A Case For Love

Title: A Case For Love
Author: Kaye Dacus
ISBN: 978-1-60260456-8

From the back cover:

The Alaine Delacroix that all of Bonneterre knows is the carefully polished image she puts forth every day on her noontime news magazine program. When her parents' home and small business is threatened by the biggest corporation in town, Alaine is forced to choose between her image and fighting for the life her family has built.

Lawyer Forbes Guidry is used to making things go his way. But when he's asked to take on a pro bono case for a colleague, he'll learn that he can't control everything-- including his feelings for his new client: Alaine Delacroix.

Alaine's only option to help her family is hiring Forbes, but can she bring herself to trust the handsome, disarming charming lawyer? And will Forbes Guidry be able to make a case for love before losing his job and family? Can both trust that God will present a solution before all is lost?

My take:

I have been looking forward to this book since I read Stand In Groom, the first book in the series. There is something so appealing about a man that is not only attractive, but confident, caring, and very good at what he does. Forbes Guidry is all these things. He is the guardian of the family. His role is different than a parent. He reminds me more of the butler in the Batman movies. He offers advice, takes care of any problems they may have, steers them away from bad influences and has an uncanny knack for being right ~ all the time.

There are just a couple problems. They've grown up and don't need or want Forbes controlling their every move. Plus, Forbes may need to invest some energy into fixing his own life. He's been the most eligible bachelor for too many years in a row and he's beginning to wonder if he's incapable of loving anyone.

Alaine is desperate to make it as a "real" journalist. She is alienating her co-workers at meetings, frustrated at how they dismiss her ideas and see her as just a pretty package. When she shares her feelings with a colleague, she's told it may be that she's the one who needs to change her attitude and given a reminder to put her request before God. Had she even prayed about it?

Two strong-willed people who are very close to their families and have a lot at stake. Kaye doesn't mess around. I would love to read more, but I think this is the last in the series. If so, I do believe she saved the best for last. This romance has such tenderness and yet is intense as well. They both feel very passionately but they have a lot of trust issues to overcome and family loyalty to consider. Despite the fact you're reading a romance novel and you expect a happy ending, she does make you wonder how things are going to turn out. How can they make it work?

I fell in love with these characters right away. She did a wonderful job bringing in the whole idea of a neighborhood filled with mixed nationalities and flavors. I wanted to go there just to eat! I could hear the meeting, see the faces and smell the food in the back room. There was the whole atmosphere of community and all the blessings and problems they face together. I think that's something a lot of people can relate to now and always.

Have you ever been in a relationship that caused friction with your family? How did it work out?