Love Beyond Reason

February 28, 2011
When her sister's abusive husband dies, and then her sister dies in childbirth, Kathryn Adams takes her newborn niece and hides her from the child's wealthy and overbearing grandparents. Jason Manning, her brother-in-law, finds Kathryn, determined to take his brother's daughter into his own custody. But they each discover the other is not what they imagined, and between the unwanted attraction that rises between them, and their love for the baby, they work out a compromise to provide the child with a permanent and loving home. Renée Raudman is adept at creating voices, and the characters are vividly and accurately portrayed. Her own voice in the narration is strong and mature, and in dialogue she slides from the youthful heroine to the older grandmotherly neighbor convincingly. Her performance does the male characters justice as needed, with the big and powerful hero sounding just that, and the old curmudgeon sidekick appropriately portrayed. First released 30 years ago (under Brown's pseudonym, Rachel Ryan) the slightly dated book is a classically fulfilling romance and an enjoyable listen. A Grand Central paperback.