Patricia Kay
Author of The Wrong Child
About the Author
Disambiguation Notice:
Patricia Ann Kay wrote as Ann Patrick, Trisha Alexander, and Patricia Kay.
Series
Works by Patricia Kay
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Kay, Patricia Ann
- Other names
- Patrick, Ann
Alexander, Trisha
Kay, Patricia - Birthdate
- 1937-03-07
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- novelist
- Short biography
- Patricia Ann Kay was born on 7 March 1937 in a small town in northeastern Ohio, USA, where she raised along with three younger sisters. She considers herself a very lucky woman. The family didn’t have a lot of money, but she says that didn’t matter, because what they did have was worth more than money — a happy home. Her parents had a good marriage and they doted on their four daughters. That upbringing is reflected in the stories she writes. As readers all over the world have discovered, her books are filled with warmth and love of family.
Pat has lived in upstate New York, Northern Alabama, Southern California, and Stockholm (Sweden), and since 1969, in Houston, Texas with her husband. She says that no matter where she’s lived, she’s found that people everywhere are the same and want the same things: love and committed relationships. The marriage has three terrific grown children. They currently share their home with two longhaired cats, and a backyard filled with squirrels, birds, and other critters. Her hobbies and other interests include reading, walking for exercise, going to the movies and the theater, swimming, and traveling.
In 1990, Pat sold her first romance novel to Silhouette. Since then, more than four million copies of her novels have been published in eighteen different countries. Today, Patricia Kay, alias Ann Patrick and Trisha Alexander, is an USA Today bestselling author of 50 novels of romance and women's fiction. - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Ohio, USA
- Places of residence
- Ohio, USA
New York, USA
Alabama, USA
California, USA
Stockholm, Sweden
Houston, Texas, USA - Disambiguation notice
- Patricia Ann Kay wrote as Ann Patrick, Trisha Alexander, and Patricia Kay.
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
I downloaded this free for my Kindle about a year ago, and decided to read it on a flight. It has an unusual premise: due to a terrible blizzard followed by a tragedy, two baby girls were accidentally switched at birth. The prologue is abrupt and melodramatic, and the first two or three chapters are a bit confusing with quite a large cast of people.
However I quickly found myself absorbed in the storyline. The characterisation is good, and the problems arising when the parents discover, ten show more years after the birth, what has happened, is all too realistic. The conflict between the love of one's own child and the child one has raised can only be imagined, but I felt that the author dealt with it sensitively and constructively.
It's not a difficult read, and the story mostly progresses at a good place. However there were places where I skimmed a few paragraphs: I found there to be a bit much introspection and heart-searching, repeating what had gone before. There's some nicely done romantic tension although I was disappointed that when this is eventually resolved, the author gives far too much detail about what happens rather than gently closing the bedroom door.
While the eventual outcome is predictable, I didn't mind that at all. The story itself has some gentle twists and turns, and a mixture of interesting people. Perhaps the eventual capitulations of a few of the characters, and the final paragraph, are a tad unrealistic, but this was clearly going to be a happy-ending story. Overall, I found it quite a satisfying read which was ideal for reading on a plane. show less
However I quickly found myself absorbed in the storyline. The characterisation is good, and the problems arising when the parents discover, ten show more years after the birth, what has happened, is all too realistic. The conflict between the love of one's own child and the child one has raised can only be imagined, but I felt that the author dealt with it sensitively and constructively.
It's not a difficult read, and the story mostly progresses at a good place. However there were places where I skimmed a few paragraphs: I found there to be a bit much introspection and heart-searching, repeating what had gone before. There's some nicely done romantic tension although I was disappointed that when this is eventually resolved, the author gives far too much detail about what happens rather than gently closing the bedroom door.
