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From Here to Paternity #7
The Daddy Deal
Taylor Pryce could be described as a professional bachelor...until he discovered little Justin. The nephew he never knew he had.
Only, Justin belonged to someone else. Brooke Davenport. She'd adopted him in good faith, believing him to be an orphan baby.
Taylor will do anything to gain custody - even marry! He just needs to persuade Brooke that he's the ideal husband she didn't even know she wanted!
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 1, 1997
About the author
Kathleen O'Brien
149 books92 followersSince the day Harlequin bought her first novel, Kathleen has published more than 30 titles with them- everything from hot, sexy contemporaries to dark, brooding suspense. Read in more than 30 countries and 29 languages, she's a five-time finalist for the prestigious RWA RITA Award, a winner of the Maggie Award, and a three-time finalist for Romantic Times' Reviewer's Choice.
Kathleen comes from a family of writers, poets, and journalists- though she may be the one shameless romantic in the bunch. A true Cancer, she values home and family above everything and wouldn't dream of ditching a single friend, memory, gift, or love letter. Consequently, her office is a mess, full of books, colored cut glass, photo albums, Madame Alexander dolls, and a cockatiel who whistles the theme from "The X Files." She is addicted to Mozart and Elvis, Dancing With the Stars, Dorothy Dunnett novels, and sugar-free Popsicles.
Kathleen comes from a family of writers, poets, and journalists- though she may be the one shameless romantic in the bunch. A true Cancer, she values home and family above everything and wouldn't dream of ditching a single friend, memory, gift, or love letter. Consequently, her office is a mess, full of books, colored cut glass, photo albums, Madame Alexander dolls, and a cockatiel who whistles the theme from "The X Files." She is addicted to Mozart and Elvis, Dancing With the Stars, Dorothy Dunnett novels, and sugar-free Popsicles.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 19, 2018
Re The Daddy Deal - Kathleen O'Brien's penultimate HP outing is the seventh entry into the From Here to Paternity Series
The h in this one is an infertile nurse who adopted the baby of deceased aid workers when they were all working in a war-torn country two years earlier. The baby boy was seriously burned from the bomb blast that killed his parents and when both of his uncles refused to take him in and both signed off on his adoption, the h leaped into the baby's mum role right away.
She and the baby have been mum and son for two years now and she needs to sell her cottage to raise money for another surgery. The h used to be engaged to a very big time lawyer, who is really a slime snot snarfer, but the h needs his help to get the best price she can for her cottage.
The slime snot snarfer former fiance OM seems to think the h wants to date him again and so he has her show up at a charity event like they are on a date. The h works nights so she can care for her son all day and she is really tired and just wants to ask the ex OM to approach a potential buyer for her cottage.
The OM takes offense that the h isn't interested in rekindling their relationship and after getting into a bidding war over a case of champagne with a man who looks very familiar to the h. He gets all hurt and offended and dumps the h for a hot blonde and sticks her with a bill for a $700.00 case of champagne.
The h is miserable and slightly tipsy by this time, so when the waiter tells her that ex OM snot licker left, the h starts to cry. The familiar looking man steps up to save the day by paying the tab and charms the h into letting him take her home where a combination of Lurve Force Mojo and alcohol lead to an almost lurve club moment.
The familiar looking man is actually her son's paternal uncle and he is a womanizing lady buffet sampler who is also really rich. The H staunchly asserts that he never signed away his rights to his nephew. The h wakes up to find him standing over her son's bed and the H announces that he intends to sue for custody.
The h learns from her lawyers, which include Snot Boy, that the H claims his signature was forged on the adoption papers. The h now has a son who needs surgery and a rich relative to fight off. However she is pretty certain the H really did sign those papers and is now having hindsight remorse, because she knows that his brother hated him, the brother was very adamant about it.
Still the H exerts a lot of pressure and the h doesn't want a big custody battle. She goes to talk to the H and he proposes a marriage of convenience and hands her a prenuptial agreement. The h and her son, who is now two years old, go to visit the H at his house for a week.
(They had to fly commercial and the little guy screamed all the way, so kudos for no benadryl baby plot moppet here, but this kid was really advanced in speech and thought processes for two years old.)
The H has a motherly housekeeper and a gardener who is into metaphysics and keeps ogling the h's aura. The H and h have a few battles over how to care for her son, (the H puts a two year old on a full sized slightly rambunctious horse and there is almost an incident,) and the H claims the h is smothering the boy.
There is also an OW who conveniently shows up. She was engaged to the H at one time and then he got disinherited by his father and so she dumped the H for another wealthy man. Now she seems to be trying her luck again.
