There are times when I come across a romance novel that’s just plain boring. Adopted Son, unfortunately, is just that.

Jeremiah Tucker – Tuck to his friends – finds a little baby named Brady at a crime scene. Brady is clearly a neglected child, and shows the physical and mental scars. The baby’s plight brings back memories of Tuck’s own childhood. He was abandoned and spent a long time in foster homes until he was taken in by the Tuckers, a good, loving family. Tuck visits Brady everyday, and forms a bond with him. Given the title, it is no stretch of the imagination that Tuck wants to adopt Brady. There are just two problems: Tuck is a Texas Ranger who works long and dangerous hours, and he is single.

Enter Grace Whitten, Tuck’s foster brother’s sister-in-law. She is the lawyer representing a couple interested in adopting Brady. Tuck’s falling for her is supposed to provide some tension in the book, but Grace’s clear conflict of interest makes this entire premise unbelievable. It does not take a lawyer to know that she will end up withdrawing from the case.

Then all of a sudden Grace decides she’s not all that interested in her career, or her designer shoes. She wants more out of life – more specifically, she wants Tuck. Grace, who before this has demonstrated no maternal instinct finds herself yearning for a child, specifically Brady. So Tuck and Grace engage in an incredibly boring and corny romance, with a few kisses and mundane love scenes. In the end, the career woman gets what she wants and ends up working less so that she can care for her growing family.

Aww, sounds cute, you say? Well, IMHO, many women will think otherwise. Sure there are plenty of women who find their meaning in life in a husband and children and I can buy into that. But Adopted Son just didn’t work. Make me believe these two are actually in love. Explain how a woman goes from power hungry to baby hungry in the blink of an eye. Nothing about this book is believable, or for that matter remotely interesting. My advice – don’t waste your time and money.