3.5 STARS

I generally loathe single parent romances, but before donating this one, I was pulled in a few nights ago by the blurb. A mother who had to give her son up for adoption is now a widow and has moved back to the town where her son lives, hoping to befriend the father and casually see the son around town sometimes without him finding out who she is. She's also a successful dress shop owner who has plenty of money.

This one kept me glued - I really dug the father. He was passionate, sweet, but manly and vulnerable at the same time. Hard to pull off the combo without overbalancing. The protagonist was sweet and emotional (of course, considering all that was afloat), and I lOVED the 14 year old son. He was not gooey or melodramatic or overdone. He had a chip on his shoulder but came out awesome at the end.

There are no twists in here besides waiting for the male protagonist to find out the BIG secret. He reacts.. poorly (as you can imagine) A good way to spend an evening, the scenes where she almost tells him left me on the edge of my seat. ( )