Series:
Whose Child?
TROUBLE'S BACK IN TOWN
He'd always been the wrong-side-of-the-tracks bad boy of
Sweetheart, Iowa -- the kind a "nice" girl like Bess Carey wasn't
supposed to want. But that hadn't kept her from loving him -- not even when he
disappeared without a word....
Now Zach Crandall had returned to uncover the truth about
the tragedy that had driven him away. But this town was determined to keep its
secrets. And Bess lived in fear of what would happen if he knew her most
shattering secret -- the truth about the child he'd never known....
Good second chance story. Zach and his siblings grew up
in an abusive home, looked down on by most of the people in town. Zach reacted
by living down to their expectations. The only person who saw through his façade
to the vulnerable boy underneath was Bess. She was his tutor for several
classes and got to know him well, going from wary to in love with him. But Zach
disappeared the same night his father was murdered, leaving people believing he
was the murderer. His mother claimed to have done it and went to prison.
Bess grew up with a straight-laced and controlling
mother. She was raised to be a "good girl" and constantly warned
about protecting her reputation. That didn't stop her from loving Zach despite
her mother's objections. When Bess discovered she was pregnant after Zach's
disappearance, it was her mother who took control.
Seventeen years later, Bess's mother is dead, and Bess
inherits the family bookstore. She runs the store, dresses conservatively, is
on many committees, and does her best to evade the local matchmakers' attempts to find her a husband. The high points
in her life are when her niece, Faith, comes to visit. The last thing she
expected was for Zach to return to town.
Zach returned to town to be there when his mother
returned from serving her sentence. He also wants to find out the truth about
who killed his father. He's sure that his mother didn't do it. He also wants to
see Bess again.
I ached for Zach and Bess. Zach's return sets the entire
town on its ear. They still treat him as though he's guilty of murder. But Zach
has a surprise for them all when he shows up for the first day of his new job.
I laughed out loud at the shock and consternation of the residents and loved seeing
him trample over their expectations. Bess is shocked at his return and stunned
to discover she still has feelings for him. She also fears him discovering her
secret. But her mother's influence is still strong, and she is torn between
those feelings and her fear of others' opinions. It takes an eye-opening conversation
with her niece for Bess to break free of the chains that have held her back. I
loved her big moment at the end.
Zach stirs up a hornets' nest when he starts asking
questions about his father's murder. As he and Bess dig into his father's past,
they find themselves the target of someone who doesn't want them to succeed. Escalating
attacks kept them on edge, while the twists of their investigation kept me
guessing. The final confrontation was intense and not who I expected.
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