Casee‘s review of What Mattered Most by Linda Winfree.
A man in the worst place he can be—between two women—and forced to choose which one lives or dies.
Houston homicide detective, John O’Reilly, is torn between two women. One is the woman he’s loved without hope for years. The other carries his unborn child. Now, a man bent on revenge wants O’Reilly to choose, and any choice he makes could cost him everything.
Gutsy sheriff’s deputy, Lanie Falconetti, is determined not to repeat her mother’s mistakes in love. Her no-strings attached affair with John O’Reilly leads to an unexpected, but joyfully welcomed pregnancy. However, the shadow from John’s past threatens not only her chance at happiness, but her life and that of her unborn baby as well.
I’m not sure if this book is technically part of the series or not. The cover doesn’t say it’s a Hearts of the South book, but there are connections. Namely, Lanie Falconetti is Caitlin’s cousin.
Yet again, I would say that the blurb is deceptive. John O’Reilly is living with Lanie Falconetti and they’re expecting a baby. Things have always been status quo with their relationship. They haven’t expressed love to each other, but there are feelings there. John has (what he thinks) is unrequited love for his partner, Beth. What the reader can see from the beginning is that he only thinks it’s love. In fact, what he feels for Beth is protectiveness.
When Beth’s crazy ex-husband comes after her, Lanie is inadvertently caught in the cross-fire. John is faced with the fact that he was wrong all along; it was never Beth that he loved, it was Lanie. Now her and the baby he hadn’t quite accepted might die.
Lanie is crushed when she realizes how John feels about Beth. Though no words of love had been spoken between them, she always trusted him. Now that is questioned. When she wakes up in the hospital, it’s to find that her baby has been born. Lanie was excited since she first found out she was pregnant. To her dismay, she feels none of the bonding that is supposed to happen.
John is determined to prove to Lanie that it’s her he loves. Taking care of his son, John bides his time until Lanie comes home. He will do anything possible to make the the family that they should be.
There are a few things that were annoying with this book. Lanie’s remarks about Beth really got old. It is understandable that she doesn’t see that John only thinks he loved Beth. It’s not as clear when you’re on the inside of the situation. What is clear after awhile is that Lanie is using Beth as a shield. She is afraid to get close to John after her heart has been so thoroughly broken.
I loved John and Sonny Buck’s (wtf?) relationship. The way that John bonded with the baby was amazingly sweet to read about. Aside from Lanie’s sometime stupidity, I really liked this book.
4 out of 5.
This book is available from Samhain Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.
Other books in the series:
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