Ten years ago, Josie Peretti’s heart was broken when Nickolas Brennan went to college and left her behind. When she finds out she’s pregnant she goes to his mother to try to contact him. She won’t give Josie his information but promises to pass on her message. In Lakeside Family, it is 10 years later and Josie tries again to contact Nick. She never heard back from him the first time, but their daughter needs a bone marrow transplant and he is her last hope to find a family match. Nick never knew about their child and now he plans to do everything he can to make up for lost time.
Both Josie and Nick have hang-ups about relationships. Josie believes that love doesn’t last and isn’t worth the pain that will inevitably come. Nick feels like he is unworthy. I won’t go into his reasons why but it is something that he has been living with for a while. Their daughter, Hannah, is a delight and handles her illness with a lot of grace.
This is the second book in Harlequin’s Love Inspired line I’ve read this month that I want to give a 3.5 – it is better than a 3 but I don’t think it is quite a 4. The characters are well developed and likable. The plot is realistic and enjoyable. For some reason though something about it just didn’t put it over the top for me. But there is nothing about the book that would cause me to not recommend it.
Overall, Lakeside Family is an engaging story about two people who have to decide if they can trust in each other again, and in themselves. This is a series so there are secondary characters that either have already had or will have a story of their own, but this book easily stands on its own.
Romantic Reads and Such 