While the eventual outcome is predictable, I didn't mind that at all. The story itself has some gentle twists and turns, and a mixture of interesting people. Perhaps the eventual capitulations of a few of the characters, and the final paragraph, are a tad unrealistic, but this was clearly going to be a happy-ending story. Overall, I found it quite a satisfying read which was ideal for reading on a plane. show less
Good book, that is both a story of young love and second chances. Sophie and Dillon had been an item back when they were in high school. Dillon was the hotshot senior quarterback and Sophie was a sophomore cheerleader. When graduation came, Dillon left town for college and then a pro career in football and never looked back, leaving Sophie heartbroken. Several years later her parents died, leaving her to raise her little sister, Joy. Sophie is now the guidance counselor at the high school show more and Joy is following in her footsteps as a cheerleader. Then Dillon comes back to town as the new football coach, accompanied by his nephew. Sophie sees a lot of Dillon in Aidan and is determined to keep history from repeating itself. What she doesn't know is that they've already met and have been very close since the summer. By the time she finds out, it's too late.
When Sophie finds out that Joy is pregnant, she knows she has to talk to Dillon. That's going to be a bit of a challenge, because the old attraction is still there and a huge distraction from her goal of helping Joy. How can she blame Joy for falling for Aidan when Dillon is just as irresistible to her?
There were things I really liked about Sophie and Dillon. Both of them were determined to do their best raising their teenagers and had significant challenges in doing so. Dillon especially had it rough, as Aidan was dealing with the loss of his parents and having to move away from his friends by being a real pain in the butt. Joy had not been much trouble for Sophie until she got involved with Aidan, then she was in way over her head. I liked the way that Sophie wanted to do what was best for Joy, but gave Joy the options of what her choices were. Dillon also made sure that Aidan was aware of his responsibilities. I also liked that Sophie and Dillon were able to work together to help both kids through the crisis.
The rekindling of the relationship between Sophie and Dillon was rather volatile. They had avoided each other as much as possible until Joy's pregnancy happened. There had been a couple encounters that had shown that there was still something between them, but they tried to ignore it. The evening that Sophie told Dillon about Joy's pregnancy tempers got a little out of hand and all that heat exploded into passion. Dillon wants to see where it will go, but Sophie is reluctant to open herself up to the risk of heartbreak at his hands again. She can't seem to see that he is different than the boy she remembers, so she keeps trying to push him away. Dillon is still attracted to Sophie and thinks that if she'd just give him a chance they could have something special, even though he's not quite ready to call it love. When Sophie discovers that she's pregnant too, she's torn. She knows she has to tell Dillon, but she doesn't want him to propose out of obligation, she's finally realized that she wants his love. Both Sophie and Dillon do some running away from their feelings before they finally face them and each other. I loved the ending and the epilogue was a nice wrap up.
I also enjoyed the parallel story of Joy and Aidan. Each of them had issues resulting from their parents' deaths that had them making some poor decisions. I liked that both of them faced up to what they had done and tried to make better choices. It helped them both that they had support from their families, but they still had decisions to make. The emotions seemed quite realistic, as did the options they had. It was great to see that a little time apart showed them what they really wanted and I liked seeing them work out a way to make dreams happen in spite of the challenges. show less
When Sophie finds out that Joy is pregnant, she knows she has to talk to Dillon. That's going to be a bit of a challenge, because the old attraction is still there and a huge distraction from her goal of helping Joy. How can she blame Joy for falling for Aidan when Dillon is just as irresistible to her?
There were things I really liked about Sophie and Dillon. Both of them were determined to do their best raising their teenagers and had significant challenges in doing so. Dillon especially had it rough, as Aidan was dealing with the loss of his parents and having to move away from his friends by being a real pain in the butt. Joy had not been much trouble for Sophie until she got involved with Aidan, then she was in way over her head. I liked the way that Sophie wanted to do what was best for Joy, but gave Joy the options of what her choices were. Dillon also made sure that Aidan was aware of his responsibilities. I also liked that Sophie and Dillon were able to work together to help both kids through the crisis.
The rekindling of the relationship between Sophie and Dillon was rather volatile. They had avoided each other as much as possible until Joy's pregnancy happened. There had been a couple encounters that had shown that there was still something between them, but they tried to ignore it. The evening that Sophie told Dillon about Joy's pregnancy tempers got a little out of hand and all that heat exploded into passion. Dillon wants to see where it will go, but Sophie is reluctant to open herself up to the risk of heartbreak at his hands again. She can't seem to see that he is different than the boy she remembers, so she keeps trying to push him away. Dillon is still attracted to Sophie and thinks that if she'd just give him a chance they could have something special, even though he's not quite ready to call it love. When Sophie discovers that she's pregnant too, she's torn. She knows she has to tell Dillon, but she doesn't want him to propose out of obligation, she's finally realized that she wants his love. Both Sophie and Dillon do some running away from their feelings before they finally face them and each other. I loved the ending and the epilogue was a nice wrap up.
