First Born Son by Muriel Jensen, Delancey Brothers #1, Harlequin Superromance #825, February 1999, Rating: C

Three very different brothers. Three very different lives. One great opportunity. is the tag line for the Delancey Brothers trilogy. In First Born Son we meet the brothers: Tate, Mike and Shea and discover just what that opportunity is.

First Born Son is Tate's story. An architect, divorced from his political socialite wife who has just remarried and moved to Paris with his two teenaged daughters. The death of his uncle, the leaving of a vineyard in rural Oregon to he and his brothers changes his life forever. Tate is the take charge type of guy, which worked well as the oldest brother and in business. It does not seem to work so well with the vineyard's only worker, Colette. He discovers that revamping the vineyard is very different and in some ways far more satisfying than being responsible for big buildings that change the skyscape of Boston. Can he hold out for Colette and a second chance at love until she's banished the ghosts from the past of her and her children? A likeable man, Tate Delancey, is a man who is used to getting what he wants. This having to wait and see business is foreign to him, but he knows it's what he has to do if he wants a chance at happiness.

Colette Palmer is a widow with two young girls, Megan and Katie. Due to the circumstances of her father's death, Katie hasn't talked since the night she discovered her dad's body on the bathroom floor. A firefighter, who met Colette by saving her life in a dorm fire, had been hit by a beam during a rescue and did not realize it had hit him as hard as it had. Colette is ready for a fight, ready to stand her ground and keep the vineyard the way it is but she's also prepared for what she believes is the inevitable, to be out of a home once the Delancey brothers take over the vineyard and sell it. Slowly, the brothers earn her respect, Tate earns her love. But she's not ready for that, despite knowing she turns to him when she needs support. Colette is a likeable woman with backbone and grit. I liked her and her daughters and was interested in watching the emotional barriers for her come down.

First Born Son was a nice read. It was fun to watch the family and crew throw themselves in the work of putting the property together to be a functional vineyard once again. Colette's father as was the wildlife refuge worker, Rachel, were nice additions to the story. The setting was interesting and different. I look forward to reading about Mike and Shea's adventures into love as well. I rate First Born Son a C.

©Susan Falk and phantomroses.com