Change of Heart: A Novel - Softcover

A supposedly modern young woman must choose between single motherhood and a full, happy life in this hopelessly dated and unconvincing melodrama, by the author of the equally dreadful But First for Love (1991) and This I Promise You (1989). Rushing from junior-college classes to joyous pre-wedding shopping sprees with her wealthy San Francisco grandmother, Nevada native Kerry McKinney leads such a treacly-perfect life that the reader can hardly wait for the axe to fall--this time in the form of a positive pregnancy test. Stunned, Kerry struggles to accustom herself to the idea of walking down the aisle with a very thick waist, but embarrassment soon gives way to dismay when Brad is killed in a car accident and Kerry must decide what to do about her now-fatherless unborn child. Running off to grandmother Lisbeth's Victorian mansion to think things through, Kerry learns that by great coincidence Lisbeth's new tenants, a professional couple, are dying to adopt a child. Lisbeth, convinced that Kerry can't possibly have a full life saddled with a baby, arranges for a post- pregnancy job at a trendy San Francisco magazine in exchange for Kerry's promise to hand the infant over to her tenants. Kerry obediently goes along with the plan until after her son is born, at which point she panics and decides to keep the baby--only to change her mind back again. Once the child is safely gone, Kerry is relieved to find she enjoys the magazine job, but then a visit to her infant son convinces our fickle heroine to fight for custody. The adoptive parents suffer paroxysms of anxiety over Kerry's decision, only to learn that Kerry, tempted by the love of a handsome law student, has once again decided to sign her baby over to them for good. Who are we supposed to cheer for here? Wooden dialogue, dated assumptions, and a host of whopping coincidences leave the reader caring not a whit where that baby goes. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Stern (This I Promise You, HarperCollins, 1991) is a romance veteran who turns her focus on a contemporary issue: the unwed mother. Kerry, the novel's protagonist, is pregnant when her fiance, Brad, is killed in an automobile accident. Keeping the pregnancy a secret, Kerry turns to her wealthy, understanding grandmother in San Francisco, who offers her shelter and helps her find a job. In rapid succession, Kerry decides to give up the baby for adoption; selects her grandmother's tenants, Chris and Matt, as the prospective parents; has the baby; meets Josh, an attractive young man; decides she wants the baby; and sues to reverse the adoption. There is minimal character development in this made-for-television book, and although Stern tells us what Kerry is thinking, her decisions seem unmotivated. Pregnant teens will find it hard to identify with a girl who suffers so few consequences and whose lifestyle is so comfortable. A marginal purchase.?Andrea Caron Kempf, Johnson Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Overland Park, Kan.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.