Child of Her Heart starts with a premise that would usually make me avoid it like the plague: the sperm bank mix-up. But this is also an interracial romance with a black hero and a white heroine, not something you see every day in a series romance, so I bought the book anyway. It earns points for being different, but it’s otherwise unremarkable.

This is the fifth book in the Logan’s Legacy continuity series. I haven’t read any of the other books, but had no trouble understanding this one. The series seems to be built around another of Silhouette’s usual rich and powerful families. In this case it’s the Logans, who are involved in a number of businesses, including an apparently evil fertility clinic. Meredith Malone went to The Children’s Connection to conceive a child. Nine months later her daughter Anna was born. But Meredith is white and her daughter is black, clearly indicating that there was a mix-up in the lab and she was given the wrong sperm. Fearing a lawsuit, the clinic wants its top lawyer, Justin Weber, on the case. Unfortunately, Justin is unavailable, leaving for vacation with his two sons. So the clinic’s boardmembers decide to offer Meredith a vacation on the Oregon coast at the resort where Justin will stay. At the same time, they don’t tell Justin that they’re sending her there. You can probably figure out how well this turns out for everyone.

For her part, Meredith doesn’t want to sue the clinic. She loves her daughter, even though she does have worries about whether she’s qualified to raise a child of a different race. She takes the clinic up on its offer in order to get away from her image-conscious mother, who is pressuring her to give the baby up for adoption. At the resort, she meets single father Justin Weber and his sons Jonah and Lamond, as well as their nanny, Mauli, who happens to be biracial and gives Meredith some advice on raising her daughter. Justin and Meredith spend time together and grow closer. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before the evil clinic’s machinations are revealed and the Big Misunderstanding rears its ugly head.

This is a pleasant story that passes easily without making much of impression. The romance doesn’t have much spark. He likes her. She likes him. The kids like her. She likes the kids. Everybody likes each other. It’s all pleasant enough, but not particularly engaging or emotional. They spend a lot of time liking each other until they finally have sex, which in romance novels means they’re now in love. I couldn’t really see any other reason for them to be in love, other than he’s nice and she’s nice. I guess that adds up to love.

The difference in their races is pretty much a non-issue between them. That’s nice on one level, but it also ensures this story remains without much conflict or drama. The scenes that do deal with issues of race are the only ones that are that interesting. Meredith must deal with people staring and making rude comments about what she’s doing with a black child. Mauli shares some insights about biracial children. The scene where Meredith stands up to her mother and says she’s going to have to deal with the race of her granddaughter or lose them forever is one of the very few that flares with genuine emotion.

The characters aren’t very interesting either. Meredith is sympathetic, but bland. Justin is a thin character who isn’t developed very well. Most of the story is told from Meredith’s perspective, and the scenes that do take place from Justin’s P.O.V. aren’t very illuminating. I never got a sense of who he was as a person. His sons fall in that category of Impossibly Perfect Romance Novel Children. I didn’t believe them for a moment.

Child of Her Heart has an interesting premise, but while I applaud Silhouette for trying something new, this story is all too forgettable.