REVIEW: His Billion Dollar Baby by Lea Nolan

His Billion Dollar Baby by Lea Nolan: Gwen Radley is a survivor and a successful one at that. Her mom had a nervous breakdown when she was only five years old and with no other relatives available to care for her, she ended up in Washington DC’s foster care system. Her less than idyllic childhood was lonely, empty and loveless. In her senior year of high school she was placed with Stan, a wonderful man who owned and managed a duckpin bowling alley. His support and encouragement gave her hope for the future. Luckily, through loans and grants, she completed college and went onto graduate school. She is now a successful physical therapist at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and is truly a caring individual.

After a lustful one night stand with Ben Anderson, a soldier scheduled to deploy the following day, Gwen finds herself pregnant. However, before Gwen even gets the chance to tell Ben about her pregnancy, she is attending his funeral. She is surprised to learn that Ben is the son of an extremely wealthy family and they offer to take her in once she tells them about the baby. The Anderson’s are truly wonderful people. However, Ben’s older brother Carter, the CEO of the Anderson conglomerate, believes Gwen to be a gold digger and does everything in his power to prove it.

Gwen and Carter have instant chemistry and they are drawn to each other. As they get to know one another, they begin to fall in love. However, Carter has huge trust issues where women are concerned and almost blows his chances of a future with Gwen and her unborn baby.

I liked this story, especially Gwen and Carter’s mother Judith. Gwen is a loving and caring woman, despite her upbringing. She is honest to a fault and always puts the needs of others ahead of her own. Ms. Nolan does an excellent job of creating the warmth and goodness that is associated with Gwen. Gwen exudes a realism that was very easy to identify with while Carter’s arrogance is apropos to the storyline. Judith’s character blew me away with her acceptance of the situation. It was nice to read about a parent that was not being intrusive and meddlesome where their children are concerned. Judith accepted Gwen and her situation immediately, which I found refreshing, even though it was a little far-fetched. Overall, this is a solid read with good character development and an interesting plot.

Book Info:

Publication: May 19th 2014 by Entangled Publishing, LLC – Indulgence

Burned by love and grieving over his brother’s death, sexy billionaire CEO Carter Anderson wants nothing more than to protect his family. So when beautiful and unassuming physical therapist Gwen Radley shows up at the funeral, pregnant with his brother’s baby, Carter’s certain she wants an interest in the Anderson empire—and both his suspicion and attraction grow when circumstances force Gwen to move into his family’s mansion.

An orphan, Gwen’s never wanted anything more than a family, and she finds in the Andersons a place she and her baby might belong. When Gwen’s therapy expertise leads to long hours of intense, late-night collaboration on a lucrative project, the attraction between her and Carter leads to a night of white-hot passion. But Carter’s distrust remains, leading them both to wonder if he will ever embrace his brother’s baby—or the love that’s blooming between them.