This was a fairly entertaining read. At least 3.5 stars rounded up if not a firm 4.
The h, Rebecca, is the lowly housekeeper's daughter who grows up coming in second to the rich and snotty employers of her parents. The H, Jay, is the snots' emotionally neglected son who looks past the h's lower status and falls in love with her and they have a secret summer of love when she's 16 and he's 23. (FYI, we're not to be horrified by the statutory rape angle. It's a non-issue here ;D).
The very minute he is sent to America by his father, the h turns up pregnant and thinks she has been deserted by the H to face this alone, not to mention everyone is accusing her of spreading it around and just pinning someone else's baby on the H. The h is sent out of town on a rail with a big fat check and a demand from everyone, including her mother, to abort the baby and never return. The way it was played, nobody could blame the h for hitting the road and never looking back.
Ten years fly by and like all lucky teen mothers, the h has made a famous success of herself. Having disappeared from the face of the earth, nobody from her previous life has any way to contact her but to put a notice in the paper begging her to return because her mother is on her last leg.
Then there's the ensuing reunion and all the drama of figuring out how the past occurred. The H's ballistic melt-down when he first finds out about his son (who happens to be the spitting image of him, thus putting aside any doubts of the child's parentage) and his drive to put things right and be a family was highly entertaining. I also enjoyed the uber evilness of the lying and conniving OW who gets her legs publically cut out from underneath her at the end to our satisfaction. No irritating understanding and forgiveness in this one, no siree!
So, this one come highly recommended as just a good story without too many dark themes...other than the slap by the H during his freakout and the huge age difference between them when she was a tender teen. Despite those little tidbits, H actually comes across as a good guy who you could tell still loved the h, which more than compensates for any annoying slips in character by the H, so do feel free to enjoy.
