Karina Bliss, Second-Chance Family

Second-Chance Family

Karina Bliss

Harlequin SuperRomance, Nov 2008, $5.50

ISBN: 9780373715244

In New Zealand following his divorce from Roz Valentine, Jack Galloway assumed he would never remarry or sire children. Instead he buries himself in his work. That changes when his brother and sister-in-law die in a car accident while on vacation in New Caledonia, leaving behind three young children.

Jack has no time to grieve, but is stunned to learn that Roz and he were both named as guardians. She quickly thinks they have a second chance together coming from the tragedy as they raise the three kids; he wants that too but knows his heart could not take a failure again. Both know the kids come first.

This second chance at love tale works on several levels, but mostly because the readers will feel the grief of the three children. Thus the characters make for a great story as neither Roz nor Jack want to be guardians and worse co-guardians, but the kids hook them as each mourns in different ways. Jack's client Hiro sums up the novel when he tells Jack to go home because at times like this one needs to be with loving family.

Harriet Klausner