365 books in 365 days Challenge ... Book #352

The Sabbides Secret Baby - Jacqueline Baird
Mills & Boon Modern
Harlequin Mills & Boon, 2010
ISBN: 9780263878356











My rating

From the back cover:

"Discarded for breaking his rules...
Naive Phoebe Brown fell for Mediterranean magnate Jed Sabbides after he wined, dined and bedded her with a fervour that made her feel cherished. But when Phoebe happily announced she was pregnant Jed was appalled. Didn't she understand - she was only a pleasing distraction? Sadly Phoebe lost the man she loved, and her baby...
Claimed for having his child! 
So it is with disbelief that, years later, Jed discovers Phoebe has a little boy...who looks just like him!"


I bought this very recently from the Kindle store. I had an urge to read a bunch of Modern's!

The story begins with the heroine Phoebe eagerly waiting for the hero Jed to return after his recent business trip. Phoebe has just discovered she is pregnant and although it wasn't planned she is really happy about it. However Jed's reaction is far from pleased, and Phoebe is left heart-broken when their relationship crumbles and she miscarries. Five years later Jed is surprised to see Phoebe again at function, she is looking well and he wants to talk to her. But her skittishness around him arouses his suspicions, he tracks her down and is shocked to discover she is the mother of a four year old boy and Jed is certain that he is the father. He confronts Phoebe about it and insists that he wants to be a part of his son's life, but Phoebe doesn't let him bully her into anything. She has become a lot more strong and assertive since Jed broke her heart and won't let him do it again. Jed convinces Phoebe to come to his home in Greece so he can get to know his son as well as getting to know Phoebe again. He quickly realises that she has always meant more to him than anything, but he knows the way he treated her in the past gives her every right not to trust him again.

I really enjoyed this book, it kept me interested all the way through. There is a lot of emotion in the hero and heroine's relationship, the use of the prologue really helped to cement this. Yes, the secret baby theme is very predictable but, you know, it is a solid and full-of-conflict plot and it is done very well here.
The bitchy-other-woman part of the story, which was forgotten about after a little while, was unnecessary though, this was one cliché too far.

This is well written and dependably enjoyable.

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