Sarah's Child by Linda Howard

A tragic accident took everything that mattered to Rome Mattews -- his wife, Diana, and their two little boys. And it robbed Sarah Harper of her best friend. In the two years since the tragedy, Sarah has wanted to reach out to Rome, but she knew she needed to stay away, guarding the secret she had kept from him and Diana all those years -- that she was in love with her best friend's husband.

But now Rome needs her. And though another woman will hold his heart forever, Sarah agrees to be his wife, knowing that everything has a price, including love. Then something totally unexpected rekindles her hidden hope that a marriage of convenience will become a union of love. Now it all comes down to her husband. Will Rome keep fighting his own growing need for a woman who dares him to believe there are second chances in life . . . or will he give in to the power of love and miracles?


This is no doubt one of LH's best works. What a real tearjerker! You'd be drained by the time you're done with it. But it's a good kind of drained.

I know y'all have read this book. And I know (almost?) all of us think that Rome was cold to Sarah several times. But I could not really hate him for that. What happened to him after the death of his first wife and their two children was understandable. When we get hurt, e.g. when we lose some one special and important, it's human nature to protect ourselves from being vulnerable to that kind of hurt again.

And because Sarah was so in love with him, she was practically a martyr to the nth power when she married him knowing that he was still in love with his first wife--and her best friend. But she had to believe in the miracle that Rome would come to love her back because after all, his wanting her and wanting to marry her were already miracles themselves.

Sarah had guts, and I love her for that, when she practically handed Rome an ultimatum after she accidentally got pregnant. He didn't want to have any more kids so when it happened, he wanted her to get rid of it. But as her ultimatum went, he could stay with her--and the kid--or leave. But he wasn't stupid to just give up what he had with her--and he had fallen in love with her. He was too stubborn though when it came to the baby. I'd expected that he would give in earlier than he did. It would have been nice if he was really with her during the birth of their daughter or maybe even earlier on in the pregnancy.

Nevertheless, it was still a very good read. The end was kinda rushed. I personally would have loved if there was another chapter, or maybe even a short epilogue. That would be another crying session. But it's all good.

Final verdict: 9/10. Must read, must have.