When an inheritance comes with impossible conditions…

Synopsis

In the latest Harlequin Romance by Rachael Stewart, can spending a year with the infamous billionaire be enough to tempt Summer back into his arms?

My twelve months of sacrifice…

…or temptation?

My foster mother’s will states I, Summer, must live with her grandson, infamous billionaire Edward Fitzroy, for one year on her Scottish estate or we forfeit our inheritance! Years ago, scared of our intense connection, I left without saying goodbye… Now I’m completely unprepared for how devastatingly attractive Edward’s become—and how he still makes me feel. We’re from different worlds. Surely this can’t work! But it’s oh so tempting to give in to the sparks flying between us…

From Harlequin Romance: Be swept away by glamorous and heartfelt love stories.

My review

Summer Evans grew up as a foster child, being labelled as being difficult. Even if her last foster mother, Katherine, gave her all the love an support Summer could need, at one point Summer just had to leave without even saying goodbye and started travelling the world.
When Summer learns that Katherine has mentioned her in her will, Summer returns to learn that in order to claim her inheritance, she must be living on the Scottish estate for a year, together with Katherine’s grandson and billionaire Edward Fitzroy.
That would have been easy if it wasn’t for the intense connection Summer had with Edward many years ago that made her leave the one place she felt loved… And it would have been easy if sparks wouldn’t be flying around even after all that time… 

Ooh how much I adore Rachael Stewart and her books! And this one for sure exceeded my high expectations! 

I can only imagine how difficult it can be for a foster child to go from home to home, never feeling like belonging or being loved. Now, there are amazing foster parents all over the world, and I can for sure only applaud them!
But with Summer, we feel how it hurt her, having no one around that truly loved her, as she was abandoned by her mother, labelled as being difficult while in care.
So I understood how and why she built such high walls, and was pretending to be tough. 

While staying with Katherine, it truly warmed my heart how Summer truly bonded with Katherine, and even after she left, the contact remained. So I kept wondering what happened to make Summer leave a place that she finally received all the love she deserved as a young woman.
As a reader, we know that Edward is somehow involved, but as this is not revealed until further in the book, I kept wondering what on earth could have happened.  Because even if Summer was a few years younger than Edward, sparks flew around! 

For us it’s not a surprise what has been written in the will, but I enjoyed (as a bit Evil Tiziana) reading how that shocked both Summer and Edward 😊
Summer and Edward couldn’t be more different from each other, with a Summer travelling all over the world, sometimes even making meets end but with an open nature , while Edward is a real business man, trying to be even more successful and being rather a closed character. 

So why would someone, and even one of us readers, even like Edward as it seems that there is nothing more than a stoic man? Because we see a sweet side in the younger Edward and an even more gentler side in adult Edward.
And seeing how strained his own relation with his parents was, showed me that even money can’t buy a perfect family. 

Sparks fly around the whole book, that is a rather shorter one compared than her Rachael Stewart’s other books.
But being shorter doesn’t mean it’s a lesser book… Because I truly enjoyed reading how Summer and Edward butt heads, but how that attraction becomes impossible to resist.
And then seeing how Edward turns in an actual Prince Charming made me truly swoon… 

When reading a book of this author, you know that you can expect lots of attraction, sparks flying of the pages etc. But what turned this book in an even better one was how Rachael showed us how important fostering can be. Even if for a short period, giving the child in your care all your love, care and kindness can make an important impact on their lives.
This is especially shown in the epilogue, that was just the perfect icing on a wonderful cake!