Nameless

I picked up this book a while ago because I liked Claire Kent's other book, Escorted, so much. But the description for this one really didn't do anything for me so I put off reading it for a while. The description feels like pretty much any Harlequin romance - unexpected pregnancy, rich businessman, average any-girl. I kept picturing Diane Palmer's "The Case of the Mesmerizing Boss". The description of the book is accurate, but wow was this book compelling.Be prepared that this one is really long. Like, you really can't stay up late ONE night and read it. This one took me three or four nights of staying up moderately late to finish. There's no real external conflict in this book, so you'd think it would start to drag eventually, but it didn't at all. It was so fascinating that you just keep reading and reading to see what else these characters will do.Erin was a little hard for me to decode. On the one hand, she's had a bad marriage experience so she's not into this whole idea of love and she really doesn't trust people/men. But she's got a really great family who cares about her and is totally great. She interacts with them in a healthy way and seems to get how to be in relationships with people. It's just the idea of romance that's messed up for her. And it's confusing because she acts in a perfectly healthy relationship way. She just can't seem to get through this idea of "Love" with a capital L. Caring, sex, dates, etc. is all fine but she nearly gets hives if you mention the L word or the R word.Seth wasn't much better at relationships, but at least he had a better excuse. He's not working with simply one failed relationship, he's going off his whole formative years with no real caring. He just lost the only person who really tried to care about him and he feels like he failed at his one chance to love and be loved.One of the most compelling things about this book is that we only get Erin's perspective. It's still written in third person, but we're never inside Seth's head. Erin is not hugely perceptive, so we see very little of Seth's reasons for doing stuff. There's the occasional mysterious eyebrow raise or half-smile, but we're left guessing a lot. I was unable to put the book down, often because I just wanted to see what was going to happen with the mystery of Seth.There were a couple things I felt were eluded to that never panned out into anything. I totally thought there was going to be some significance to Erin and Seth's first sexual encounter resulting in a pregnancy. I really thought it was going to turn out that Seth got Erin pregnant on purpose and/or purposely hid a condom failure or something in order to give fate a hand in providing him with a relationship. I mean, there were some (I thought) significant actions that happened during their first encounter that would have had some explanation later, but it didn't turn out to be part of the story line.The sex scenes were wonderful and raw and really awkward. This was not a book with ephemeral, cloud-nine sort-of sex scenes. Everyone was satisfied, but it was gritty and messy and rather ungainly. I liked it and it fit the flow of the book. Erin was really self-assured when it came to sex and I liked how she was unashamed of her own sexuality. Seth was considered to be slightly in the sex-god category, but he felt less sure of himself during the sex scenes. He stayed back most of the time and seemingly trusted that Erin would say if she wanted something from him. It's not very often I see that in romance novels, but it was a nice change even if it did mean that most of the time Seth was not trying to attract Erin sexually.I was surprised and pleased that Ms. Kent was able to keep the angst and tension so high throughout this whole book. I really thought I would burn out halfway through. I can't say that there was some huge problem these two were battling besides their own inability to trust and give themselves permission to accept love, but it also didn't feel like they just spun in circles the who time. It was all so fascinating and heartbreaking. I ended up crying a couple times. These two characters were large enough for me to be completely sucked in.I don't think this is a book I could read everyday. By the second or third day of reading, I was feeling rather depressed for these two and it was hard to pull my own emotions out of the book. It's the mark of a well-written book when that happens, but it is difficult to interact in the real-world without those emotions spilling over. This isn't a happy-escape book, but it is it's own wonderful world. I will definitely keep looking for more books by this author.

I loved this book. The whole relationship progression felt realistic and raw and heartbreaking at times, and the pair's snarky banter was a treat to read. Erin was a smart and relatable heroine who wanted to stand on her own two feet, and Seth was suave and brooding and alluring when he lost control. I felt the book was well paced for the most part, and I couldn't put it down, but then it went on past its natural stopping point and wrapped up with (to me) a let-down. I felt the last 80 pages or so should've been cut of drastically compressed into a brief epilogue. This is the reason for four and not five stars.

