Red Carpet Redemption

October 28, 2019
The unsatisfying third romance in the Stewart Heirs series (after His Marriage Demand) fails to put a fresh spin on familiar story lines. Hollywood heartthrob Dane Stewart faces a tabloid nightmare when his past as a sperm donor is revealed. To save face, Dane registers as a bone marrow donor for Jayden, the cute kid to whom Dane contributed his DNA, and convinces Jayden’s single mom, Iris Turner, to be his PR girlfriend. As Dane grows closer to the family, he and Iris fall in love for real. Before the start of the novel, Iris was in a car accident that left her scarred, and St. John falls back on an outdated trope: it takes the love of a good man to make Iris realize she’s still beautiful. Despite the heroine’s lack of agency, Dane and Iris have moments of genuine connection, but the fantasy of a movie star falling for a normal woman is well established and readers will long for more of a twist. This is an easy one to take a pass on. Agent: Christine Whitthohn, Book Cents Literary Agency.