HEIR TO SCANDAL – Andrea Laurence
Secrets of Eden , Book
Harlequin Desire #2326
ISBN: 978-0-373-73339-2
September 2014
Contemporary Series Romance

Cornwall, Connecticut – Present Day

Congressman Xander Langston is in the midst of a campaign for re-election and promoting a book he wrote being published, but instead his mind is focused on the potential scandal that could impact his family if the truth about the body discovered on the family farm comes out. For this reason, he's in Cornwall and decides to stop by the diner where his old high school sweetheart works to drop off a copy of the book. Xander hasn't seen Rose Pierce since high school, but one look at her and he's hooked again. Is his plate too full to take on rekindling their romance?

Rose knew that one day she would have to face Xander. She never forgot him, though she has tried to put him in the past. She's busy struggling to make ends meet while raising her rambunctious son Joey. When Xander invites her out to dinner, she knows she's playing with fire, but the simmering desire between them is still there. But their night ends abruptly when Joey breaks his arm and the couple head to the hospital. It's there that Xander comes face to face with her son—and realizes that Joey is his son also.

HEIR TO SCANDAL is a tale simmering with secrets that threaten to explode into scandals that will shock everyone in Cornwall and beyond. Xander was raised in a loving foster home with his brother Heath and two other guys he considers brothers. But one horrifying night his brother protected their foster sister from another teenager which resulted in the death of the teen. The “brothers” had hoped the body would stay buried, but unfortunately it didn't, so now they're all waiting for the shoe to drop. Xander and his brothers would do anything for their foster parents, even so far as to protect them from knowing the truth.

While HEIR TO SCANDAL might be read alone, I suggest picking up the first books in the Secrets of Eden series, UNDENIABLE DEMANDS and A BEAUTY UNCOVERED, to understand what is going on.

As for Xander and Rose, they rediscover the love they once had and realize they're meant for each other. She gave him up when they graduated from high school because she didn't want to hold him back from the career he wanted to achieve. If she would have told him she was expecting, there's no question that Xander would've demanded that they marry. Instead, she raised her son alone, even while it's been difficult, especially after her mother died and her father was sent to prison. Rose is afraid that if she gets involved with Xander again, her scandalous past would drag him down. Little does she know the secret he's carrying! Yet there's no denying the molten chemistry between them, and soon neither can say no to the other. But can they plan a future together with their lives about to explode in scandal?

A passionate and riveting tale, I highly recommend HEIR TO SCANDAL about a couple who find love the second time around and have to fight hard to be together again.

Patti Fischer