"Delightful charmer"

Con artist Jack Coleman works his trade in Savannah until the local police arrive to arrest him claiming he is Cole Jackson. However the local cops hand him over to Bethlehem, New York police sergeant Nathan Bishop to escort Cole back north to face charges of embezzlement and child abandonment.

Cole hates returning there because he left behind his son Ryan and the woman he loves Leanne Wilson, owner of SMALL WONDERS. Unable to do anything but plead guilty though he knows his parents and siblings would call him a barbarian for the con is in the gene pool, Cole is shocked by the sentence. The Judge sentences him to 500 hours of community sentencing under some weird young man Eli. Though he plans to book at the first moment he can flee, the magic of the town begins to cleanse his soul as much as his love for his son, Leanne, and her son.

The latest miracle romance is a delightful charmer though in many ways it is similar to previous stories in the series. The key is the cast. The reprobate Cole knows he has the con gene while Leanne oozes goodness yet is no turn the other cheek miss. The two children act like youngsters while Eli provides mysticism to the usual wonderful Marilyn Pappano novel.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted August 5, 2003

Summary

Coming home to Bethlehem in hand-cuffs isn't the way Cole Jackson's life was supposed to turn out. Now, trapped in the last place on earth he wants to be, he's facing serious jail time...and the woman and kids who are both better off without him. Once Cole thought sexy single mother Leanne Wilson could make a new man of him...until he walked away from the tantalizing promise of a future together. But seeing her again rekindles the kind of passion that could set one lifelong sinner on the rocky road to redemption. Liar. Schemer. Heartbreaker. Sure, Leanne knows Cole Jackson. Everyone knows how he cheated the good folk of Bethlehem, then skipped town, leaving Leanne to pick up the pieces. She swore she'd never forgive him, but something's happened since Bethlehem's bad boy returned. Maybe it's those five thousand hours of community service that are slowly turning the town Cole's way. Or maybe it's how he's seducing her all over again with a passion that makes her yearn for forever with the man who could be her last, best mistake...