But the h's son needs more surgery, so the h and H have a quickie front parlor marriage ceremony.
The OW seems determined to break them up, even tho the H's friend is absolutely certain that the H won't want the OW after her prior bad behavior, so the h is very insecure.
However the wedding night is a flood of silver starlight bliss passion moments and the h is thinking things will work out fine. But then she wakes up alone and finds the H is spending the morning with the OW. There is a big shock as the h's own ex-OM shows up. The h finally tells Snot Boy where to go jump and she and the H fight about his OW.
Then it is time for the surgery and the H learns the hard way about how frightening it is to have a child in peril. The OW shows up during all of this and informs the H that the maternal uncle admitted he forged the H's signature on the adoption forms.
The h really thought the signature was valid, mainly because her son's bio dad was extremely vehement about the bad family relationship.
But she does admit to giving the other uncle involved in the adoption $10000.00 to proceed with the paperwork because the baby needed serious medical care from all the bomb burns. The H acts very withdrawn and snarly and the h thinks her marriage is over and the custody battle is about to begin.
The h's son comes through surgery okay and the H and h have to hash their marriage out. The H admits that he really did hate his brother at one point. The H's father disinherited him because the H still visited his adulterous mother after his father forbade all contact. When his father died, the baby bio dad brother got the house and the estate
Then the H's OW, who was his fiance at the time, hooked up with his brother and dumped the H. The H spent a few years getting rich while his brother got poorer and the H taunted his brother about that a lot.
So when the H's brother died and the h adopted his son, the relationship between the two men was at it lowest ebb. The H claims the h was right to believe that he signed the adoption papers, (even tho he really did not,) because the H took his anger at his ex fiance and his father out on his brother for years and the H feels ashamed of himself, because his brother did not do anything.
The H bought the old family estate to hold it in trust for his brother's child and then he met the h and fell head over heels in love. He wanted to prove his signature was forged because he thinks the h thinks he is a slime swiller who dumped a hurt little kid.
Now that he got the h to marry him, he isn't letting her or his nephew go . The H doesn't care if the h is infertile from a teenage ectopic pregnancy, he loves her madly and he loves his nephew and the h admits she loves him back for the big sliver sparkly HEA.
This one is great for the nematode H but kinda thin on in-depth plot. It is more a custody battle MOC lite and the two year old plot moppet was way more advanced than any two year old I ever met. While I wasn't necessarily buying that these two were massively in love, it wasn't inconceivable either.
(Tho I do question where the little boy's bio dad would have wanted his hated brother having ANYTHING to do with his son and I was shocked that the bio parents did not have a will with a guardian named either.)
Overall tho, this was just frustrating and wrecky enough for a nice little afternoon read and that makes it a fairly decent HPlandia outing.
The h in this one is an infertile nurse who adopted the baby of deceased aid workers when they were all working in a war-torn country two years earlier. The baby boy was seriously burned from the bomb blast that killed his parents and when both of his uncles refused to take him in and both signed off on his adoption, the h leaped into the baby's mum role right away.
She and the baby have been mum and son for two years now and she needs to sell her cottage to raise money for another surgery. The h used to be engaged to a very big time lawyer, who is really a slime snot snarfer, but the h needs his help to get the best price she can for her cottage.
The slime snot snarfer former fiance OM seems to think the h wants to date him again and so he has her show up at a charity event like they are on a date. The h works nights so she can care for her son all day and she is really tired and just wants to ask the ex OM to approach a potential buyer for her cottage.
The OM takes offense that the h isn't interested in rekindling their relationship and after getting into a bidding war over a case of champagne with a man who looks very familiar to the h. He gets all hurt and offended and dumps the h for a hot blonde and sticks her with a bill for a $700.00 case of champagne.
The h is miserable and slightly tipsy by this time, so when the waiter tells her that ex OM snot licker left, the h starts to cry. The familiar looking man steps up to save the day by paying the tab and charms the h into letting him take her home where a combination of Lurve Force Mojo and alcohol lead to an almost lurve club moment.
The familiar looking man is actually her son's paternal uncle and he is a womanizing lady buffet sampler who is also really rich. The H staunchly asserts that he never signed away his rights to his nephew. The h wakes up to find him standing over her son's bed and the H announces that he intends to sue for custody.
The h learns from her lawyers, which include Snot Boy, that the H claims his signature was forged on the adoption papers. The h now has a son who needs surgery and a rich relative to fight off. However she is pretty certain the H really did sign those papers and is now having hindsight remorse, because she knows that his brother hated him, the brother was very adamant about it.
