Inglath Cooper A Gift of Grace

A Gift of Grace

Inglath Cooper

Harlequin SuperRomance, Jun 2006, $5.75

ISBN: 0373780974

At the time of the little girl's birth, Caleb Tucker could not cope with what happened to his beloved Laney, mother of the child. She had been raped and beaten to the point that she existed on a machine until she gave birth and died. Caleb gave up Grace for adoption.

Sophie Owens adopted Grace and loves the little girl as if she came from her womb. Now three years later her worse nightmare has surfaced in real life. Caleb Tucker wants custody of Grace. Sophie refuses to surrender her little girl as she knows what it is like to be unwanted and unloved, which is what she believes Caleb will offer her child. Caleb assumes life stinks and is unfair, so what else is new. However, a matchmaking victim of a hate crime begins to bring out the best in both adults, who soon begin to fall in love with each other; they each already love Grace. Could a miracle occur and a family form based on love not hate.

A GIFT OF GRACE is a warm contemporary family drama starring likable people coping with tragedy and triumph. Caleb and Sophie are fully dimensional protagonists who start off as antagonists. The fascination with the deep story line lies in the conflict between them over what is best for Grace; each one insists that they are the one to raise the infant using logic to defend their argument, but deep inside their respective psyche Sophie and Caleb knows they need Grace perhaps more than the baby needs them. The expected romance is deftly handled to support the debate over Grace.

Harriet Klausner