I also enjoyed the parallel story of Joy and Aidan. Each of them had issues resulting from their parents' deaths that had them making some poor decisions. I liked that both of them faced up to what they had done and tried to make better choices. It helped them both that they had support from their families, but they still had decisions to make. The emotions seemed quite realistic, as did the options they had. It was great to see that a little time apart showed them what they really wanted and I liked seeing them work out a way to make dreams happen in spite of the challenges. show less
Good book, though I did have a hard time with the hero. Joanna is ready to take the next step to make her dreams come true. All she needs is a way to get her designs in front of the public. Scoring a chance to show her work at Marcus's gallery is just what she needs. She's not sure how well they'll deal together since he's pretty conservative and she's not, but she'll do her best. She didn't expect the heat between them and was very sure that getting involved with him would be a mistake. But show more Marcus doesn't seem to agree.
I really liked Joanna. She knows what she wants to do with her designs and she is determined to find a way to do it. I loved her visit to Marcus's gallery and the way she refused to be intimidated by the snotty manager. Her excitement when she got his call was fantastic and gave her a nice boost in confidence. That excitement dimmed a little when she met him because she felt that her sense of style was one that he didn't really approve of. She wasn't too sure about his suggestion that she pair her designs with his sister's jewelry but was willing to keep an open mind. That open mind paid off when she and Vanessa had a chance to meet and get to know each other and they discovered that they could work well together. Joanna was a little disturbed by his disapproving attitude toward his sister. She also found that there was a lot that she and Marcus did agree on and their attraction kept building. There were some great scenes of them together when everything went well. I liked the charity dinner that they went to and how Marcus made a point of introducing her to so many people. There were also times when Joanna's insecurities caused her to feel that being with Marcus was not going to end well, especially when she had to deal with his snob of a mother. I felt really bad for her when inviting Marcus and his sister to spend Thanksgiving with her family didn't go well. I loved the fact that she stood up for herself and let him know that if he didn't like her the way she was that was his problem not hers.
I spent most of the book wanting to push Marcus into a really cold body of water to wake him up to what a jerk he was. I felt a little sorry for him because he'd given up his own dreams when his father died and he had to take over the family business. But he spent way too much time worrying about appearances and trying to control what his brother and sister did. I did like the way that he used his gallery to help various artists get started and the way that he shut down the manager when she was snotty about Joanna. He had a good eye for possibilities which is why he wanted to pair up Joanna and Vanessa. I didn't like the way he treated Vanessa like a child when they were at lunch with Joanna. Or the way he kept putting down his brother. What really made me mad about him was the way he admitted his attraction to Joanna, but kept thinking about how he would have to get her to change certain things so that she would properly fit into his life. When he went with her for Thanksgiving his attitude about her family was terrible. It served him right when he later made a comment about her tattoo and she told him to take a hike. It was satisfying when he finally realized what an idiot he was, and his "go big" moment was pretty darn good. show less
I really liked Joanna. She knows what she wants to do with her designs and she is determined to find a way to do it. I loved her visit to Marcus's gallery and the way she refused to be intimidated by the snotty manager. Her excitement when she got his call was fantastic and gave her a nice boost in confidence. That excitement dimmed a little when she met him because she felt that her sense of style was one that he didn't really approve of. She wasn't too sure about his suggestion that she pair her designs with his sister's jewelry but was willing to keep an open mind. That open mind paid off when she and Vanessa had a chance to meet and get to know each other and they discovered that they could work well together. Joanna was a little disturbed by his disapproving attitude toward his sister. She also found that there was a lot that she and Marcus did agree on and their attraction kept building. There were some great scenes of them together when everything went well. I liked the charity dinner that they went to and how Marcus made a point of introducing her to so many people. There were also times when Joanna's insecurities caused her to feel that being with Marcus was not going to end well, especially when she had to deal with his snob of a mother. I felt really bad for her when inviting Marcus and his sister to spend Thanksgiving with her family didn't go well. I loved the fact that she stood up for herself and let him know that if he didn't like her the way she was that was his problem not hers.
