Review: Only Mine by Susan Mallery (with spoilers)

Posted July 22, 2011 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Holly‘s review of Only Mine (Fool’s Gold, Book 4) by Susan Mallery

You can’t win if you don’t play…

Her town’s lack of men may make headlines, but it isn’t news to Dakota Hendrix. The beautiful blonde has bigger problems to deal with, such as overseeing the romance reality competition filming in Fool’s Gold. Screening eligible bachelors is a difficult enough task, but Dakota hits an unexpected snag when a sexy stranger comes to town.

Finn Anderssen will do anything to keep his twin brothers—the perfect contestants—off the show. Despite Dakota’s better judgment, she finds herself drawn to the mysterious outsider. Like her, Finn knows about heartbreak and how a family can fall apart, so she doesn’t dare to hope for anything more than a fling. After all, even in the Land of Happy Endings, finding true love is never as easy as it looks on TV.

I really enjoyed returning to Fool’s Gold. This is the story of Dakota Hendrix, one of Ethan’s triplet sisters.

The story flowed well. Both Dakota and Finn were both fun characters. Finn raised his brothers after their parents died in a plane crash. Now they’ve left college 1 semester before they graduate to be on a reality show. Finn follows them from Alaska to California to talk sense into them. Or, barring that, to kidnap them and drag them back home. Dakota has been assigned by the town to watch over the reality show people and help them out as needed. Finn demands she get his brothers kicked off the show, but Dakota can’t do that. Plus, they’re adults.

Finn and Dakota really butted heads early on, but I never felt like they really had any animosity for each other. Mostly Finn was just frustrated by the situation with his brothers and taking it out on Dakota, which she understand. As the story progressed, so did their relationship. I like that they were friends first, then lovers. The friendship seemed to hold together as they moved to a different level.

The secondary storylines featuring Finn’s brothers were also well done. The town and its inhabitants were just as charming this time around. Kind of made me want to move.

Having said that, I did have a major problem with the main story arc featuring Dakota and her inability to have children. She’s decided to adopt after finding out she won’t be able to have children due to scar tissue on her ovaries. The doctors said her chances of conceiving and carrying to term are about 1 in a million..and that’s being kind. The news is devastating to her. She moves forward with a plan to adopt and gets a child rather unexpectedly. I liked that. I thought it was an interesting plot point and I applauded Mallery for going a non-traditional route.

Naturally because she couldn’t get pregnant, Finn and Dakota don’t use protection. But it’s ok! Because she can’t get pregnant! Right? Right?!?!

Wrong.

Against all odds, Dakota finds out she’s pregnant about a month after she adopts her daughter. Maybe I’ve just been reading too many baby romances lately, but I’m seriously tired of these miracles happening. In real life, it’s nigh on impossible for a woman with Dakota’s medical problems to even conceive, much less carry to term. Was there any fear on her part of a miscarriage? No. Nor was there any concern on the part of her doctor. This was used strictly as a plot device to push the couple into a final conflict.

There was so much potential here. Finn doesn’t want kids or a family because he gave up his life to raise his brothers. Which is totally understandable. But Dakota just adopted a child. Why couldn’t that have been used to bring about their final conflict?

Setting that issue aside, I really enjoyed the story. The romance was well done and I enjoyed the way Finn and Dakota got to know each other. I even enjoyed the way Finn was with Dakota’s daughter. But that last issue is a big one and definitely detracts from my overall enjoyment.

3.75/5

The series:
Only Yours (Hqn)Only His (Hqn)