Family Trust [Mass Market Paperback]

Amanda Brown (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2004

Firmly planted on the Wall Street fast track to success, Becca Reinhart has no desire to marry and raise a family. Ditto Edward Kirkland, a charming playboy who has never known what it means to work for a living, and hopes never to find out. Enter Emily, who becomes Becca and Edward’s common denominator when a quirk of fate gives them joint custody of the precocious little girl. Suddenly, two people who have never met find themselves sharing the trials and tribulations of domestic life as they navigate the rocky shoals of parenthood, from naptime to play dates to pre-school admissions. And amid the daily demands of raising a young child, Becca and Edward discover something else: They’re made for each other.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Brown (Legally Blonde) has come up with another winning premise. Becca Reinhart, a scrappy, self-made 31-year-old workaholic on Wall Street's fast track, loves her job and has no interest in snagging a husband. Edward Kirkland, a genteel, good-natured bachelor in his mid-30s, is content to handle the family's philanthropies and don a tux to dine for a good cause most evenings. He is expected to marry Bunny Stirrup, daughter of neighbors in the Hamptons, but is in no hurry to do so. Becca and Edward are thrust together when they become the co-guardians of Emily Stearns, a four-year-old suddenly orphaned by the death of both parents. Emily's mother had been Becca's best friend, and her father Edward's. Precocious Emily, heir to a fortune, desperately needs love and attention. Becca gives up business meetings in Paris and Stockholm to see that Emily is accepted into the right nursery school. Edward gives up his treasured "irresponsible solitude," as well as his regular squash game, to play hide and seek. The less-than-maternal Bunny, threatened by Becca and the change in Edward's lifestyle, connives with his mother to hasten their nuptials, going so far as to engage a wedding coordinator and place an announcement in the Sunday Times. Edward is bewildered, but he's too much of a dutiful son to call a halt-even though lately he finds himself wondering what it would be like to kiss Becca. The hasty and contrived climax defies credibility, but this featherlight charmer makes a perfect beach read.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Becca Reinhart and Edward Kirkland couldn't be more different. Becca is a powerful and successful venture capitalist who schedules her life down to the minute, thrives on high-pressure situations, and craves the rush of sealing a deal. Edward, born into money, lives a life of leisure and relaxation as head of his family's philanthropy efforts and whose hobby is dating as many beautiful women as possible. When Becca and Edward find out they are coguardians of little four-year-old Emily, preschool interviews soon take precedence over business meetings, and bedtime stories replace benefit galas. Two strangers thrust into parenthood, Becca and Edward blindly maneuver their way though domestic life trying to create a stable new environment for Emily. But when Edward announces his engagement to a young society woman, Becca faces the prospect of going back to her old fast-paced lifestyle or finding a way to keep the joy she's found with Emily and Edward. Brown, the author of Legally Blonde (2001), spins a fun and charming tale of love and instant parenthood. Carolyn Kubisz
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Plume (April 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452285534
• ISBN-13: 978-0452285538
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,118,798 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wimpy--And not just the male protagonist!, March 30, 2004

By 

amyincanton "amyincanton" (Canton, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family Trust (Hardcover)

Okay, I realize from the other reviews, that I am in the minority of people who really didn't like this book. To me, though, this book lacked passion, originality, a believable plot, and likeable characters (including the little four-year-old girl who needed a lot more discipline than she was getting). Without saying too much as to spoil the ending (but, honestly, was anyone REALLY surprised by the ending?), I just have to say that I just found the whole premise, including the love story, to be ludicrous! Who would list someone as guardian of their child without consulting that person first to make sure that your child would be left in capable, welcoming hands? Did Amy and Arthur really consider Becca and Edward as the parental types? What groom-to-be of such wealth would be such a doormat that he would just meekly go along with a forced wedding in which he didn't love the bride, and really was only expected to show up the day of the wedding? Also, with Edward's incredible wealth, I didn't buy for one moment that he and Becca would have had that much difficulty getting Emily into a preschool. And, I want to know what happens after the book ends (again not to give away the "surprise" ending) (...). This book was filled with unflattering stereotypes and occurrences that were neither plausible or interesting. For those other reviewers who applauded this book for being good "light reading," I think for my light reading, I'll stick to books by Sandra Brown or Linda Howard.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Predictable, flat and boring, June 20, 2005

By 

Cate (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family Trust (Hardcover)

Becca Reinhart is a Wall Street workaholic, who has three reactions to anything that happens: she laughs, she smiles, or her eyes sparkle. These are the only personality traits the author has seen fit to give her, and that shallowness persists throughout the entire book. When her friend Amy is killed in an accident, Becca learns she has been named guardian of Amy's four-year-old daughter Emily. A few days later she learns that Edward Kirkland, one of Manhattan's most eligible bachelors, has also been named as Emily's guardian. The three of them move in together into the Upper East Side six-bedroom apartment (count 'em, six) Emily has inherited. (Emily also likes to go to Rumpelmayer's, an ice cream place that actually closed in the 1980s, leaving the reader to wonder if the author knows anything at all about New York City.)

The situation -- single man, single woman, one apartment -- is ripe for romance, although for quite a while nothing happens. Given how flat and boring the characters are, it's not surprising neither can find anything attractive in the other. Instead, Becca and Edward spend their time together going to disastrous pre-school admissions interviews for Emily, Becca laughing merrily all the way, and trust me, she's the only one laughing. I assume these scenes were meant to be funny. They're not.

Eventually, of course, Edward shakes off his conniving fiancee who wants to send Emily to boarding school in Switzerland (think the baroness in The Sound of Music) and the three do end up one happy family. It's an ending that anybody can see coming from the opening pages of the book; there' s no element of surprise anywhere, although Becca does wear a long orange tutu-like dress for the last chapters. Moreover, you have to wonder where the editor was, since the book is full of passages that would make any English teacher cringe: "'Thanks,' she said, 'but here's the real star,' she said, lifting Emily, who beamed at the pleasure of meeting new people in all her glorious dressups."

According to the front of the book, Amanda Brown wrote the book upon which the movie "Legally Blond" was based. The back of the book shows glowing reviews of the movie "Legally Blond." Presumably the plan is sales by association, but it would take more than Reese Witherspoon to help this one.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars decent but nothing extrordinary, July 9, 2004

By 

Glowie (New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family Trust (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a big chick lit reader, and after reading a couple of reviews of this book i decided to get it. I guess my expectations were so high that i was slightly disappointed when i began reading. its hard to have a light and funny story when the first few chapters dive into explaining the contrasting personalites of the two people, and then into the tragic accident. there was not much chemistry or interaction between Becca and Edward. the shining star of the story was little Emily with her bright personality.

Even though the book was a decent read, i wouldnt recommend this book as a must read but as a if you are bored and have nothing else, why not read.

some books i definitely recommend are "Can you keep a Secret" by Sophie Kinsella, "Boy Meets Girl" & "Boy Next Door" by Meg Cabot. make sure you bring extra books because you will fly through these books.