Still the H exerts a lot of pressure and the h doesn't want a big custody battle. She goes to talk to the H and he proposes a marriage of convenience and hands her a prenuptial agreement. The h and her son, who is now two years old, go to visit the H at his house for a week.
(They had to fly commercial and the little guy screamed all the way, so kudos for no benadryl baby plot moppet here, but this kid was really advanced in speech and thought processes for two years old.)
The H has a motherly housekeeper and a gardener who is into metaphysics and keeps ogling the h's aura. The H and h have a few battles over how to care for her son, (the H puts a two year old on a full sized slightly rambunctious horse and there is almost an incident,) and the H claims the h is smothering the boy.
There is also an OW who conveniently shows up. She was engaged to the H at one time and then he got disinherited by his father and so she dumped the H for another wealthy man. Now she seems to be trying her luck again.
But the h's son needs more surgery, so the h and H have a quickie front parlor marriage ceremony.
The OW seems determined to break them up, even tho the H's friend is absolutely certain that the H won't want the OW after her prior bad behavior, so the h is very insecure.
However the wedding night is a flood of silver starlight bliss passion moments and the h is thinking things will work out fine. But then she wakes up alone and finds the H is spending the morning with the OW. There is a big shock as the h's own ex-OM shows up. The h finally tells Snot Boy where to go jump and she and the H fight about his OW.
Then it is time for the surgery and the H learns the hard way about how frightening it is to have a child in peril. The OW shows up during all of this and informs the H that the maternal uncle admitted he forged the H's signature on the adoption forms.
The h really thought the signature was valid, mainly because her son's bio dad was extremely vehement about the bad family relationship.
But she does admit to giving the other uncle involved in the adoption $10000.00 to proceed with the paperwork because the baby needed serious medical care from all the bomb burns. The H acts very withdrawn and snarly and the h thinks her marriage is over and the custody battle is about to begin.
The h's son comes through surgery okay and the H and h have to hash their marriage out. The H admits that he really did hate his brother at one point. The H's father disinherited him because the H still visited his adulterous mother after his father forbade all contact. When his father died, the baby bio dad brother got the house and the estate
Then the H's OW, who was his fiance at the time, hooked up with his brother and dumped the H. The H spent a few years getting rich while his brother got poorer and the H taunted his brother about that a lot.
So when the H's brother died and the h adopted his son, the relationship between the two men was at it lowest ebb. The H claims the h was right to believe that he signed the adoption papers, (even tho he really did not,) because the H took his anger at his ex fiance and his father out on his brother for years and the H feels ashamed of himself, because his brother did not do anything.
The H bought the old family estate to hold it in trust for his brother's child and then he met the h and fell head over heels in love. He wanted to prove his signature was forged because he thinks the h thinks he is a slime swiller who dumped a hurt little kid.
Now that he got the h to marry him, he isn't letting her or his nephew go . The H doesn't care if the h is infertile from a teenage ectopic pregnancy, he loves her madly and he loves his nephew and the h admits she loves him back for the big sliver sparkly HEA.
This one is great for the nematode H but kinda thin on in-depth plot. It is more a custody battle MOC lite and the two year old plot moppet was way more advanced than any two year old I ever met. While I wasn't necessarily buying that these two were massively in love, it wasn't inconceivable either.
(Tho I do question where the little boy's bio dad would have wanted his hated brother having ANYTHING to do with his son and I was shocked that the bio parents did not have a will with a guardian named either.)
Overall tho, this was just frustrating and wrecky enough for a nice little afternoon read and that makes it a fairly decent HPlandia outing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2018
Since I have forgotten all about it, 2 stars is VERY generous.
March 1, 2020
2 years earlier, Brooke Davenport adopted little Justin when his parents were killed in a bombing. Just a little baby at the time, Justin was injured and burnt, and she believed, neither of his blood-related uncles wanted anything to do with him, so she took him in. But in reality, Taylor Pryce, Justin's paternal uncle, had no idea he existed. Now he knows about Justin and he wants him back - he blames Brooke for stealing his nephew from him and he'll do whatever it takes to take back his blood relative. When Brooke first meets Taylor, she has no idea who he is, but she falls a bit in love with him off the bat, trusting him in a way that surprises her. Then she learns who he is and what he's after and she realizes she stands a real chance at losing her son. That is why when Taylor offers her a marriage of convenience, she takes it, despite her reservations. Despite his ruthlessness, Taylor has a soft and patient side and he's fantastic with Justin. But now that Taylor has what he wants and can actually win custody of Justin, Brooke begins to worry that she won't be enough to keep Taylor and when its discovered that Taylor really was tricked out of custody of his nephew, will he want to keep Brooke around?
