Child of Mine

Child of Mine is one of the books I've been waiting for since the very first book in the Boston Classics series. Single mom Bella is such a strong character, and I love how much she loves her daughter and keeps her needs front and center at all times. I always wondered about Lilah's father, and we finally get all the answers in Child of Mine. I really feel like each of the books in the series build upon each other, so readers will understand the character dynamics a bit better if they have read all the books in the series. However, you can read Child of Mine as a stand-alone story as well. I've enjoyed each of the books in the Boston Classics series, and Child of Mine was another winner. I felt like much like in You Spin Me, there were parts of their history that were darker than in other books in the series, but I think that is one of the reasons I've adored the last 2 books in the series so much. I There is so much growth in the characters in the 7 years they have been apart. They also had to really work to figure out the new dynamics of their relationship. I loved that Henry and Bella's chemistry was every bit is strong 7 years later. I loved once again revisiting the 80's, as I grew up in the 70's, and 80's the "historical" mentions of passing notes, cell phones not being the norm, and tv shows you had to watch when originally aired, or you never got to see them again were all part of my childhood and high school years. Honestly each mention brought back lots of happy memories. Karen Grey did an amazing job with the secret baby/second chance romance in Child of Mine. Both troupes can be hit of miss, but Ms. Grey took the ball and ran with it and gave her readers a funny, sexy, and endearing story. I’ve actually listened the audiobooks for each of the other books in this series, and can’t wait to re-read Child of Mine once the audiobook is released. Updated to add audiobook review. I felt that both Erin Mallon and Tom Taylorson did a really great job with Child of Mine. I felt like they did great job distinguishing the voices of all the different characters. I was never pulled out of the story with the narrator’s transitions, and I really felt like Erin and Tom helped totally bring this story to life. Rating: 5 Stars (A) Performance Rating: 5 Stars (A) Review copy provided by publisher

The fourth book in Karen Grey's charming series set in the late 1980's finally tells the story of Bella, a former teen and soap opera actress who left the profession for years, but has recently resurfaced in the Boston Shakespeare company. It's been obvious throughout the series that she has a backstory since she is the single mom of an adorable and precocious 6 yr old with no partner in sight. The book opens with an explosive one night stand Bella has with Henry, a rising young TV exec at a wrap party for the soap she was working on. When she later learned she was pregnant, she had no way to contact him since he disappeared immediately after, and she never got his last name. Moving forward seven years, Bella is offered a job as an assistant producer on a reboot of the PBS educational show that made her famous at age 13. She gets quite excited by the prospect, that is, until she meets the new director, who turns out to be Henry, her lost one night stand and the father of her child. Seven years later, their chemistry is still off the charts, but now Bella's got quite the dilemma in that she is petrified to have to tell Henry he's a father. As in the previous books, there were serious themes running through this book, although the tone never bogged down. Bella is a recovering addict, clean and sober for 7 yrs after a stint in rehab, but the stress and pressure she comes under due to the new job and Henry's reappearance, causes her to struggle with her sobriety like never before. Henry is also struggling with guilt over an argument with his father that turned out to be the last time he ever spoke to him. Not only can he not change the outcome of that argument, he still feels the pull of his desire for a filmmaking career rather than settling in to a more conventional lifestyle in North Carolina like his family wants him to do. As always, the author is spot on with her cultural references, although the soap opera snippets and tidbits weren't as engaging to me as the references in previous books have been. I loved Bella and Henry. Both had real human weaknesses and were definitely not depicted as "perfect" characters, what with Bella's difficulty in opening up to others, her temptation to addictive substances, and Henry's career devotion, his occasional grumpiness and temper, as well as his uncomfortable interactions initially with the kids on the show. Their warts just made them more interesting and relatable. I hope the author chooses to continue this series as I'm really enjoying it. I received a free copy of this book from the author and am voluntarily leaving a review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I’ve enjoyed all of this series, but I think this one might be my favorite! I say that, but really all of them were good. We’ve gotten glimpses of Isabella in other stories, so it was fun to get to actually read her story and see her get her HEA. And it was really so perfect that her HEA came from a guy you wouldn’t expect to be perfect with kids.

