From Writers Unlimited: This month, Superromance author Joan Kilby has written a sweet yet poignant romance about the personal growth of a married couple struggling to find themselves without losing each other in the process. Full of real honest to goodness emotion from solid characters with real issues, this believable and well-written glimpse into the lives of everyday people facing everyday problems is sure to keep readers glued to their seats for a one shot reading marathon once they start reading Child Of Their Vows.

This is an endearing love story with an enticing combination of personalities of well-developed believable characters full of angst and turmoil. Child of Their Vows contains equal measures of emotional pain and suffering combined with the sexual tension that is always there to make it a one sitting read. It flows from the pages, making it seem that much more real and enables readers to take the characters and the story into their hearts with the hope of loving and protecting them. It has definite appeal to readers who enjoy well-written "second chance at love" stories.

—Diana Tidlund, Writers Unlimited Reviewer

A letter from the author regarding her latest book, a February 2003 release:

Dear Reader,

Most romance novels stop at the altar; I've often thought this is where the story of a couple really begins. Some couples, like Kelly and Max Walker, are meant to be together. But even the happiest of families may have secrets that rock the very foundation of a solid marriage.

On her thirteenth wedding anniversary, Kelly learns that Max had son by a liaison previously unknown to her, and their past becomes a lie. When Max, who longs for more children, discovers Kelly is pregnant and contemplating abortion, their future is in jeopardy.

Max wants a son. Kelly wants a life. For a marriage to survive requires not just love but a willingness to accommodate the needs of a partner who may have different life goals. Is the love that brought Kelly and Max together as teenagers strong enough to transcend their problems and nurture them through their evolving relationship?

Child Of Their Vows is my third book about the Hanson sisters of Hainesville, WA. Child of His Heart featured Kelly's older sister, Erin, and Child of Her Dreams was about her younger sister, Geena. Finally it's Kelly turn to have her story told. I hope you've enjoyed reading about Kelly, Erin and Geena's special relationship with each other, and with the men they love, as much as I've enjoyed writing about them. I'm going to miss being part of their world!

I love to hear from my readers. Please write to me at P.O. Box 234, Point Roberts, WA 98281-0234, or e-mail me.

Sincerely,
Joan Kilby

Excerpt of Child Of Their Vows

Max steered around a hairpin turn on the wet mountain road and Kelly glanced sideways; both of his hands gripped the wheel and his jaw was set. He was thinking about his son, Randall. She couldn't stop thinking about the boy, either.

She didn't want to talk to Max but she had to. "I can't believe you fathered a baby and didn't tell me."

He took his gaze off the road. "I was eighteen and stupid. I was too much in love with you to risk losing you by confessing the truth."

"And now you're not."

The blaring horn of a passing semi-trailer snapped his gaze back to the twisting wet highway. "Not what?"

"In love with me. Now you can tell the truth because you don't love me any more and don't care if you lose me."

"For God's sake, Kelly. That's not true. It's only come up because the boy contacted me."

He had a son, not by her. Calmness deserted her as hysteria clawed at her throat. "The boy, the boy. He's the boy you always wanted."

"You know I love our daughters more than anything. Randall isn't going to change that. He just wants to see me. He's curious about his biological parents. And no, I don't know if he's contacted his mother—Lanni."

"Do...do you want to meet him?"

"Yes. Would that bother you?"

"Are you crazy? It would tear me apart. It would tear us apart. And what will the girls think?"

"They might be pleased to have a big brother. I never meant to hurt you, Kelly. What is the real issue? Is it that I slept with another woman, or the fact that I had a child you didn't know about?"

In her reflection in the darkened window, Kelly watched raindrops stream down her face. Lanni, the lies by omission, the secret he'd kept from her all these years. Hurt didn't begin to describe how she felt, and forgiveness wasn't even on the horizon.

"I can't separate the two."

What she couldn't say, even to Max, was how inadequate she felt at never having given him a son. A man's sperm determined a child's gender but Max had had a boy with another woman so surely Kelly's own body chemistry must have caused her to produce nothing but girls.

She had a bad feeling in her gut about Randall and she didn't think it was just because she was jealous of Lanni. Her and Max's marriage had been on shaky ground for over a year. If Max let this boy into their lives he would turn them all upside down. He might somehow take Max away from her and their daughters.

They got home late; the kids were in bed and the babysitter was watching TV in the family room. Kelly hid her tear-stained face from the surprised teenager and went straight to the bedroom while Max made up some excuse for their early return. Kelly heard the front door shut and a few minutes later, Max came into the bedroom. He had a piece of folded foolscap in his hand. The letter from Randall.

"Would you like to read it?" Max asked.

"No."

He held out a photograph and tried to show her. "He looks like a nice kid."

"I don't want to see." She pushed him away then grabbed his arm. "Oh, give it here."

Thoughts of DNA testing to prove paternity dissolved as she gazed at a younger version of Max. Randall's eyes, the angle of his jaw, the slight tilt of his head, were all pure Max even if the boy's coloring was not. Kelly's head began to throb. She hadn't wanted the kid to be real to her and now he was. "Let me see the letter."

Reading Randall's words compounded her mistake. She felt a physical ache in her heart from empathizing with the boy. No, she thought, deliberately shutting down her feelings. She could never feel anything warmer than dislike for Max's son by another woman.

"He's got a good home, with loving adoptive parents." She thrust the letter aside. "He doesn't need you."

"Maybe not," Max agreed tightly. "Maybe I need him."

Kelly closed her eyes on a sharp stab of pain, unable to speak.

"He wants to meet me," Max went on. "I'd like to meet him, too."

Opening her eyes, she reached for his arm. "Don't go, Max," she pleaded. "For the girls' sake if not for mine. You can't undo the past but to some extent you can choose your future."

"I want to meet him," he repeated. "Kelly, he's my son."

"I...I'm not sure I can go on living with you if you contact that boy." She knew she sounded melodramatic but she was desperate.

"I can't live with my conscience if I don't contact him." Max slipped the photo back into the envelope and spoke with a new determination. "Randall's part of me, Kel. You can't just ignore him, and I won't. I'm going to Wyoming. I'm going to see my son."