THE TIES THAT BIND – Emilie Rose
Billionaires and Babies Series
Harlequin Desire #2157
ISBN: 978-0-373-73170-1
May 2012
Series Romance

Greenwich, Connecticut – Present Day

After losing her job and needing to support herself and her toddler son, former schoolteacher Anna Aronson finds herself in the luxurious mansion of billionaire Pierce Hollister for an interview as a nanny to his infant son. Anna is appalled that Pierce apparently shows little affection to his child, and he lets her know that his son (and hers) will need to be out of sight in order to not disturb him. Anna knows she should run as fast as she can, but needing the job desperately and falling for the little tyke with the hard-assed father, she accepts. Anna and her son, Cody, move into the mansion to take care of Pierce's son, Graham, and soon settle into a routine. Of course, it's hard to avoid Pierce, and Anna embarks on a campaign to get the man to interact with his son.

Pierce never wanted to become a father, but an ex-girlfriend deliberately got pregnant and bore his child. While he has managed to maintain a distance from his son these past few months, when the mother, who is a news reporter, ends up missing, Pierce has no choice but to bring him into his home. Pierce figures a nanny will allow him to work uninterrupted and unhindered despite a child being present. He doesn't expect Anna's persistence in bringing father and son together and tries to thwart her attempts. Of course, he really didn't expect that he'd find himself attracted to her.

Pierce may be wealthy and withholding his love from his son in THE TIES THAT BIND, but underneath lies a man who fears relationships because of his unhappy childhood. Landing in the foster care system while he was a child, Pierce watched people he cared for go away or die, and he didn't want to experience heartbreak again. So, he is cold and heartless, something Anna sees right off the bat, but doesn't let this deter her determination to unite father and son. With one parent missing, Graham shouldn't lose the other parent. Anna has her own problems, with an ex who abandoned her as she was giving birth to Cody, then losing her job at the school after rejecting the advances of a parent who accused her of being the instigator. At first, Pierce wonders if Anna is a siren bent on luring him into her trap. Slowly and surely, she draws him out of his shell and into being a part of Graham's life. Then their mutual attraction explodes into passion. Before Pierce can take a breath, he's part of a “family” and it doesn't quite scare him as the idea did once before. But Anna's job is only scheduled to be short term. Will their affair also be brief?

Emilie Rose has penned a wonderfully emotional tale in THE TIES THAT BIND with the complex character of Pierce. He's not bad, just scarred from his past. Anna is his Jane Eyre heroine. Will they find true love and happiness, as well as be a family together? Pick up THE TIES THAT BIND and enjoy this tale as much as I did.

Patti Fischer