LONG-LOST FATHER

Author: Melissa James ISBN: 0263192253 10/2006 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HARLEQUIN

The daughter he never knew about may be blind, but his love for her mother is not. Now Brett and Sam must put aside the past for the sake of Casey's future. Brett had been gone for six long years. Wonderful memories were all Samantha had ... She'd also been left to raise their little girl alone... But Brett is alive, and has finally found his wife. Only now he has a daughter who's a stranger to him and who will never be able to see what her daddy looks like... Although Brett knows he can never make up for the missing years, he's still Sam's husband. And though she's changed, and treats him with wary caution, he still loves her with a burning passion...one he hopes will rekindle their marriage...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Melissa James wrote an emotionally stirring book for Harlequin Romance called LONG-LOST FATHER. Readers of this line from Harlequin will love the simple elegance and romance that James put into her story.

Samantha has been raising her blind daughter by herself since she was born. Her husband, Brett, has been MIA in Africa and is presumed dead. Life hasn't been easy for Sam—Brett's family wants to have full custody of her daughter, Casey, and declare her an unfit mother. After years of living with a different name and away from the life she knew, Sam is now settling down and trying to put the past behind her.

Nothing could prepare her for that summer evening when Brett showed up at her house—different, yet still the same. Now, Sam and Brett need to straighten their lives out and make a place for Casey that will give her a mother and a father. Brett and Sam must face past demons and future problems before they can make that final decision to live as husband and wife again.

James did a good job letting the readers know just how much torment and heartache both Brett and Sam lived through. Adding the element of a child into their lives only complicates matters between them even more. James did a great job conveying how much Brett and Sam love Casey—and each other—to make this a quite believable story.

LONG-LOST FATHER by Melissa James is a touching story, and a recommended read by me.

Julie Kornhausl