THE LOVE CHILD – Catherine Mann
Alaskan Oil Barons , Book 3
Harlequin Desire #2584
ISBN: 978-1-335-97144-9
April 2018
Contemporary Series Romance

Alaska – Present Day

As the Mikkelson and Steele families merge their companies due to the upcoming marriage of their parents, they hire media consultant Isabeau Waters to help with PR. Trystan Mikkelson is tabbed as the face of the company and it's Isabeau's job to transform him from looking like a roughneck cowboy to a suave businessman. He's reluctant, of course, which makes her job harder. However, the sexual chemistry between them burns hot and leads to an encounter in a boathouse. But a broken condom spoils the mood. Is Isabeau pregnant?

Isabeau never goes anywhere without her service dog, Paige, because she's a diabetic and suffers from panic attacks. This revelation is disconcerting to Trystan, but only at first. To him, she's sexy and beautiful, and he wants her a lot. But love? He doesn't believe in that. However, if Isabeau is pregnant with Trystan's child, he will do everything in his power to make sure he hangs onto her.

Trystan is a cynic when it comes to love and is only looking to sate his attraction to Isabeau when they make love. When they first met, she had her hands all over his body taking measurements for a suit, which amps up the heat as THE LOVE CHILD opens. There's a sizzling awareness of each other and he is soon going after her. Okay, it's just sex, but Trystan wants to do it with Isabeau repeatedly. She doesn't quite trust relationships after her father literally abandoned her as a child. Trystan has his own issues as he was actually adopted by the Mikkelsons' after his real parents no longer wanted him. One can then understand why they fear commitment. Why give your heart if it's only going to end up broken?

While Isabeau is a diabetic and has a trained service animal in Paige, she's not a frail individual. She's lived an adventurous life and plans to continue to do so. In THE LOVE CHILD, we learn more about service dogs and how they're trained and how they are to react in a crisis. It makes for some entertaining and educational reading. Does everything go smoothly for Isabeau in this tale?  You'll have to find out by reading THE LOVE CHILD.

As part of the  Alaskan Oil Barons  series by Catherine Mann, we see plenty of Trystan's siblings and soon-to-be extended family in THE LOVE CHILD. We also get a good dose of Royce and Naomi from THE DOUBLE DEAL (it came out March 2018) and there's a stunner near the end for readers. Because the stories are so connected in this series, it might be best to have started with the first book, THE BABY CLAIM, to get an idea of the family dynamics and their longtime rivalry.  

Trystan and Isabeau barely met before they were making love in THE LOVE CHILD, so they take the time to get to know one another because of the possible baby. Will they find love and a happily-ever-after? See for yourself in this riveting tale.

Patti Fischer