's very emotional, dealing with the very heavy and painful topic of infertility and the death of a child. I didn't read this so much as inhale it but I recognize it's a lot. It's the sort of book I recommend but with a lot of caveats thrown in, because I can completely understand some folks reading this review and automatically nope'ing right out.  I think it's a triumph for Lennox, but oh man, is it ever complicated.

Final Grade = B+

#TBRChallenge Review 2022: Abby and the Bachelor Cop

The Book: Abby and the Bachelor Cop by Marion Lennox

The Particulars: Harlequin Romance #4241, Book 1 in series, 2011, Out of print, Available digitally.

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: Lennox is an autobuy. As simple and as uncomplicated as that.

The Review: I am not a reader who gravitates towards books with cute doggies on the cover but I generally enjoy Marion Lennox and something about the back cover copy of this book must have tickled me at the time I bought it.  The final verdict? The dog was really the best part of the story for me.

Abigail "Abby" Callahan is weeks away from her wedding to Banksia Bay golden boy, Philip. Philip is a defense attorney currently representing a guy who swindled half the town out of their life savings, but somehow Philip's sh*t doesn't stink.  Anyway, Abby is also a defense attorney and Philip's partner.  On paper it should be perfect. Philip is decent and steady, so what if his kisses don't light her world on fire. So what if he painted the living room in the house they're going to share after the wedding beige?  Philip is decent and steady and her parents love him.

Unlike Rafferty "Raff" Finn, former town bad boy now one of two small town cops in Banksia Bay. The "good townsfolk" thought he was trash before and then there was a car accident that left his younger sister, Sarah, with permanent disabilities.  She needs care, stability, and familiarity. Leaving Banksia Bay is not an option. Anyway, that car accident also seriously injured Raff (he has some memory loss from the night of the accident) and killed his best friend Ben.  Ben Callahan, Abby's older brother.  Raff was Abby's first love and while they had broken up over a tiff prior to the accident, that accident severed any hope they may find their way back to each other.  Also there the night of the accident? Philip. Yep, they were all friends.  Messy. The relationships here are messy.

Anyway, Abby and Raff are due in court what with Raff being the cop on record and Abby helping to defend the swindler. A car accident involving a vehicle containing animal shelter dogs has slowed them down and snarled traffic (as snarled as traffic gets in a small town - sorry I live SoCal, I laugh in the face of traffic).  Anyway, Raff dumps a dog named Kleppy into Abby's lap. Take the dog to the vet, his owner died and the dog is scheduled to be put down.  We all know what happens next - Abby can't do it. She rescues Kleppy, even though Philip doesn't like dogs, and before she finds out why he's named "Kleppy."  Yep, this dog is a known kleptomaniac, a thief, and generally a loveable menace.

Lennox is going for romantic comedy with this story and for the most part she succeeds when the focus is on Kleppy's antics. This dog is a charmer.  He'd probably drive me to the brink of insanity but in romance novel form he's a delight.  The romance though....

Here's the issue: I didn't like Raff. He rubbed me the wrong way from the jump and I had a hard time putting my finger on why.  It eventually hit me though, he railroads Abby.  Here's the thing, everyone is railroading Abby in this book.  Philip and his beige life. Her parents who want her to have a sensible career (lawyer) and a sensible husband (Philip) and Abby just drifts along accepting all of it because Ben's death has left her that shattered.  Raff's genius idea is to badger her over her engagement, snipe at her in the early chapters, kiss her senseless a couple of times, and continue to badger her over her engagement, showing up at her house with lights flashing when Kleppy steals something, her career, her defending a criminal yada yada yada.  

Eventually Abby gets there on her own. She realizes she can't marry Philip for various and sundry reasons but I felt like that was in spite of Raff's "help" in opening her eyes.  

Does Raff start to grow on me a bit by the end?  Yeah, kind of? I mean he's taking care of his sister whose personality turned child-like after the accident. He's living in a town that has tarred and feathered him with the bad-boy-no-good-family-brush for his sister. But his personality in the early chapters really grated.  I liked Abby. Yes she's drifting through a life she doesn't want and hasn't fully realized that yet, but I liked her. I kind of wanted her to tell Banksia Bay to go to the devil and run away to Sydney and live with Kleppy in some swanky condo where he can pilfer jewelry from the neighbors, but whatever.

So, yeah. I didn't love this but I also didn't hate it. It's a quick read and Lennox does nail the light, romantic comedy feel while delivering a foundation of Angst-O-Rama-Jama.  A nice enough heroine, a hero I never warmed to, and a pretty great dog.

