Review: Love Beyond Reason

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Katherine Adams said she'd never make her sister Mary's mistakes. Mary's fairy-tale marriage into the wealthy, powerful Manning dynasty had turned into a nightmare of abuse. Then, on the night her playboy husband was killed in a car accident, Mary died in childbirth. Now savvy, smart, and very angry Katherine vowed to never let a Manning, any Manning, near Mary's child -- not even the dashing, charismatic oil man who showed up at her door. Katherine wanted to believe Jason Manning wasn't like his ruthless family. But secrets and lies were part of his heritage. And Katherine could be destroyed by a truth she was afraid to face...and a man she could not resist.

Genre: contemporary romance

Publication date: December 2014 (for the current Kindle edition; the original story is from 1994)

Mature content: yes

Review: Love Beyond Reason is one of Sandra Brown's oldies. There's no suspense, not much character depth and the plot is fairly predictable. Plus, having been published originally in the mid-90s, it is now a bit outdated. As Sandra Brown's older books go, though, this one is not one of the worst.

Katherine Adams has run away with her newborn niece to escape the Mannings - her sister's in-laws and who (along with their deceased son) she blames for her sister Mary's demise. Then Jason Manning (the baby's uncle) comes calling and after a few twists and turns they end up married to ensure custody of the child - because apparently Jason also believes his parents are not suitable guardians. Well, you can already guess how that marriage of convenience will end.

My main problem with the plot is the fact that Jason seems to have found Katherine very easily while his parents - so intent on getting custody of the baby and with lots of legal and financial backing, seem to be lagging behind. I would have expected them to haunt Katherine, to threaten her or at least to send someone over to confront her. While this obviously simplifies the plot, it also makes it unrealistic - because the people Katherine is running from don't seem to be making that much of an effort to find her.

Still, if you like simple, no-strings-attached romance novels and don't mind that this is an older book, Love Beyond Reason makes an OK, quick beach or poolside read.

Happy readings,