Unexpected Daughter ebook

*Warning, may contain spoilers*

Synopsis:

Brijette was only 17 when she met 22 year old Cade and they had a summer romance. They talked about spending their lives together, but all of a sudden Brijette is arrested and Cade's mother tells him she demanded money to stay away from him. He was so mad he never once got in contact with her again, leaving his mother to clean up the situation. Her idea of cleaning up is to demand Brijette has an abortion in exchange for a large sum of money. Obviously she never got around to that. Fast forward 10 years and Cade is back in town and Brijette has 9 year old daughter, Dylan, but what happens when he discovered who the baby daddy is?

Thoughts:

The 1st 2/3s of this book was ok. The characters were fairly well-rounded and I was interested in how the story would end. But once Cade discovers he's Dylan's father it all goes down hill from there. Before hand I didn't really like him. He was a fairly pathetic spineless mamma's boy and those aren't characteristics of a good hero imo. But after he found out that Brijette never told him about the kid because she was specifically told by his mother that he knew about the kid and wanted her to have an abortion, with a large payoff included and he never once tried to contact her, leaving her rot in jail . . . And he literally just brushes that aside like it's nothing, saying well you should have told me! Not doing the slightest to empathize with her or realize she was a scared 17 year old kid at the time.

Later on, after she tells him he would be happy if she was dead because it would solve his legal problems about the kid, he begrudgingly says I care about you, she pathetically says she doesn't know why and he agrees he doesn't know why either. This is pretty much the crux of the problem. He doesn't trust her, he does nothing to show he cares about her at all and even with only 10 pages left to go he is doubting her. He doesn't have a single loyal bone in his body and on top of that is he cold hearted and unsympathetic. The scene where he takes away her daughter is heartbreaking and they treat this 9 year old girl like a 25 year old woman, letting her have her own way all the time. Brijette feels as if she lied to Dylan when all she said was her father left and he didn't want to be a father which is what she truly believed. But she was forced to lay down and suffer for this mistake when he never even thought about what would have happened differently if he wouldn't have left.

It really makes no sense. Cade tells his mother, before he knows that Dylan is his kid that Dylan couldn't be his because if she was Brijette would have just told him and they would have gotten married. So if he was willing to marry her why would she not tell him about the kid unless she OBVIOUSLY thought he didn't want anything to do with her or the kid? But still she gets punished by all of them. Not only that but his mother paying Brijette to have an abortion did NOTHING to impact his relationship with mommy dearest and Brijette never even told Dylan the truth which would have gone a long way to winning her forgiveness. Basically Brijette spends the last 1/3 of the book hating herself and being a perfect mother, employee, citizen etc, with her only flaws being her reluctance to trust Cade because of how his family bought her off and some teen aged drug running. Yes, I said teen aged drug running. It is so totally out of character as to be ridiculous. Not only that but from my many hours of watching boarder wars and hearing people getting probation for transporting kilos of pot I can't believe her crime would be anything more than a slap on the wrist.

In the end Cade's mother never once apologized to Dylan for keeping her father from her, yet mommy dearest never suffered the brats rage about what she did and Mommy never apologized to Brijette either. But then again Cade never apologized either after the way he ostracized her and told her repeatedly that if she wasn't so despicable he would feel sorry for all the crap she was going through. She literally had a gun pointed at her head and he never once even asked if she was ok, he just immediately berated her she didn't call him the moment she could to tell him Dylan got hurt when she had not had a moment to do so.

This book just bugged in on so many levels. I could go on but I won't. If these complaints don't bother you, then read it and enjoy. If they do bother you then give this one a skip.

2 stars.

UNEXPECTED DAUGHTER by Suzanne Cox

December 16, 2006

Rating **** (4 Stars)

Years ago Cade Wheeler lived in Cypress Landing (Louisiana), and during that time he fell in love with Brijette Dupre, who ended up becoming pregnant. Cade never knew about the pregnancy, thanks to his mother's lies. Brijette was then told by his mother that he didn't want the baby, so instead she promised never to see Cade again, and took money from Cade's mother to help support her while she got an education. She had also promised to abort the baby, but Brijette knew all along that she would never do it. While she was angry with Cade for his lack of support of their baby, she vowed she would raise her child on her own and give it the life she never had.

Ten years later and Cade is back in town. Brijette is now a nurse and supporting her daughter Dylan, who was never told about her real father. Cade is the substitute doctor, replacing his uncle who is recuperating from surgery. Cade does not see the resemblance between himself and Dylan, and demands to know who the father is. He at first thinks the child is his, knowing the age of the child, but he believes Brijette's lies that Dylan's father was someone that she had met later on. Seeing the birth certificate, Cade believes it.

Brijette is now worried that Cade (and his mother) will find out the truth about Dylan. And worse yet, Dylan would never forgive her mother for lying to her all these years.

In the mean time, ten-year-old Dylan finds Cade fascinating, and the two enjoy each other's company. Brijette doesn't want the two to get close, but finds that she needs Cade's help more often than not when it comes to taking care of her daughter while she's at the clinic. What is going to happen once the secret is out? Brijette and Cade are beginning to forgive each other and forget their past, but once the secret is out, it may be too late for them. Brijette is enjoying her newfound relationship with Cade, but knows it will all end once he learns her secret.

UNEXPECTED DAUGHTER was a wonderful story about two people who had once loved each other, but due to lies and misunderstandings, were torn apart and went their separate ways. Dylan plays a major role in the reunion of these two long-lost lovers, and it was fun to watch her as she first started out with a crush on Cade, and then eventually realized that Cade could be a good father to her. Cade's Uncle Arthur also gets into the matchmaking act, as it was he who pretty much manipulated Cade into coming back to Cypress Landing to renew acquaintances with Brijette. Even the employees at the clinic where Brijette worked knew there was something going on between the two, and some were even hinting that the two get together.

A subplot involving a drug ring, which investigators believe could involve Brijette, spices up the story with a hint of danger for both Brijette and Dylan. The author's skills at writing this story gave credibility to the plot for the most part. The author was also careful not to let the drug ring subplot overtake the heart of the story, that of the romance between Cade and Brijette. Brijette's past does come back to haunt her, as one reason she and Cade had split up originally was because of her involvement in the delivery of drugs, something Brijette has since wished she never did.

Readers will also enjoy getting to know Cade's "evil" mother, who at first comes across as a manipulative woman who will do anything to keep her son away from a woman she considers beneath them. But she transforms in front of our eyes, due to the clever manipulations of Dylan, Brijette's young daughter who realizes that her mom and Cade belong together, and that having a grandmother is something she had always wanted. There is a lot of action, drama and romance packed into this novel, making it yet another enjoyable story by Suzanne Cox. - courtesy of LoveromancesandMore.