Final Grade = C

Review: The Billionaire's Christmas Baby

I'm a sucker for a Christmas romance and this December I've decided to take a deep (deeeeep) dive into my Kindle and read the oldest books I could find languishing there with "Christmas" in the title.  So far this plan has been a success, given that the first book I unearthed was the 2017 gem, The Billionaire's Christmas Baby by Marion Lennox.  If the mountain of Christmas romances in my TBR are half this good - well, I'll be a fortunate reader indeed.

Max Grayland is a nice guy hiding under a loner exterior. He's also very rich. The kind of hotel guest that causes staff to say "how high" when he says jump. He's a savvy businessman determined to right the ship at his father's company and undo all the shady environmental deals Dear Old Dad wrought over the years. He's smart and capable. What he can't do? Deal with a tiny infant unceremoniously dumped in his lap by his father's much younger, social climbing mistress.  Daddy Dearest promised her a big pay day if she could get pregnant with another heir so he could disinherit Max - of course a male heir (I mean, do you even have to ask?).  Well Phoebe came out a girl and Daddy Dearest up and died before changing his will.  Max inherits it all, the scheming mistress gets diddly squat, which means she has no use or time for a baby.  Here she is Max, Phoebe is your problem now.

In this Sydney hotel room witnessing Max's dilemma is hotel maid, Sunny Raye (yes, that's her real name), who is naturally horrified by the entire spectacle. Max, who seems cold, indifferent and completely out of his depth. The child's vile mother. And there's Phoebe, a tiny defenseless child who asked for none of this bullshit. It's Christmas Eve, Sunny has worked a double-shift (she needs the money) and she just realized she forgot to buy her Gran's favorite cherry cordials. She doesn't have time for this. But Max takes one look at how she handles his screaming half-sister and before you can say cherry cordials, she's spending the night in the suite to help with Phoebe. 

Max is out of his depth. He's only in Sydney for his father's memorial service and when Phoebe storms into his life he's struggling to write a eulogy for a man he had an extremely complicated relationship with (I mean, if you can call it "a relationship").  Anyway, one thing leads to another, because of course. Max begs Sunny to stay and help him while he's in Sydney.  She agrees, on one condition. She's not missing Christmas with her grandparents and four siblings. Max is coming home for the holidays, Phoebe in tow. And what Max learns, very quickly, is that Sunny is aptly named. Sunny is the glue. She kept her younger siblings together while her mother battled drug addiction. When Mom died, they were saved from being split up in foster care by the appearance of their grandparents (who they never knew existed). Still, Sunny was a young teenager.  Yeah, Gran and Pa were there - but she raised her siblings up to that point, so she didn't stop.  They got an education, Sunny didn't finish school.  She works hard and dreams big.  And here comes this billionaire into her life like some sort of Prince Charming.  Prince Charming who thinks he can throw money at any problem. Prince Charming who doesn't understand or really know what love and family mean.

And that's the crux of our story. Sunny with her love of family and Max who grew up with the silver spoon but nothing else outside of material possessions.  On the surface this book easily could have fallen down the Cinderella rabbit hole, and certainly it would have been a fine read. What makes this story work though is Sunny. She sacrifices for her family but doesn't truly see it that way. Certainly there were times when I wanted her to run away, be selfish, live her best life, but that would break her heart. She loves her family, they love her, and never once as the reader do you feel like Sunny is being taken advantage of.  There's a dignity about her character that is very appealing and welcoming. Sunny is all about dignity, even as she's scrubbing a carpet stain in Max's hotel room suite as the story opens.

What I liked about Max is that while he's clueless is many ways, he's not a bad guy. He's, in fact, a pretty nice guy.  He just doesn't "get it."  He's completely ill-prepared for the arrival of an infant and for his attraction to Sunny that's more than just sexual chemistry. But even as he recognizes his feelings, even has he professes those feelings to Sunny, this poor sap still doesn't get it. The last couple of chapters of their going their separate ways, then coming back together are really well done.

This did lose a little steam for me in the second half, but it's pretty much everything I want in a holiday romance. It's warm, it's cozy, I really, really liked Max and Sunny - as individuals and as a couple - and the baby serves as a nice dose of relatable conflict (not everybody would be comfortable dealing with an infant that just suddenly fell into their lap!). This story is tailor-made for a Hallmark movie adaptation, right down to the trip to New York City that happens midway through.  If you're looking for something cozy and heartwarming to read by the fire this holiday season? Look no further.

