Review: His brother's keeper
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 4, 2013
I liked this contemporary romance story quite well. It was well written, except for a few typos, and had an interesting group of characters and very relatable protagonists. The plot is character driven, there's no other mystery or danger, just the personal stories of Jess and Dan.Jess' husband is shot and killed by a man looking for drug money on the night they returned home from their honeymoon. The man turned himself in for the crime three months later after his conscience finally made him confess. The murderer's family is appalled and torn apart by his confession and arrest, but his older brother also wants to help the widow of the victim of his brother's crime. Jess has spent the three months since her husband's death mourning him, depressed, angry and bordering on suicidal, holed up in their apartment. When a concerned police detective realizes that she's in deep emotional trouble, he gets her foster sister to come and help her. Luckily, a medical exam reveals that she's pregnant, and she finds a reason to live and take care of herself again.When Dan shows up at her door, determined to help her in any way he can, she's appalled and horrified at the thought of help from anyone in the murderer's family.  She realizes though, that she can't blame Dan for his brother's crime and agrees to meet him ,finding that she actually likes him.  Then her wealthy father-in-law starts making ugly threats of having her declared unfit and taking away the baby just like she took his son away, since he blamed her for his son's shooting death. Dan, also a wealthy man, offers to marry her and adopt the baby so that they will be safe and then have the marriage ended in two years. Though she's feeling disloyal and reluctant, she wants to keep her baby safe and do what's best for the future, so she reluctantly agrees. The rest of the story is about their relationship.The growth of the characters as people looking for love and belonging and the evolution of their relationship is interesting to watch.  Both of them have family issues, loyalty questions and grief to work through, as well as guilt and acceptance and joy to learn about. Adding a pregnancy to the mix is always a monkey wrench, too. The group of friends that Dan has is an interesting bunch, adding to the story and dialogue.  They are all former Little League baseball players for the detective involved in the case, they call him "coach" , and their group of lifelong friends refer to themselves as the coach's boys. The next book is about another of the friends.Heat factor mild.