“Until Proven Guilty” by LDS author Betsy Brannon Green is the story of Beth Middleton, a young woman whose fiancé was killed in a car accident on the morning of their wedding. After going through a long period of depression, she finally rouses herself enough to get an apartment and a job at the library, but she believes that she will never get married. After all, she promised to love her fiancé forever, and she doesn’t want to break that promise.
Her old boss calls her one day with an interesting proposition. Divorced criminal defense attorney Jack Gamble needs a nanny, but not just any nanny. His parents think that he’s not capable of taking care of his young daughter by himself, and they want to sue him for custody. If Beth will use the child psychology skills she learned a lifetime ago and analyze the family, providing reports to the judge in charge of the case, he stands a chance of being able to keep his daughter.
Beth agrees to take the job for a three-month period, and promises to be completely impartial in her reports. She promises Mr. Gamble that anything negative she observes will be reported, and he agrees.
When Beth moves into the Gamble home, she’s intimidated by the high fence surrounding the property, the security system, and the way she seems to be watched all the time. She later learns that death threats have been made against Jack and Chloe, and there’s a reason for the caution.
As Beth helps Jack prepare for a high-profile murder case, she finds herself drawn to the lawyer, even though she didn’t think she’d ever fall in love again. She’s equally in love with Chloe, her five-year-old charge, and she starts to think that maybe her life can include marriage and a family. But first she gets caught up in Jack’s case in a very dangerous way, and must survive before she can make plans for her future.
I enjoyed this book. I did have a few small issues with it – in one segment, Jack becomes ill and Beth nurses him back to health, during which time he acts like a spoiled brat. She finds it attractive – I didn’t. I also would have liked to see Beth come to a better understanding of how the church views marriage and family, and that she’s not obligated to wait for her deceased fiancé until the afterlife. She does reach that conclusion eventually, but it should have happened sooner and a little more pointedly. The question was answered rather ambiguously for my tastes.
A nice romance, a good suspense, and a great taste of Southern living, you’ll like this book.
(This book was published in 2002 by Covenant.)
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