The Surrogate by Penelope Ward -review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 26, 2024

ABBY:
I’m falling for the father of the baby I’m carrying.
The problem is: it’s not my baby.
And the broody widower is not looking for a long-term partner.
As a surrogate, the deal was that I’d only be in England long enough to give birth.
At first, the man seemed as pretentious as his name: Sigmund Benedictus.
He and I butted heads.
Sig challenged my intentions, accused me of just wanting to do this for the money.
Gradually, he learned to trust me.
He even became protective.
Over time, our heated animosity turned into fiery chemistry.
I was falling in love with him.
But my time here had a limit.
I needed to protect my heart from the devastatingly gorgeous older man who’d end up breaking it.
SIG:
When my in-laws told me they wanted to use my dead wife’s eggs to conceive a grandchild, I wasn’t immediately on board.
They swore that on her deathbed Britney told them it was what she wanted—but only if I fathered the baby. Her parents insisted they would be the ones to raise it.
Against my better judgment, I agreed.
I vowed to keep my heart out of it, though.
I’d continue to pretend it wasn’t happening and live the empty, single life I’d become accustomed to the past five years since Britney died.
And despite the fact that a certain younger American named Abby Knickerbocker had awakened things inside me that I thought were long dead…
I most certainly wouldn’t fall in love with the surrogate.

••••••

REVIEW:THE SURROGATE by Vi Keeland is a contemporary, adult, erotic, romance story line set in the same world as THE ARISTOCRAT. This is thirty-seven year old, British businessman Sigmond ‘Sig’ Benedictus, and twenty-five year old, American surrogate Abby Knickerbocker’s story line. THE SURROGATE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. Sig Benedictus is the cousin of Leo Covington (The Aristocrat).

Told from dual first person perspectives (Sig and Abby) THE SURROGATE follows five years after the death of Sig Benedictus’ wife. Sig’s wife had her eggs frozen, and his former in-laws wanted to raise their late child’s baby. With Sig’s reluctant permission, an American surrogate was found, a woman with whom Sig would fall in love. Enter Abby Knickerbocker. From the outset, Sigmund’s attitude towards Abby was cold and unforgiving. Not wanting to get too close, Sig Benedictus kept his distance but time spent together found Sigmund pulled towards the woman carrying his child. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Sig and Abby, and the potential fall-out as Abby’s time in the UK comes to a close.

The world building focuses on love and loss. Sigmund Benedictus continues to struggle with the loss of his wife, a woman he knew for a very short time. Abby Knickerbocker was hoping to do a favor for a family friend but found herself on the outside looking in throughout part of her pregnancy. Having felt unwelcome by our story line hero, Abby battled between head and heart knowing the love she felt for Sigmund would never be returned.

The relationship between Abby and Sigmund begins as an arrangement but an arrangement Sigmund originally knew nothing about. Trying to keep his distance from our story line heroine, Sigmund made Abby’s life in the UK a bit of a struggle knowing the child she was carrying was going to a man who had yet to let go of the past. The $ex scenes are intimate and provocative without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters are energetic and fun. We are introduced to Abby’s father Roland Knickerbocker, as well as Sigmund’s ‘second ‘ mother Lavinia, and his parents, and former in-laws Phil and Kate, We are re-introduced to Sig’s cousin Leo and his wife Felicity.

THE SURROGATE is a story of love and loss; family and relationships; friendships and forgiveness, acceptance and love. The premise is emotional and captivating; the romance is passionate; the characters are desperate, broken but determined to thrive.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as a television news anchor, before switching to a more family-friendly career. She is the proud mother of a beautiful 11-year-old girl with autism and a 9-year-old boy. Penelope and her family reside in Rhode Island.

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