"A strong character study"

Documentary director Joe Kelly comes home to Worthington, California to film his family's bar Joe's Place before it is sold. To his shock, the buyer is Lisa Malden, who he has been attracted to for over seventeen years, but his twin brother Patrick scored with the ten teen Lisa should have been his sister-in-law but she never married Patrick although she gave birth to Joe's nephew Brandon who she raises as a single mom.

Upon seeing Lisa, Joe knows he still wants her; Lisa reciprocates Joe's feelings, but does not want to deal with another Kelly. Still they spend plenty of time over Kelly's bar and soon their deep attraction turns to love. However, neither feels adequate to take that first step towards the other with their history in the way.

HIS REAL FATHER is a strong character study that looks at a couple that almost made it as teens, but did not and now have a second chance to rectify their error. The support players enhance the relationship between the lead duo so that readers understand motives to not act on feelings. Debra Salonen writes a strong family drama with the emphasis on a fully developed functioning cast.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 25, 2005

Summary

Joe Kelly is back in town. He left home with two goals: to fulfill his dream of making movies and to forget about the woman who broke his heart when she chose his twin brother over him.

Lisa Malden fell in love with Joe in seventh grade, but it was his twin brother, Patrick, who wooed her, who pursued her, who proposed to her when she found out she was pregnant. And he would have married her if his life hadn't been cut short in a drunk driving accident.

Seventeen years later, single mom Lisa is worried that history might repeat itself. Her son is in trouble. Her life is at a crossroads. And her one conviction—that Patrick was the father of her son—has been brought into question. But can she trust Joe with the truth? The men in her life have always left. Why should this time be any different?