The Marriage Bed by Judith Arnold (HE, May 07)

Reviewed by Penn on May 14th, 2008, 9:57am

by Judith Arnold

Format: eBook

Series: Harlequin Everlasting Love

Joelle Webber and Bobby DiFranco have been married 37 years when Joelle's HS boyfriend shows up on their doorstep, asking that their dd be tested to see if she's a match to donate bone marrow for his dying son. Bobby and Joelle had been best friends since elementary school, so when Joelle became pregnant and her ex-boyfriend gave her $1000 and the name of a doctor to perform the abortion (still illegal in 1970, not to mention not something Joelle could bring herself to do), she and Bobby got married. The problem is, Joelle and Bobby have never told their dd that she's not Bobby's biological child.

This was a good book but you need to be in the right mood for it. The problem isn't really that Bob and Jo never told their daughter the truth, it's that they've never told each other how much they love each other. They've both spent 37 years thinking that the other got married b/c Bob was just being nice and Jojo "had" to. Throw in a drunk father (Bobby's and why in the world did they invite him to their dd's wedding) and a meddling mother and we glimpse many moments through the years (told in flashbacks) where the doubts surfaced. But I also wondered why the parents tried to make Bobby and Jo admit the truth (they had guessed it). I mean, my niece and nephew are adopted, it's an open adoption yet I forget -- I'll be at the pedatrician's comparing one of them to my kids and then I'll go, "Oops, forgot, they're adopted, no genetic link . . ." So I wondered what business it was of the (grand)parents to say anything (fortunately, Bobby and Jo left town as soon as they could and rarely went back).

I believe that a marriage like this could exist. Actually, I think they do all the time . . . if you don't talk about something, you can act as if it doesn't matter. I was irked that Bobby and Joelle's oldest son was such a jerk about it when he found out. I actually had problems with the reaction of the dd and the oldest son but maybe b/c we only see the reactions from Bobby and Joelle's POV. I liked this family and felt for them, I just questioned some of their reactions. Given Bobby and Jo's backgrounds, though, it wasn't out of character that neither of them ever put themselves on the line to say, "Hey, I've always loved you, you were never my second choice." I just think it's sad.

Recommended with reservations.

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