Final Grade = B+

#TBRChallenge 2017: Christmas With Her Boss

The Book: Christmas with her Boss by Marion Lennox

The Particulars: Contemporary romance, Harlequin Romance #4205, 2010, Out of Print, Available in Digital

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?:  It was recommended by someone.  I want to say Sunita?  However, I unearthed it from the depths of the print TBR because Miss Bates has been championing Lennox of late and we tend to be simpatico when it comes to Harlequin.

The Review: Sweet baby, sleeping in the manger, Christmas morning Jesus - where has Marion Lennox been all my life?  Oh, writing a bazillion books for Harlequin.  You've just never read her before Wendy.  You dunderhead.  What a way to end the TBR Challenge for 2017.  Finding a huge backlist I want to glom.

Meg Jardine is in a panic.  She's a personal assistant to billionaire businessman WS McMaster for when he's in his Australian office.  He's a demanding boss who expects a PA to be at his beck and call and keep things running smoothly.  A high pressure job but ideal for Meg's life circumstances.  Her current task is to get him back to Manhattan in time for Christmas.  Minor problem: an air traffic controller's strike.  All flights are grounded.  There is literally no way Mr. McMaster is getting out of Australia.  On top of that, because of all the grounded flights the hotels are booked solid.  She is well and truly screwed...and not in a good way.

William is unthrilled.  Really, like he asks that much of his PA?  She screws up his travel plans?!  OK, so it's not entirely her fault but he's still miffed.  And now she's suggesting that since there's no hotels available and the building is going to be shut down all weekend (no AC, in Australia, in December? He'd melt within 15 minutes) he can come home with her.  Literally with no other option, he agrees.  Not realizing that home means Meg, her grandmother and her teenage half-brother out in the middle of nowhere on a dairy farm.  With the Internet down.  And crap cell phone reception.  Maybe he can swim back to Manhattan?

We all know what happens next.  The buttoned-up suit who keeps his staff at arms length (it's "Ms. Jardine" and "Mr. McMaster") ends up falling for his lovely assistant once close proximity and "adventures" happen.  Raised by distant parents, William is living a temporary life.  He has temporary girlfriends, temporary staff depending on what city he's in, and temporary friends.  For once in his life he actually has holiday plans which is why he's so desperate to get back to Manhattan and so annoyed with Meg for not making it happen.

Meg is haunted by the death of her parents, her half-brother's medical issues and a grandmother who is still spry but not getting any younger.  When she's not at William's beck and call as a PA, she's stationed at the family homestead living the life of a dairy farmer.  Short answer - Meg doesn't really have a life that doesn't involve her loving family and cows.  Dating?  Yeah, not so much.  Romance?  Well one of her heifers got loose and met an enterprising bull - but that doesn't really count.  She's attracted to William because, hello, the man is hot.  But she's very aware of professional boundaries and the fact that he's "out of her league."  She's not the sort to even entertain the fantasy of William McMaster but once they're away from work and all those professional boundaries get stripped away?  All bets are off.

What I liked about this story was how cozy it felt and the hot Australian Christmas weather was a nice change of pace from the usual Romancelandia holiday fa-la-la-la-la.  It's also a boss/secretary romance where both characters are very aware of professional boundaries and the importance of keeping them.  Once they cross over that line (and this is a Harlequin Romance, so we're talking about a kiss not a roll in the hay...), both characters struggle with what they have done.  It makes up the majority of the second half conflict and the Black Moment.

This all being said, as much as I loved this story (OMG, COMFORT READ ALERT!), the romance isn't quite as strong as I'd like.  William is emotionally distant, kind of a foreboding ass early on, and the story takes place over a weekend - well it's just hard to go from that to jumping into "I love you, let's get married."  Yeah, they work together and yeah they learn a lot about each other over the course of the story, but it still comes off as rather fast.

But heck, it's a holiday romance and it ticks all the boxes.  In a year when not many books held my attention for more than a chapter at a time, I wanted everyone and everything to leave me the heck alone so I could read.  I'm reading.  Don't bother me unless someone is on fire and even then...tell me who is on fire first so I can decide if I want to put this book down.  I'm going to ding this on the lower end of the B rating scale, but really - it was so lovely and so....well just so.  Now I'm off to scour the TBR to see if I have any more Marion Lennox lurking there.

Final Grade = B-