I liked the first half of this book better than the last half. I enjoyed the thing that caused the hero to feel he owed the Earl to find his son's wife. It caused a quite believable feeling of something owed. I liked the hero's job and his determination. I liked the way he stuck to his guns and stuck to the heroine, and the way he took care of her. I liked the intensity of the way the heroine cared about the boy. At least at first, but later when she knew he had a true home and family to go to, I think she held on too long. And I'm a person who becomes frantic at the thought of separating mothers from their children

But there were some problems:
The hero should have figured out who the heroine was much much sooner. Even when he knew she wasn't who she claimed to be, he didn't make the incredibly obvious intuitive leap.

There was too much repetitive introspection.

The thing that kept them apart became less believable as the story neared the end.

The rationale behind the plot at the end to reveal the bad guy didn't really make sense. If you were determined to kill a baby for it's inheritance, granted killing him before anyone knew about him would have been fine. But when you've failed at that, the smart villain would not have tried to kill him on the evening of the announcement of his existence. In the 19th century, there were many many ways that a child could come to grief. Wait a couple of years or even a couple of months to attempt something that looked like an accident or Act of God, instead of sneaking upstairs and and trying to stab him with the house full of your relatives. Way to point the finger at yourself dude. And the other brother sneaking in to visit the baby as a red herring was just not real believable.

So all in all a fairly decent book with some high points and some not so high points. ( )

I have read a lot of Laura Landon due to a kindle unlimited membership. I must say I find her to be very consistent. There are quite a few authors you read where a few books you love and few you hate. Not the case with Laura Landon. Read a few reviews here that it is girly, too much feelings etc. Yes. All that is true. It is a romance with a suspense element and interesting characters , good dialogue. Like many of her books. It wont be in one of my all time top 10 , top 20 books but definitely good for a single read. I liked also the way the conflict was handled where the heroine had to choose. Would definitely say that would be a very believable conflict for most mom's.