Publisher's Weekly
Supermodel Lucia V.--nee Lucy Ann Vargas--returns to her hometown of Waverly, R.I., to look for the illegitimate daughter she gave up for adoption years earlier. Having run from a lonely childhood and an unplanned pregnancy at the age of 17, she found a surrogate mother and confidante in Angie, her manager, and acquired international fame and fortune. Her search for her daughter, Erin, is filled with painful memories and new discoveries as she gets to know Gil Cooper, the handsome young principal of Erin's school, as well as Erin herself, from whom she conceals her true identity. Joe and Diane Fielding, Erin's adoptive parents, are resistant to Lucy's return, while struggling through a financial crisis. Meanwhile, Gil's concern for the girl's well-being, his own fears as a widowed adoptive parent and his feelings for Lucy intensify. Lucy also struggles with her attraction to Gil, and their relationship is tested when Lucy is forced to reveal her clandestine relationship with Erin. Becnel's ( A Dove at Midnight ) soggy love tale is replete with melodramatic portrayals of dysfunction and other emotional traumas.