Erin left after two years of Duke Law School to follow her ex-husband Marcus. He made the money, he had the power and after two years she could not take it anymore and left him without taking a dime. She moved back to Atlanta and took a job with a judge who used her as part secretary and part law clerk. She went home for the funeral of her Dad's best friend Mac. Mac had taken in Seth when his grandfather died, but by then he had been alone to much. He became wild in high school, but Erin saw him in the library and they both loved to read. Seth became a big name lawyer thanks to getting a big name basketball player off in a case he should have lost. No one spoke to Seth at the funeral except Erin's father and he encouraged her to go over and talk to him. Thanks to a blog there was always gossip about Seth and Erin's heart was not in it, but she went to talk to him. They decided to get drunk together and ended up in bed. A few weeks later, Erin is looking at a positive pregnancy test and has to figure out what she wants to do. She had never had any desire to be a mother and she realized Seth was not father material, but keeping her baby was the decision she made.Women seem to love damaged characters, but this is the first book in a long time where a damaged hero and heroine are portrayed realistically. Erin is so afraid that loving someone means ending up as a doormat that she does not stop to question whether the ideas she holds on to protect herself are the right thing for her. Seth did not know how to be in a family and thought he lost his last chance when Mac died. He is married to his job and keeps the women he dates out of his personal life. What was a fun one-night stand ends up pushing both their boundaries. Other reviewers say that they could not get close to the characters. That is kind of the point with Erin and Seth. Erin makes an appointment at his office to tell him about the baby and he and she are both pretty matter of fact about it. Erin does not want to marry anyone, especially someone who reminds her of her ex-husband. Seth has her investigated and it is still going on a month after he finds out. These are cynical people with trust issues. I find that maybe less romantic, but definitely more plausible than baby makes happy family books. There is a HEA, but it is one built on fits and starts and the slow building of trust and the ending is believable for these characters.If you like those three book series where there is always a reason that does not make sense why they cannot get together and the heroine takes all kinds of crap and swears her love, this may not be the book for you. Real life is not always romantic, but this story is well written, one book, and there two $.99 novellas that take you up to the teenage years of their children, proving marriage and family is about getting up every day and trying again.

Well written this book was so realistic and pulled at the heart. I was amazed the author has never had a child or been pregnant as the accuracy of the feelings one has and the parent child interactions where phenomenal. I liked that although Seth was broken he really tried and wasn't a tool about it. I liked the contrast of how he is portrayed as confident in his work but his vulnerable side comes out with his woman and how she shields that vulnerability and recognises it as a gift ad he's only that way with her.My only criticism is that Seth's voice and thoughts are not shared with the reader only through Erin' s POV so felt cheated as it was written in third person not first there's no reason why author couldn't have given us an insight into that complex mind that is Seth. Also not enough build up on his life at work to see him or get the sense of being the Bulldozer we are told he is named. Apart from that...which doesn't detract from the quality of the story....it was a fab read.

Thoroughly enjoyed this wants too sure when I read the description. Although there is a book 2 & 3 the story between Seth and Erin is completed to a hea at this point. It was nice to see the guy who is a strong leading man be the first to fall in love, usually the women are first in these types of romance, hoping the man will fall for them. I will be starting book 2 right away and would recommend this to read.

This was so lovely that I re-read it immediately. I warmed to both Erin and Seth and their gentle, if unknown to them, courtship and now I'm off to buy the next books in the series. Did I mention how much I enjoyed this book? A book hangover cure for sure and one I will probably read again and again.

Really love this author's books. Really feel the emotion conveyed by as through looks sometimes. Was very funny in parts and the conversations very witty. Experiencing all the emotions and their unfolding love was very sweet. I adore Seth just as much as I adore Andre from Escorted.

This was a gem. An almost contemporary take on an Austen novel with the very determined, complex female lead, a dashing repressed male hero and a wealth of misunderstandings that keep you just guessing on the outcome....although you knew that you would get there in the end!