Title:
Taylor’s Law – The Anderson Sisters Book 1
Author:
Jennifer Raines
Genre:
Contemporary Romance
Book Blurb:
Tell me a secret and I’ll tell you a lie
Ella Anderson adores her niece. Despite struggling to make ends meet, accepting her dying sister’s request she raise Tessa as her own is a no brainer. Until she receives a summons from a legal goliath on behalf of a wealthy stranger claiming paternity and, potentially, custody of her child.
Jake Taylor has been ripped off one too many times. Yet the letter from a woman claiming his cousin fathered her child feels real. His aunt and uncle are desperate for a grandchild. When the child’s aunt shows up in his office in place of the child’s mother, he smells fraud.
Secrets and lies bubble to the surface, threatening Ella and Jake’s growing attraction. In a minefield of divided loyalties, can Ella trust Jake to make the right decision about custody of Tessa?
Excerpt:
“Ms. Anderson to see Mr. Taylor.” She’d only explain Chrissy’s absence once. She didn’t have the strength for more. Every bone and muscle in her body ached at the injustice of Chrissy’s early death. Saying “my sister is dead” offended her sense of right and wrong. The words becoming harder, not easier, with each retelling.
“Please take a seat, Ms. Anderson.” The woman gestured towards the ox-blood chesterfield positioned against the opposite wall. The colour seemed fitting for this antechamber to hell. “I’ll let Mr. Taylor know you’ve arrived.”
The firm instructions reinforced all of Ella’s impressions. Power! The word reverberated through her head. Drew Browning—a man whose name didn’t appear on Tessa’s birth certificate and whom Chrissy had never named—had hired Taylor Law to represent him. Potential father! He was a stranger to Tessa, to Ella and her family. Choosing Taylor Law to represent him was a brutal demonstration he had the money and power to buy the result he wanted. Panic rose like bile in her throat.
She dropped onto the couch, settling Tessa beside her.
“’Ootles.” Tessa reached out a hand, her grey gaze full of trust. Ella knew zilch about genetics, but no one in her immediate family had grey eyes.
She pulled a soft bear with a chewed ear from her bag. “Here’s Tootles.” And wished for her own brown bear to stand sentinel at her shoulder during this meeting. Tessa began a private and unintelligible conversation with the raggedy toy, while Ella leaned back against the expensive leather, a false comfort. This time yesterday her path had been clear, raising Tessa as if she were her own child because she loved her. She’d promised Chrissy to give her niece the best upbringing she could.
Ella had never questioned the rightness of it. Tessa was the child of her heart, her nurturing love built on a million small memories—bathing Tessa when she was a baby, sharing mealtimes, comforting her when she was teething, and waiting to give her a hug when she let go of the security of the coffee table to take her first steps. When Chrissy’s health stopped her from doing simple tasks, Ella had accepted she’d be a single parent.
“You can go in now, Ms. Anderson.”
Ready or not, here I come. The words from a children’s game echoed in her mind. She had no idea what had precipitated this meeting, but her need to know outweighed the anxiety pounding at her temples. Outweighed her concern at bringing Tessa. With her regular sitter unavailable and the doctor’s advice to keep the toddler close until she established new routines, her options had shrunk to zero.
“Tessa.” She waited while the child scrambled off the sofa, the bear clutched in one hand. She held out her hand and the child took it.
The secretary threw the panelled teak door wide. A sense of unreality swept over Ella as she approached the office. Today Tessa might have a father. Dear heaven. She struggled to get her head around the idea. An absent, anonymous man who’d abandoned Chrissy, a man Ella and her family hadn’t factored into Tessa’s upbringing.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the lion’s den.
Two men—where Ella had expected one lawyer—dressed in stylish dark worsted suits, crisp business shirts and silk ties, stood when she entered. They’d been sitting in low, burnished gold, leather armchairs, but broke off their conversation to rise at her arrival. The similarity between them ended there.
Her attention skittered away from the face of the older man. She assumed he was the lawyer, Jacob Taylor. Her quarry became the younger man who’d stepped towards her. With his body encased in a minimalist, form-fitting Lanvin suit, he looked as sleek and lethal as a bullet. His face could have been carved from marble—classic lines, strong bones and a determined chin. The russet brown hair pulled back into a stubby ponytail and the gold stud in his right ear shattered his veneer of sophistication. A pirate king.
The friendly interest she’d programmed herself to display at this meeting evaporated as their eyes met.
And held.
His steel-grey gaze probed deeply, demanding access to her closest held secrets. Her instinct to share was physically and emotionally shocking. This close, his subtle scent, sandalwood with a dash of something spicy, teased her nostrils, undermining her resistance and offering a giddy temptation she struggled to understand. Her greeting caught in her throat, and she took a step back. Her nerves stretched tight, her body responding to him even as the blazing intelligence concentrated on her shifted into suspicion. She couldn’t look away.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
The tension in his liquid chocolate voice rippled through her. This man couldn’t be Tessa’s father. The ferocity of her denial rattled her. Every cell refused to accept he’d been her sister’s lover. And some remnant of reasoned thought nagged at her. He’d have eaten Chrissy alive.
“Eleanor Anderson.” With an effort, she gathered her professional poise. “Chrissy’s sister. Ella. You must be Drew.” She reached out a hand.
“You know damn well I’m not Drew.”
“If you aren’t Drew, who are you?” Off-balanced by his instant attack, she tried to steady her jumpy nerves. Withdrawing her hand, she turned to the older man, who was staring at Tessa. “Mr. Taylor, your letter requested Chrissy meet you here about Drew Browning’s paternity and …” She stumbled to a halt over the word “custody,” then shook her head as a bizarre idea formed. “You can’t be Drew?”
“I’m his father, Peter.” His presence confused her further but confirmed the identity of the pirate king.
She stretched out a hand for a second time. “Then you must be Mr. Taylor. Good morning.”
“Where’s Chrissy?” Taylor demanded.
Before she could answer, Tessa’s soft voice ricocheted around the room. “Mama’s in heaven.”
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What’s your favorite thing about autumn:
I live in temperate Sydney, Australia, and our autumns are often balmy and slow to arrive. But I love the cooler evenings, when you know winter is just around the corner. You’re still savouring warm days, but welcome the chance to snuggle up at home as darkness falls. You dig into the cupboards or wardrobes where you’ve stored your warmer clothing and unearth items you’d forgotten or can’t wait to wear again. It’s a time of rediscovery.
What inspired you to write this story:
Following a family gathering where sisters from two generations recalled significant childhood events but had vastly different memories of, and emotional reactions to, those events, I played with the idea of sisters scarred by an event in their teens and how it played out in their lives and loves. A developer abetted by an unscrupulous lawyer swindles prime farmland from the Anderson family. The sisters move in different directions. Ella, the lead in Taylor’s Law, is passionate about justice, while Grace is passionate about keeping the family farm.
Giveaway –
One lucky reader will win a $100 Amazon gift card.
Open internationally.
Runs September 1 – 30, 2024
Drawing will be held on October 1, 2024.
Author Biography:
Australian Jennifer Raines writes sensuous contemporary romances set mainly, but not exclusively, in Australia—think Malta, Finland, New Zealand or ? A dreamer and an optimist, her stories are a delicious cocktail of passion, mutual respect and loyalty because she still believes in happily-ever-afters.
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