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Rating: 
Summary: Compelling -- Very highly recommended
Review: A devastating train wreck killed all passengers, leaving the Connellys to believe that Michael was dead. No one knew that although he had book passage on the train, Michael lay severely injured elsewhere as the result of vicious mugging. For two years Michael had no memory of the life he left behind in America, and the woman who had asked him for a divorce. Then he saw the photograph of is wife engaged to another man and carrying his son. With Michael's reported death, Tara Connelly Paige lost her spunk. Compliancy replaced zeal, surface calm replaced passion. Indeed, the only thing that still brings sparkle to her days is the son conceived on the eve of his father's departure. Then suddenly, Michael reappears, and Tara is terrified of allowing the tumultuous emotions of the past to sweep her away for fear of being destroyed...again. THE SECRET BABY BOND, book nine of the continuity Dynasties: The Connellys. Author Cindy Gerard successfully pens a novel that functions as well as a standalone as it does within the scope of the series. Michael's disappearance and subsequent reappearance is both convincing and poignant. Tara's emotional shutdown seems equally appropriate in light of her feelings of guilt, love, and grief. Her fear of reawakening old passions threatens to paralyze her, forcing her to reject second chances despite her desires. Filled with rich emotional nuance, complicated family relationships, and complexities of the heart, THE SECRET BABY BOND comes very highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing Entry by an Excellent Author
Review: One of my biggest dislikes in "series" written by different authors is the fact that excellent writers have to write within the confines of a set storyline and often are given characters with "histories" that don't fit well with the writer's normal writing style. Such is the case with The Connelleys series. Some of the books have been very good and some have been so-so as the author for that particular book was working with a storyline/history, etc. that they didn't create and are not comfortable writing in and therefore the stories come off as missing something. This is definitely the case with this book. I normally very much enjoy Cindy Gerard's books. Her heroes are normally excellent with complimentary heroines. Unfortunately with this book, while the hero is indeed a very good one, the heroine is one of the weakest and most spineless I've seen in some time. The book does move the plot along in The Connelleys storyline but does not leave you with a good impression of the heroine until the end. If you are reading the series, get it, otherwise, if you are looking for Ms. Gerard's normally excellent stories, look elsewhere.
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