Kind of your traditional custody battle with a secret baby story, with the exception that Brooke really doesn't have a leg to stand on - she may be the adopted mother, but Taylor has a real case for getting Justin since he can eventually prove that he didn't sign over custody. So this makes a really good case for why Brooke agrees to marry a perfect stranger. On the other hand though, I struggled to like Taylor (and was surprised how quickly Brooke fell for him) in light of the fact that he was perfectly ready and willing to take Justin away from the only parent he'd ever known and leave Brooke without her son. I mean, let's just imagine how this story would have played out if Taylor hadn't been attracted to Brooke (and he does admit that the attraction is one of the supporting factors in his proposal). That's pretty telling of his character right there. He does eventually kind of realize what he'd done and that he could have caused a lot of pain when none of it was really Brooke's fault, but his apology is pretty lackluster in light of things. Still, it seems good enough for Brooke.
I liked this story well enough, and could definitely see the connection and chemistry between Brooke and Taylor. They both had an interesting relationship to Justin who read more like a 5 year old than he did a 2 year old, what with his fully-formed, grammatically correct sentences and what not. It made me uncomfortable that Justin basically came in criticizing the way Brooke was raising Justin, and yet claiming he wasn't really criticizing her. This makes one of the first stories I've read where the hero isn't impressed with what a good mother the heroine is. He makes the claim that she's turning him into a wimp and she needs to loosen up. He's not wrong, but I wasn't comfortable with how he basically takes over parenting instead of taking his time to work himself into the role. The relationship between Taylor and Brooke is also set up to be fraught with tension and conflict (which provides some absolutely fantastic angst and frustration), but the combination of this conflict and their supposed romance didn't quite work with me. I kept wondering how she could get past her anger and her suspicion that Taylor would take Justin from her in order to fall in love with him. I'm not sure if this is realism with the clash of emotions and feelings or if it really couldn't happen that way. I felt confused with this mixture of emotions. It also felt like these two really didn't spend enough time together to fall in love, but it still felt like they managed it...barely. What really worked for me though was when Taylor comes to the realization that it's not easy to raise a kid - to invest your time and emotion into it and then have to watch them go through something difficult. This was an implied realization and I kinda wish he would have acknowledged to to Brooke (would have fit seamlessly into an extended apology methinks), but it was there all the same and pretty powerfully done, with tears and everything.
Kind of your traditional custody battle with a secret baby story, with the exception that Brooke really doesn't have a leg to stand on - she may be the adopted mother, but Taylor has a real case for getting Justin since he can eventually prove that he didn't sign over custody. So this makes a really good case for why Brooke agrees to marry a perfect stranger. On the other hand though, I struggled to like Taylor (and was surprised how quickly Brooke fell for him) in light of the fact that he was perfectly ready and willing to take Justin away from the only parent he'd ever known and leave Brooke without her son. I mean, let's just imagine how this story would have played out if Taylor hadn't been attracted to Brooke (and he does admit that the attraction is one of the supporting factors in his proposal). That's pretty telling of his character right there. He does eventually kind of realize what he'd done and that he could have caused a lot of pain when none of it was really Brooke's fault, but his apology is pretty lackluster in light of things. Still, it seems good enough for Brooke.
I liked this story well enough, and could definitely see the connection and chemistry between Brooke and Taylor. They both had an interesting relationship to Justin who read more like a 5 year old than he did a 2 year old, what with his fully-formed, grammatically correct sentences and what not. It made me uncomfortable that Justin basically came in criticizing the way Brooke was raising Justin, and yet claiming he wasn't really criticizing her. This makes one of the first stories I've read where the hero isn't impressed with what a good mother the heroine is. He makes the claim that she's turning him into a wimp and she needs to loosen up. He's not wrong, but I wasn't comfortable with how he basically takes over parenting instead of taking his time to work himself into the role. The relationship between Taylor and Brooke is also set up to be fraught with tension and conflict (which provides some absolutely fantastic angst and frustration), but the combination of this conflict and their supposed romance didn't quite work with me. I kept wondering how she could get past her anger and her suspicion that Taylor would take Justin from her in order to fall in love with him. I'm not sure if this is realism with the clash of emotions and feelings or if it really couldn't happen that way. I felt confused with this mixture of emotions. It also felt like these two really didn't spend enough time together to fall in love, but it still felt like they managed it...barely. What really worked for me though was when Taylor comes to the realization that it's not easy to raise a kid - to invest your time and emotion into it and then have to watch them go through something difficult. This was an implied realization and I kinda wish he would have acknowledged to to Brooke (would have fit seamlessly into an extended apology methinks), but it was there all the same and pretty powerfully done, with tears and everything.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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