He Belongs to Me by Theresa Rizzo – a Review
Description:
He Belongs to Me is a love story . . . a tale of betrayal and deception and of a young mother’s determination to recover what belongs to her.Forced to leave her baby and tricked into relinquishing her parental rights, four years later Catherine Boyd is back and she’ll do anything to regain custody of her son–even reconcile with the husband falsely accused of killing their son’s twin.All in the name of love for a little boy, generations of pain and tragedy are exposed in a courtroom drama
He Belongs to Me is a love story . . . a tale of betrayal and deception and of a young mother’s determination to recover what belongs to her.Forced to leave her baby and tricked into relinquishing her parental rights, four years later Catherine Boyd is back and she’ll do anything to regain custody of her son–even reconcile with the husband falsely accused of killing their son’s twin.All in the name of love for a little boy, generations of pain and tragedy are exposed in a courtroom drama
Review:
4.5 out of 5 for this reader folks!
WOW! JUST WOW! What a serious intense read that was. I don’t think I have ever cried this much over a book. OH MY HEART was pulled and pushed, squeezed and there were times I thought I couldn’t read any more because I felt so raw (small disclaimer here as I have a hard time reading anything about children torn from their parents or young children dying, so I might be ultra sensitive here). In actuality this was a hard read for me as it was so emotional and left me feeling icky and good all at the same time! Hard to explain that, and honestly as worthy of the 4.5 stars this book gets from me, I can say I will not reread!
He Belongs To Me by Theresa Rizzo is a contemporary read that yes is classified as romance. However, while romance is such an integral part of the story, it wasn’t the end all be all to this book. I really believe that this should be also classified as some kind of court/suspense as well.
Catherine Boyd is our leading lady. She has grown up in a life or order and privilege. She marries Thomas Boyd (our leading man and her ultimate soul mate) at a very young age due to lust and love and pretty much goes against her parents wishes. Catherine and Thomas soon discover that they are expecting twins. Shortly after the birth of the twin boys, one of them sadly passes away. Thomas is then accused of his son’s death and undergoes a trial only to be found innocent. But the damage is done! The marriage is pulled apart and after some nasty words from Catherine, Thomas packs his bags and leaves (although unknown to Catherine, never really stops checking in)!
While Catherine is in a serious emotional state, her parents convince her to go back to college out of town and they will take care of her other son Andrew (Drew). She believes she signs over temp custody for the duration of her education and will be reunited with Drew once she is stable with a home and a job. Graduation comes, as does the time for her to get her son back. HOWEVER …. asshat daddy bigbucks (I am being so kind using that term) promptly tells her that she will not have her son unless she moves back home and begins the live that they have chosen for her. Then it is revealed that she was tricked into signing permanent custody (to her parents) papers and that she is not entitled to have her son back!
Catherine decides to play hard ball with idiotstick dad and goes back to find the husband that she never quite divorced. Thomas agrees to a temporary reconciliation to get their son back. They move into a house together, in public play the happy “trying to make it work” couple but deep inside they both still have so much unresolved with each other that you wonder if these two will ever really have a chance to make it work! They fight the natural attraction they have for each other as they are fearful of loving deeply and trusting one another again! They need to learn how to be parents to a little boy they hardly know but love so very much.
We are taken through an intense and incredible court room battle where dirty secrets are revealed, anger is thrown about so freely and where as a reader you truely have no clue where this ending is going to go! You read all about a deception and betrayal so unthinkable it boils your blood to have to read about it. The ending … well … ya …. I’ll leave it at that! 😉
I love a book that takes you on a rollercoaster and the box of kleenex that was beside me was evidence that I had one heck of a ride. Why the 4.5 and not the 5 you ask then??? EASY! At times I felt there was a little too much angst. I get that this was THAT kind of book, and maybe it was my own mindset, but I wanted more happy!
Theresa Rizzo writes beautifully. Her courtroom scenes were my fave and she writes a pretty great romance scene too! LOL I hope to read more of her in the near future!
So, do Catherine and Thomas rekindle and make it? Who does Drew end up with? Grandma and Grandpa “we think the world revolves around us because we are pompous asses with money” or Mommy and Daddy “we have finally understood that we need to grow up already to be the best parents we can be”?
HAPPY READING! 🙂
Reviewed by Rachel
Copy provided by Publisher