Seven years before the story begins, daytime star Isabella York decides to leave her soap opera for something new. When she spots sexy Henry at a party, she decides to have one last fling before leaving. Fast forward to 1989, Bella works at the family bookstore and performs Shakespeare in Boston. She lives with her mom, who helps her raise her daughter, Lilah. She never knew who Lilah’s father was or why he left suddenly, but when she runs into him on the job, sparks reignite. Henry was on the fast-track to becoming a TV producer, but when his dad died suddenly, he moved home to Raleigh to help his family. Now it’s time for him to move on, and he takes a job at a local Boston TV station where he runs into his childhood crush and one-time lover, Izzy, aka Bella. Child of Mine is a delightful second-chance retro romance. Listeners of the Boston Classics series are familiar with Bella and her daughter, but now we get the chance to learn more about this quiet star. Bella has a lot of skeletons in her closet and tries to fly under the radar. Seeing Henry shakes up her world and creates delightful tension. I admit, I was frustrated with Bella and her inability to tell Henry he’s a dad, but her actions are very true and realistic. The internal debate over letting Henry into her life tore at my heart. Even though Henry doesn’t deal well with kids, watching him meet his daughter and learn how to be her dad is touching. There are so many tender moments; I loved that he didn’t always get it right but kept trying. I also appreciate that he knows a future with Bella and Lilah is all he wants, yet he gives Bella time to face her demons and come to him on her own terms. I did struggle for a bit with the fact that Bella has two “personalities” within her: an “angel” and a “demon,” named for the two acting parts from her youth. She would have full-on conversations and arguments with these voices, which was confusing at times. I didn’t care for it, but overtime, as Bella gained strength, the voices altered and unified becoming her own voice. Narration: The story is shared via the first person alternating POVs of Bella and Henry, with Erin Mallon (EM) narrating Bella’s POV and Tom Taylorson (TT) narrating Henry’s POV. EM has youngish voice, with just a bit of rough edge to it, which fits Bella‘s “I had a hard youth” life. EM alters her dialogue voices slightly enough to distinguish between who’s talking but not enough to say this is this character or this is that character. Her males are slightly deeper-enough to know that it’s a man talking. TT gives performs Henry’s voice with a deep, but not gravely deep, base. He has a soft edge to his voice, which makes it very comfortable sounding. TT adds a slight southern accent for Henry’s dialogue. His females were softer and higher pitched. Overall, I liked TT’s voice, but it was hard to differentiate the dialogue between characters of the same gender. Overall, I enjoyed listening to Child of Mine. Bella and Henry get a second chance at love and a family. I love that things aren’t perfect and both characters acknowledge it won’t always be easy, but that they are looking forward to a future. My Ratings: Story: B+ Narration: B+

Child of Mine is the 4th book in Grey’s Boston Classics series set in the late 80s. Bella’s been a secondary character in the Boston Classics series since the beginning and behind “Hot” Steve she’s the story I was most looking forward to. You could start here as there aren’t any spoilers for previous stories (other than they end up together – but this is romance, so yeah). However, I definitely recommend reading/listening to them in order. I admit that “secret baby” is not my favorite trope. Mostly because I usually find the MC’s reasons for keeping the secret pretty lacking. However, I really loved the way Grey handled it here. No spoilers – so I’m not telling, but it worked for me. Henry & Bella have a fling and external forces keep them apart for 7 years. Now that they’ve met again – the previously extinguished flame is rekindled. Bella is faced with revealing that they have a child, major career & life choices, plus moving beyond mistakes from her past. No, she does not consider Lilah one of those mistakes. Bella is a devoted mom and I appreciated Grey’s inclusion of Lilah as an integral part of the story. She wasn’t a prop or someone to be on page for a few minutes just for a joke to work. I also liked Henry’s efforts to get to know his daughter. There’s a little drama/angst as Bella, Henry, and even Lilah react to the new dynamics. It worked well in giving the story realism and depth. There’s also some healing for Bella and Henry individually that helped me believe they were ready for their HEA. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and a great addition to a fun series.

