Overview
A hard-driving businessman sees love with new eyes when a sweet young widow and her son change his life — and his heart — forever.
Wealthy corporate genius Jason Wilding reluctantly takes a break from his high-powered world to visit his hometown of Abernathy, Kentucky. As a favor to his physician brother David, he finds himself spending one week as a live-in baby-sitter in the ramshackle home of Amy Thompkins, who has captured David's heart. Courting the whimsical, artistic Amy has been difficult with her adorable but demanding baby, Max, in tow, and Jason's help is just what David needs.
But stepping into Amy's patched-together world has the most remarkable effect — on Jason....Amy's joy for life, her love for her son, and her sparkling humor are irresistible — and tiny Max adores Jason beyond reason. Soon, the enigmatic CEO is thawing. And his newfound smile reminds Amy of a Mount Rushmore monument finally cracking up — in the best possible way.
Their mutual attraction is glowing bright, but what to do about David? In this heart-warming and unforgettable bestseller, Jude Deveraux celebrates the unexpected paths on the heart's journey toward love, and the eternal bond between mother and child.
Synopsis
Men who love babies, and the women who love them — Jude Deveraux has done it again with a seasonal offering of love, romance, and laughter. The prolific author bears a Christmas gift early this year, a small but potent novel called The Blessing. A romantic romp about two handsome brothers both entranced by the same woman, The Blessing is a stocking stuffer you're not likely to forget any time soon.
Library Journal
A rich New York businessman who improbably agrees to babysit for the young widow his Southern brother is pursuing finds himself warming up to the baby — and its mother.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewDeveraux Delivers a Blessing in Disguise
Men who love babies, and the women who love them. Jude Deveraux has done it again with her seasonal offering of love, romance, and laughter. Deveraux always manages to stay on top of the romance genre with her unbeatable sense of humor, her faith in love, and the hope that digs itself out from even the worst ashes of an old love affair — or a new one. When she exploded the time-travel subgenre of romance with A Knight in Shining Armor, she began to make the transition into contemporary romances from her position as Princess Regent of Historicals. I would hazard a guess that Jude Deveraux has made the transition more successfully than many of her colleagues — her contemporary paranormal of last winter, An Angel for Emily, ranked as one of my favorites of the year for its warmth, humor, and pure storytelling magic. Now Deveraux bears a Christmas gift early this year, a small but potent novel called The Blessing. You'll be stunned by the beautiful cover that reproduces Gustav Klimt's fabulous painting of a flower-bedecked mother holding her beautiful baby close to her cheek — and the story inside matches the enchantment and warmth of that cover. This is not a book for the holiday season alone, although if you have friends who are addicts of the genre, this would be a great gift to wrap up for them and place under the tree.
Speaking of great gifts, Jason Wilding would be a great Christmas present to any woman. He's a millionaire many times over, a corporate hotshot who jets from Manhattan to anynumberof international ports — and women. Handsome, dark, and brooding, Jason looks nothing like his angelic brother, David. David is a doctor in the small town of Abernathy, Kentucky, and is the blond, blue-eyed cherub who was always the good one, while Jason was always a bit wild. But when Jason agrees to do an off-the-wall favor for his brother at Christmastime, the world turns upside down for both of them.
David's been trying to woo the beautiful and resourceful Amy Thomkins, a widow, but her brat is getting in the way — well, the kid's a brat in David's eyes, at least. David never has time to successfully court Amy because she's always having to tend to her six-month-old, so he drags his brother down to be a bit of an unofficial nanny to the boy. The boy is named Max, and Jason's shocked at how much he enjoys being around the baby. Soon enough, Jason is also falling for Amy, and he begins to find covert ways of wooing her. Because of his outrageous fortune, Jason manages to get special baby gifts and make available to Amy all kinds of bargains in the baby department. Now, Amy is no fool: She has a hankering for Jason also, and knows that David may not be right for her. But she's worried that Jason is gay — not that there's anything wrong with that, she can always use a wonderful male friend in her life — but she wouldn't want to get her hopes up on an unsure thing. However, Jason soon overcomes this misconception, and they find that the heat in their hearts translates nicely to the heat in their flesh. Animal magnetism is sure to win out — right?
But then complications occur, and Jason, David, and Amy are off on a romp through misunderstandings, manipulations, and ultimately the discovery of what true love is — and why it can't be resisted. Deveraux is not a writer to be missed, no matter where her fictional muse takes her. In true Deveraux style, The Blessing, is an enjoyable romantic romp about family values and finding Mr. Right.
—Jessie Rose Lucas
From the Publisher
San Antonio Express-News Plenty of romance, fun and adventure...fans won't be disappointed.The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) A must for Deveraux fans.
Heart to Heart Unforgettable....Enriched with humor and caring, and family ties.
The Midwest Book Review The Blessing is another bestseller by one of the all-time greats.
Kerrville Daily Times A heartwarming story.