Sarah V. (auroraline) reviewed Baby Benefits (Billionaires and Babies) (Silhouette Desire, No 1902) on + 28 more book reviews
From the back cover:
CongratulationsDaddy!
Those were the last words CEO Derek Messina expected to hear.
Sure enough, the little bundle of joy abandoned on his doorstep weeks ago was, in fact, his daughter. But discovering he was a father didn't rock him nearly as much as the news that his longtime assistant Raina was quitting. On the verge of merging his diamond franchise, he couldn't lose the one woman who'd managed his life for all those years. Now Derek had to use all of his negotiating tacticsincluding seductionto keep his loyal assistant around!
******************************************
The backstory is two brothers both have unprotected sex with a drug addicted messed up young woman. Unknown to them, because in the story they never bother to check on her or care about her, she winds up pregnant and struggles with her infant, and eventually abandons the baby on one of the brother's doorstep, with a note that he is the father.
That begins the book "Baby on the Billionaire's doorstep", the precursor to this book. At the end of that book we learn that the DNA test proved that it was not really his baby, it was his brothers. So "Baby Benefits" opens with Derek coming home to find he is responsible for his long lost daughter.
Now let's talk about the romance. In this book Raine has been madly in love with Derek for years, but apparently he completely ignores her and never sees her value, choosing instead to have random unprotected sex with other people who work in the office, such as baby Isabella's troubled mother. In fact, for most of the book he continues to ignore her worth. I guess if this is Raine's idea of the perfect man, that's her choice, but I have trouble seeing how I would pine for someone who constantly devalued me so much.
Now this is the part of the story that disturbed me the most: Derek spent the whole book worrying about finding Isabella a mother, as her biological mother, Jewel, couldn't do it. Really? Because at no point does he try to contact Jewel, and offer her therapy or treatment - he just decides that she'll never be a mother. She's a very young woman that he carelessly used and then abandoned, but eighteen years is a long time - There's absolutely no possibility that at one point she could straighten herself out and participate in parenting? Now I realize that some people aren't cut out to be parents, but in the book, this isn't discussed. Derek never tries to reach out to Jewel to check on her and her situation for even a second. Instead, he just parades though the book deciding that he needs to find Isabella a better mother than the one he gave her when he took a mixed up young woman without protection.
I'm also concerned about the happily ever after. Raine's dearest wish, apparently, is to have a family, but at the end of the book we don't know if she and Derek are going to have any other children - apparently she's just going to raise another woman's daughter and that's it? Which could be fine and dandy, of course, but there's the whole custody/biological mother issue - I think there could be a good chance that Jewel could one day clean up and get Isabella back, at least part time. Isabella, meanwhile, will grow up secure in the knowledge that her biological mother is worthless, as evidenced by her family's complete lack of regard for Jewel.
I guess if we really had to read a story about a man who needs a new mother for his baby, Emily McKay could have tied up this up better with a few paragraphs addressing these issues. In the story, Derek could have tried to contact Jewel after having unprotected sex to make sure there were no consequences, that she did not need help. Derek again could have contacted Jewel after he gets Isabella, seeing if she is interested in help, if there is anything he can do for her. He is a freaking billionaire, after all - how offering some rehab? Is that really to much to ask for the mother of your child? And finally, Derek could file for custody, tying up the legal aspects of Isabella's life, and laying groundwork for why things are the way they are.
CongratulationsDaddy!
Those were the last words CEO Derek Messina expected to hear.
Sure enough, the little bundle of joy abandoned on his doorstep weeks ago was, in fact, his daughter. But discovering he was a father didn't rock him nearly as much as the news that his longtime assistant Raina was quitting. On the verge of merging his diamond franchise, he couldn't lose the one woman who'd managed his life for all those years. Now Derek had to use all of his negotiating tacticsincluding seductionto keep his loyal assistant around!
******************************************
The backstory is two brothers both have unprotected sex with a drug addicted messed up young woman. Unknown to them, because in the story they never bother to check on her or care about her, she winds up pregnant and struggles with her infant, and eventually abandons the baby on one of the brother's doorstep, with a note that he is the father.
That begins the book "Baby on the Billionaire's doorstep", the precursor to this book. At the end of that book we learn that the DNA test proved that it was not really his baby, it was his brothers. So "Baby Benefits" opens with Derek coming home to find he is responsible for his long lost daughter.
Now let's talk about the romance. In this book Raine has been madly in love with Derek for years, but apparently he completely ignores her and never sees her value, choosing instead to have random unprotected sex with other people who work in the office, such as baby Isabella's troubled mother. In fact, for most of the book he continues to ignore her worth. I guess if this is Raine's idea of the perfect man, that's her choice, but I have trouble seeing how I would pine for someone who constantly devalued me so much.
Now this is the part of the story that disturbed me the most: Derek spent the whole book worrying about finding Isabella a mother, as her biological mother, Jewel, couldn't do it. Really? Because at no point does he try to contact Jewel, and offer her therapy or treatment - he just decides that she'll never be a mother. She's a very young woman that he carelessly used and then abandoned, but eighteen years is a long time - There's absolutely no possibility that at one point she could straighten herself out and participate in parenting? Now I realize that some people aren't cut out to be parents, but in the book, this isn't discussed. Derek never tries to reach out to Jewel to check on her and her situation for even a second. Instead, he just parades though the book deciding that he needs to find Isabella a better mother than the one he gave her when he took a mixed up young woman without protection.
I'm also concerned about the happily ever after. Raine's dearest wish, apparently, is to have a family, but at the end of the book we don't know if she and Derek are going to have any other children - apparently she's just going to raise another woman's daughter and that's it? Which could be fine and dandy, of course, but there's the whole custody/biological mother issue - I think there could be a good chance that Jewel could one day clean up and get Isabella back, at least part time. Isabella, meanwhile, will grow up secure in the knowledge that her biological mother is worthless, as evidenced by her family's complete lack of regard for Jewel.
I guess if we really had to read a story about a man who needs a new mother for his baby, Emily McKay could have tied up this up better with a few paragraphs addressing these issues. In the story, Derek could have tried to contact Jewel after having unprotected sex to make sure there were no consequences, that she did not need help. Derek again could have contacted Jewel after he gets Isabella, seeing if she is interested in help, if there is anything he can do for her. He is a freaking billionaire, after all - how offering some rehab? Is that really to much to ask for the mother of your child? And finally, Derek could file for custody, tying up the legal aspects of Isabella's life, and laying groundwork for why things are the way they are.
