Charley

Title: Charley
Author: Sharon Srock
Series: Sisters by Design, book 3 (Ladies of Garfield, book 12)
Major Themes: Adoption, Family
Synopsis: When her daughter’s birth mother suddenly reappears after 15 years, what should Charley do?

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading Charley. The first two books in the Sisters by Design series were quite different from each other, although they both had single women and romance. Charley started out with a married couple and their one daughter. I found myself sucked in from the first page, and was captivated till the end.

Charley (Charlene) and her husband have a happy marriage, and they work together as police officers. They both love their daughter Kinsley fiercely—although they have never quite found the right time to tell her that she is adopted. Now, suddenly, Kinsley’s birth mother has contacted Charley out of the blue. How will Charley handle having Melissa back in her life? How will she ever be able to come up with the courage to tell Kinsley that her whole life has been a lie?

Even worse, Melissa is dying, and her husband is determined to use Kinsley to save Melissa’s life. Will a family be destroyed because he won’t give up? When Kinsley learns the truth, she is devastated, and the way she learned it makes it even worse. Meanwhile, she’s dealing with struggles in her personal life, as well. How can this mess ever be sorted out?

I thoroughly enjoyed most of this book. I like books that don’t focus on romance. There was some in this book, as 15-year-old Kinsley interacted with her peers. For the most part, it was all right, although at the end of the book she was allowed to date, which I don’t agree with. Other than that, though, the story was about learning to trust others and forgive wrongs, and move on with relationships in a loving way.

WARNING: The word d–n appears in chapter 5. Chapter 7 mentions s-x once. In the epilogue, Kinsley’s dress is describes as hugging her curves in just the right places.