Child of Mine is the fourth entry in author Karen Grey’s marvelous Boston Classics nostalgic romance series. It’s wonderful as a standalone and it’s the perfect continuation of a series I hope lasts forever. Karen Grey doesn’t just remind us about the 1980s. We’re not reading about them – we are living them again. It’s like being in your goofy past, hooking up again with familiar old friends. The clothes, the hair, the music, the attitudes, the catch phrases. The social mores and dating scene that are different than today but the love and loss and hope and heartbreak – and the handsome, sexy guys with smiles that make you melt - are just the same. Will, Ben and Cal to name a few. And now there is Henry. Struggling with a lot of things, but single-minded when he sees the woman he wants. Even if it scares him. In 1982, two people experience a moment of magic. Real magic. Unexpected, instant attraction, stars, violins, this might be it wow magic. And then, like sometimes happens with magic – poof! And these two people are left wondering, “What if?” Jump to 1989. Bella York has a quiet life and wants to keep it that way. Raising her (incredibly precocious) daughter and working at the bookstore with her mother and being part of a local theater group is as much excitement as she wants. Until money becomes a big, big problem and she needs to get a job and ends up at the PBS station WGBH. But she doesn’t want her past to ever resurface. Enter Henry Smith, whose life is actually too quiet and who wants to see if he can get back on track after having to abruptly return home years ago and jump off the fast-track train. He, too, is starting work at WGBH. When he and Bella see each other – WHOA! Bella wonders if she can just run home and stay there. Because . . . well, because would be a spoiler and you need to read Child of Mine for yourself and enjoy every single minute of it like I did. But just let me tell you that the room gets pretty crowded with Bella and Izzy and Quinn and Henry and Hal in it! Pretty funny, and pretty steamy! Author Grey is such a good writer. She has a knack for balancing the humor with the sadness, the fear to jump in with the desire to change life for the better, and for inserting phrases that make you laugh out loud, put your hand to your heart and say, “Awww,” or make you reach for a tissue. The plot is solid and just takes you along with it, making you love these characters so much you never want to leave them, and you want everything to be all right. Saying that Henry looks like a combination of Kurt Russell and Leif Garrett right off the bat doesn’t hurt, either. And the nostalgia of the crazy 1980s is a bonus. Child of Mine is serious, sweet, saucy, and sexy, sexy, sexy all rolled into one. Old favorite characters appear, expanding the big, happy family we’ve come to love. Lilah is adorable in a so thoughtful and solemn it’s almost scary kind of way. Both Bella and Henry have some issues from the past that must be resolved if there is to be a future. There are surprises and unexpected revelations that need to be worked out. Grey juggles it all to a very satisfying conclusion. Thanks to author Karen Grey for providing an advance copy of Child of Mine for my reading pleasure and honest review. I love this series and as I finish each book I think, “Wow, that one was the best.” Great characters, great plot, great smooches . . . what more could you want? All opinions are my own.

I loved the 80’s and can relate to so many things in this story. Lol. Very fun and entertaining book! Child of Mine is book 4 is the Boston Classic series. Isabella (Bella) is a single mom to Lilah; she is doing her best and getting a fresh start to get away from her past. Lilah is the result of one night stand many years ago - Bella tried to contact the father but gave up after several failed attempts. She’s starting a new job and is excited. Henry arrives in town looking for a fresh start as a hot shot director. He is single, doesn’t like kids but is a director for a kids tv show. He’s doing this job to hopefully move up the ladder. You guess it - they are working on the same TV show. Memories from their past begin to creep in and a workplace romance starts - because they cannot seem to stay away from one another. As the relationship blooms they share their past mistakes, retreats, feelings of failure and lost time. This is a lovely story filled with second chances, forgiveness, angst, understanding and some heat. I requested an arc and I am leaving my honest review.