My Reading Nook

Raising children in this day and age brings challenges like no other era ever has. Not only do parents have to deal with teen acne (which thanks to products like Proactiv is reduced in scope), but they also have to deal with ADD, drugs, cigarettes and alcohol abuse. His Real Father deals with a single mother and her now 17 year old son who’s father died before they could marry because he drove while intoxicated.

Having that hanging over his head and having the bigger-than-life example of his jock father hanging in front of him all the time made it difficult for Brandon to live up to what he thought was everyone’s expectations. And despite having that reminder of how his father died, Brandon sought comfort from liquor.

Having access to it from his grandmother’s bar made it easy as he worked there part time earning some extra money for car insurance.

Now his uncle has returned to Worthington to deal with his mother remarrying and selling the bar that’s been in the family for nearly 100 years. When he finds out who is buying the bar, he decides to stick around and correct a mistake he made some 17 years earlier.

Lisa is Brandon’s mother and, was slated to marry Patrick, Joe’s brother before his untimely death, Patrick and Lisa’s relationship had always been tumultuous and before his death, he and Lisa had had one of their arguments. Joe had tried to comfort Lisa while keeping his own feelings for her reined in, but emotions when you’re 17 are hard to keep tamped down and Lisa has always loved Joe, too, so as things will, they had an affair. Now Lisa’s come into some knowledge that she didn’t have before and has figured out that it’s entirely possible that Brandon is Joe’s son and not Patrick’s.

What should she do? Tell Brandon that Joe might be his father and get the testing to prove he is or isn’t? Will that push Brandon over the edge? He’s already having trouble in school and his teacher thinks he’s been drinking between classes.

As fate would have it, Brandon discovers that not everything between Lisa and Joe is fraternal and this sends him into a tailspin. He’s afraid of all the emotions seething around him and takes solace in a six pack of beer with a friend. Meanwhile, Lisa is blaming herself for history repeating itself, but Joe has other plans for the two of them. He asks Lisa to marry him and tells her that he’s moving back to Worthington to continue his career as a movie producer.  Brandon is found drunk but not behind the wheel of a car and they all get things straightened out between everyone.

This book had an opportunity to really deliver a message about teen drinking, but never quite made the point. The characters were believable and varied and there were several threads of relationships going on that were handled fairly well by the author. I was very disappointed that the opportunity to illustrate how teen drinking is best handled was fumbled.

His Real Father by Debra Salonen
Published by Harlequin Romance 2005
ISBN 0-373-71279-0