Leanne Banks Underfoot

Underfoot

Leanne Banks

HQN, Mar 2006, $6.99, 384 pp.

ISBN: 0373770529

In Atlanta, fickle Brooke Tarantino, great-granddaughter of the founder of Bellagio Shoes, publicly dumps advertising contractor Walker Gordon at the altar. Good friend, Bellagio public relations specialist Trina Roberts, sits at a bar drinking with Walker when after a ton of alcohol, they share a night of sex. Walker relocates to Paris to allow the public humiliation to pass, while over nine months later Trina, not informing him, gives birth to a daughter, Maddie, with only the medical staff by her side.

To insure his firm keeps the Bellagio account Walker returns to Atlanta. He remains unaware that he is a father of a six month old girl, though Trina knows she should tell him, but remembers his babbling about the Gordon Curse that means men with his DNA fail at fatherhood. Trina does not want anything from Walker, except secretly inside her heart she knows she would die for his love. Working together at work, Walker is stunned when Trina tells him, and he does not believe her at first, but begins to want more from her, as he finds immense pleasure holding Maddie.

UNDERFOOT, the sequel to the fun Feet First contemporary romance is a delightful tale starring two likable characters whose relationship changes over time. Walker is a terrific person, who, once he recovers from the public slam dunk, returns home to insure that his company keeps the Bellagio Shoes account, as he knows he cannot afford to do otherwise. Trina is a brave soul as she revises her plans to include a baby, knows her mom will object, and expects the father will never want her or the child, though she owed Walker the truth when she learned she was pregnant. Fans will appreciate this fine contemporary tale.