Family Trust

Rating:
Summary: Amanda Brown has written a witty and fast-paced book
Review: Amanda Brown, the author of LEGALLY BLONDE, has another success on her hands with her second novel, FAMILY TRUST. This witty and fast-paced book follows the relationship of two people, Becca Reinhart and Edward Kirkland, who are thrown together after Becca's best friend Amy and her significant other Arthur, Edward's best friend, die in a plane crash.

Their wills name Becca and Edward as joint legal guardians of their four-year-old daughter, Emily. Parenthood is the last thing on either Becca's or Edward's mind. Becca is a hyper, high-strung successful businesswoman whose every move is dictated by her palm pilot and her jam-packed schedule. She has little time for dating, let alone parenting. Edward is a rich guy whose social life takes up more time than a nine-to-five workday would. His job seems to be present at various functions at which his family donates money.

However, both of them rise to the challenge of being parents to Emily and strive to put her needs first. They begin a three-month trial period. At the end of three months, the judge will determine who will receive permanent custody. The judge tells them that if one of the two marries, chances are that that party will be the one to receive permanent custody. Becca takes a two-month paid leave from her job, and Edward and Becca move in to the apartment that Emily's parents bequeathed to her so Emily would not have to leave the only home she has known. Becca and Edward both play a large role in Emily's life, taking her to various lessons, playing with her, and tucking her in at night.

But all is not idealistic in their world. A viper named Bunny dwells there as well. Bunny, or Roberta Stirrup, is a nasty woman whose main purpose in life is to marry Edward. Bunny was picked by Edward's mother to marry Edward when they were young children, based on her status. Bunny figures that when she and Edward marry, she will send Emily off to boarding school to get her out of her hair. Needless to say, the tide of maternal feelings does not flow deeply in Bunny. Bunny bamboozles Edward into a wedding date, which may seem slightly unbelievable, until readers learn how driven Bunny truly is --- even though Edward realizes he has fallen in love with Becca. Becca resigns herself to having lost Emily and Edward. But the path of love is full of twists and turns, which readers will enjoy negotiating while reading this book.

Both Edward and Becca are characters who readers will come to care for, and Emily is a sweetheart. In addition, readers will love to hate Bunny and will be waiting for her to receive her comeuppance. Brown's writing style flows well, and she seems to have a good sense of both the business and domestic worlds. FAMILY TRUST will most likely appeal to female readers in their twenties and thirties. Do I see movie rights to this book in Brown's future as well? It's possible --- and it would be quite welcomed.

Becca Reinhart is a career-oriented woman who has no desire to marry and raise a family. Edward Kirkland is a rich playboy with a very busy social life. But when a little girl named Emily enters their lives, these two individuals who have never met suddenly find themselves immersed in the trials and tribulations of domestic life.

--- Reviewed by Melissa A. Martin

Rating:
Summary: Light-hearted Romantic Fairy Tale
Review: Becca Reinhart is a Jewish girl from Brooklyn who has become a high powered Wall Street whiz-bang. She is so busy rushing from one important meeting to another that she barely has time to schedule a cup of coffee. Edward Kirkland comes from Old Money. He is a laid-back, relaxed young man who has never held a real job, except to administer his family's philanthropic foundation. He spends most of his evenings in a tuxedo, attending various chi-chi social events to raise money for worthy causes.

Things begin to change when the two of them are named co-guardians of a newly orphaned four year old Emily. This is a culture clash that would put The Nanny to shame. The romance is rocky with numerous complications. There is so much to learn about parenting, about relationships, about getting a kid accepted in the right schools! And then, there is Bunny Stirrup, the absolutely delightful villain of the book who is expected to marry Edward. So, what will happen? Will Edward and Becca end up happily together? Or, will they come to their senses? Read it and find out.

There is nothing believable about this whole story. If you accept that, and read it as a light-hearted romantic fairy tale, you will enjoy it. Author Amanda Brown does a little too much explaining, too much looking inside her characters' heads; but she has a wonderful sense of humor, and she gets you to care about her characters. Oh, and you will ADORE the villain! Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.

Rating:
Summary: Don' t waste your time with this book
Review: I am all about mindless beach reads but this book was such a waste of time. The main characters are totally unbelievable. I was so bored with them - of course they will end up together, they had no conflict from the start! And obviously the author has little experience with children because no child happily replaces her dead parents with a couple of family friends.

Don't waste your time on this book.

Rating:
Summary: Wish it was summer- great beach read
Review: If you are in the mood for a fun, light book, this is the read for you. I picked a snowy, cold New York day to begin this book, and I admit it was pretty easy yo keep reading. The pace is as brisk as Becca's walk, the dialogue is cute, the characters are sterotypical, yet believable for this type of book. Sure the plot is fairly predictable, it includes the overtight Mother, the witchy social climber, the precocious child, but there isn't much to think about. Their is decent chemistry between the hero and heroine, so at least the inevitable outcome is fairly understandable.

On the downside, the editing of this book was fairly sloppy, and I noticed some continuity problems- characters said things that directly contradicted things they said only paragraphs before, and she should visit New York again, because Rumplemyers closed awhile ago.

I also have a problem with the amount of characters she introduced, gave big descriptions of, and then never to be seen again. I only like characters that are incidental to the plot, especially in a fun book.

This book is not a great literary achievement, but it's fun and easy to read. If they had 1/2 stars I would actually give it a 3 1/2.

Rating:
Summary: It's not the destination, it's the journey
Review: You know how this book will end but the wild twists and turns towards that end make this book well worth reading.

Becca Reinhart is a Type-A business magnate in NYC when she learns her college friend Amy has been killed in a plane crash along with her boyfriend Arthur. Amy and Arthur have a four-year-old named Emily. Amy named Becca as Emily's guardian should anything happen to her. Arthur has named HIS old pal Edward Kirkland as Emily's guardian should anything happen to him.

Edward Kirkland is an affable rich guy who attends charity events as part of his job at the family philantrophy trust. He basically has no choice, although he does enjoy squiring different debutantes to these affairs. He seems constantly thrust together with Bunny, a very ambitious social-climbing childhood friend, whose mother is friends with HIS mother -- a grand dame of this circle.

Eddie, Becca and Emily form an unconventional family as they strive to care for Emily under these unusual circumstances and navigate the horribly competitive, scary world of finding Emily the "right" preschool yadda-yadda-yadda so that they are still deemed fit guardians at their 3-month hearing. Meanwhile, Eddie's life --- pre-planned by the women he knows without his consultation -- threatens to blow apart not only his own life, but Becca's and Emily's as well.

This is an awesome little book.