A Mom for Mathew
Roz Denny Fox
Harlequin SuperRomance, Aug 2005, $5.50, 297 pp.
ISBN: 0373712901

Texas schoolteacher Grace Stafford refuses to believe the official record that her grandfather deserted the military during World War II. She plans to prove her assertion that instead his plane went down off Galveston, Texas.

Following intensive research, Grace begins diving in search of the lost plane. Meanwhile her efforts could cost Zeke Rosetti's oil company Kemper Offshore Oil Reserch and Development a bundle if their drilling is delayed by her diving. He owes Kemper and the firm because they are so cooperative with his being a single father of a handicapped child Matthew. Instead of a long winded court suit, he decides to expedite her efforts by helping her. As they seek the evidence she so desires, Zeke and Grace fall in love, but he fears how she will react when she learns that he is raising a young deaf son whose mother deserted him as an ailing infant.

This is a wonderful contemporary romance starring two wonderful protagonists, a fine supportive cast (except for the social worker and his ex) that digs deep into the issue of raising a handicapped child. The storyline is fabulous as the audience along with the wonderful male lead wonder if Grace's love for Zeke will allow her to not just love Matthew, but to cope with his deafness. The Navy-sea salvage subplot is deep and powerful, but it is the relationships that turn Roz Denny Fox's into a powerhouse.

Harriet Klausner