Montana Twins (Harlequin American Romance, No 984)

Rating:
Summary: Babies and marriage of convenience gone right
Review: Laura Cavendish has been raising her late foster-sister's twin babies, but now she has to make a choice. Her sister had wanted the babies to be with their uncle, but only if he had a suitable wife. Sheriff Eric Oakes was abandoned by his mother and knows that he isn't the loving kind. Still, when he sees those precious babies, he wants them--wants them badly enough to advertise for a wife who'll let him live up to Laura's rigid qualifications. Unfortunately, once Laura walks into his life, she's the only woman who attracts him.

As time passes and no suitable wife-candidates turn up, Laura gets ready to return to her teaching job--when Eric gets a brainstorm. Why don't the two of them marry. Both love the babies. Both want the babies to have both mother and father. Although Eric is still convinced that he cannot love, he's willing to do anything for his family. More and more, family includes Laura. Laura is convinced that she is unworthy of love as she cannot bear children. The twins are the only babies she'll ever have. But is a loveless marriage fair to anyone?

Neither Laura nor Eric has bothered looking into the issue of the babies' father--but attentive readers will pick up on the growing threat to the loss of everything that Laura and Eric have worked for.

Author Charlotte Maclay offers a well-written tale of romance, unexpected babies, and marriage-of-convenience that turns out to hold unexpected passion. I found the casual dismissal of the biological father issue to be troubling and Laura's belief that no man would want her because of her inability to bear children to be a tad excessive, but Eric makes a fine lightly-tortured hero. Eric's family and the entire town of Grass Valley, Montana, provide the warm feeling Harlequin American readers have learned to count on.

Rating:
Summary: Storyline from Publisher
Review: Sheriff Eric Oakes didn't know the first thing about babies, and now he had to prove himself worthy of raising his twin nieces. Taking care of those little girls was one thing, but taking on the woman who controlled their fate was another thing entirely!

Laura Cavendish had promised she'd find the twins' uncle, but she hadn't expected to find him so...irresistible. She had to make sure he'd be a suitable dad, and that meant finding this bachelor a wife. Her love for the little girls was so great that she agreed to take on the role. Would Eric and Laura learn that sometimes love comes after marriage?

Rating:
Summary: Recommended
Review: Sheriff Eric Oakes Stunned is stunned by the news that he is a father. He did not even know that he had a sister until the social worker informed him of her death, and of the twins he was about to inherit. That is, if he can rectify his single status. Eric had always wanted children, but this is totally unexpected. After his mother had abandoned him at the age of ten, she had had another family. Her daughter was also eventually relegated to the foster care system, becoming the foster sister Laura Cavendish, who has been raising the twin babies since their mother's death.

Laura also loves the children, and is reticent about giving them up. As difficult as giving the children up is, however, she will fulfill her foster sister's wishes, if Eric complies with her wishes as well and gets married. So when Eric advertises for a wife who lives up to Laura's expectations, he is destined to fail. That is, unless he convinces Laura to marry him instead. Although Eric is convinced that he cannot love, he has many lessons to learn from his new family, especially Laura, who believes herself unworthy to be loved.

Author Charlotte Maclay pens a tender story of self acceptance in MONTANA TWINS. Neither Laura nor Eric seeks out the biological father, thereby underscoring their own potential losses. Unfortunately, that casual disregard may bother some readers. Nevertheless, both Laura and Eric are damaged, each believing that they are incapable and unworthy of the love the other offers. Their unexpected passion brings them to understand the profound depths of emotion they are capable of, allowing their characters to grow convincingly. However, Laura's determination to cling to the belief that she is unworthy of love because she defines her worth by her ability to bear children can be a bit wearisome. On the other hand, Eric's struggles and her transformation lend the novel a wonderful poignancy. MONTANA TWINS comes recommended.