Book Review: He Belongs to Me by Theresa Rizzo

Summary: 
He Belongs to Me is a love story . . . a tale of betrayal and deception and of a young mother's determination to recover what belongs to her.

Forced to leave her baby and tricked into relinquishing her parental rights, four years later Catherine Boyd is back and she'll do anything to regain custody of her son--even reconcile with the husband falsely accused of killing their son's twin.

All in the name of love for a little boy, generations of pain and tragedy are exposed in a courtroom drama.

Release Date: June 15, 2013
Age Group: Adult
Source: Review copy from author

Review:
Since I became a parent, I find myself drawn to adult novels about parents and their children.  I am especially enraptured with novels about parents losing a child, whether through death or kidnapping.  That makes me sound quite maudlin, doesn't it?  I think what draws me in about these types of stories is the ever-present fear that it could happen to me.  

He Belongs to Me is about a young mother who will stop at nothing to get her son back, away from her well-meaning but controlling parents.  I found the book to be a little slow to start, and slow again in the middle of the story.  It really took off about halfway through, at which point there was no stopping me: I simply had to know if Catherine would be successful in her quest to obtain parental rights over her little boy.  

I liked Catherine's tenacity and optimistic spirit.  She was an easy character to like, and I really felt for her.  My favorite part of the book was the actual courtroom battle.  That's where the story really took off and I found the legal drama to be very entertaining.  I also loved the ending, which was heartfelt and emotional.

There were times in the book where the characters' actions were irrational and entirely flawed.  I found myself wondering "what in the world are they thinking".  But, characters are human and aren't perfect, no matter how much we would want them to be.

I really enjoyed He Belongs to Me and would definitely read Theresa Rizzo again.
 


5 comments:

  1. O I'm the opposite. Since I became a mom I steer clear of these kinds of stories. They get me too emotional I think.

    That being said, this does sound good.

    I like the cover too.

    Great review.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi JuJu, I know what you mean--I avoided The Hunger Games for years, ignoring reports of what a terrific book it was because the idea of kids competing against each other to the death was a HUGE turn-off for me. But one too many people raved about it and HAD to read the other books in the series, I finally had to give it a try and after the first chapter Suzanne Collins had me hooked. As long as it is well-written, with interesting characters and has a happy/redeeming ending . . . I've decided to broaden my scope of books I'm willing to read.
    Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi JuJu,
    I know exactly what you mean! I ignored the great things I'd heard about The Hunger Games for YEARS because the idea of kids fighting each other to the death was repugnant to me. But when one too many friends raved about it and had to read the whole series . . . I had to at least give it a try and was hooked from chapter 1. As long as the writing is strong, characters interesting and ending satisfying--preferably happy--then I'm willing to broaden my horizons and give a book a chance. Thanks for stopping by!

    ReplyDelete
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