I spent most of the book wanting to push Marcus into a really cold body of water to wake him up to what a jerk he was. I felt a little sorry for him because he'd given up his own dreams when his father died and he had to take over the family business. But he spent way too much time worrying about appearances and trying to control what his brother and sister did. I did like the way that he used his gallery to help various artists get started and the way that he shut down the manager when she was snotty about Joanna. He had a good eye for possibilities which is why he wanted to pair up Joanna and Vanessa. I didn't like the way he treated Vanessa like a child when they were at lunch with Joanna. Or the way he kept putting down his brother. What really made me mad about him was the way he admitted his attraction to Joanna, but kept thinking about how he would have to get her to change certain things so that she would properly fit into his life. When he went with her for Thanksgiving his attitude about her family was terrible. It served him right when he later made a comment about her tattoo and she told him to take a hike. It was satisfying when he finally realized what an idiot he was, and his "go big" moment was pretty darn good. show less
Find this review and more on my blog, Drugs Called Books
(Due to copy and paste formatting lost)
This was a great and surprising read!
This week was a bad week for me; I was sick (still am, but I'm much better - thanks for asking) and for the first time in a long time I simply didn't feel like reading anything.
I opened maybe four books this week, closing all after two or three pages, and it was driving me crazy!
And then I found Let's Make it Legal. Let's just say (pun intended) I never expected show more it to be so good.
Let's Make it Legal is not a complicated, overly dramatic story. And that's probably what was so charming about it; because it was a story that didn't need to make heaven and hell happen to capture the reader and it's heart. A story that didn't need to be action packed and keep sending problems every few pages or so to keep us hooked. The simplicity and honesty of the book did it enough.
Simple yet Sweet, as I'd call it.
The Characters in the book were easy to identify with and easy to like. They were just a couple of people; one a driven woman with self confidence issues when it comes for her looks, having been raised by her father as the son he never had, the other a caring man who after his wife's death pretty much hid away from the world and did everything in his powers to be with his children as much as he possibly can, including opening a business from their own house.
John and Sydney were real people. And like real people you sometimes got annoyed with their actions, but couldn't help but forgive them a few seconds later, especially because both were often very quick to understand they were wrong.
Their Relationship moved rather quickly, with the two falling in love after a few weeks of seeing one another. Usually that might bother me, but there was enough development with both of them and you could feel their love that it didn't.
Their actual relationship was extremely sweet. John is such a sweetheart and Sydney was rather cute, despite the iron maiden persona she has at work. I loved reading about it, and loved even more that there wasn't an excruciating drama every other page - just their relationship, just their lives, just normal but troubling worries, such as how can they continue to be with one another in the long run when their life styles were so very different.
The Writing was very well done and captivating, another reason I liked this simple, honest & sweet story so much (yes, I've been repeating these words a lot about this book. They just describe it so well!). I actually finished this book in one sitting, partly because the writing just flew so well I didn't notice I was reading so much.
Combine the characters, the romance, and the writing and you get one excellent book, very enjoyable and easy to like. One that despite being simple can make your heart clench and refuses to let go of you until you finish it. I'm so very glad I opened this book because I believe it was just the pick-up I needed.
About the warning... I told you in the beginning of this review there was "light adult content" here. Sydney and John are adult people, therefor there is sex. The act is described very lightly (not very explicit) once in this story and that's it, therefor I believe a lot of people who find adult content not to their liking can enjoy this book still! show less
(Due to copy and paste formatting lost)
This was a great and surprising read!
This week was a bad week for me; I was sick (still am, but I'm much better - thanks for asking) and for the first time in a long time I simply didn't feel like reading anything.
I opened maybe four books this week, closing all after two or three pages, and it was driving me crazy!
And then I found Let's Make it Legal. Let's just say (pun intended) I never expected show more it to be so good.
Let's Make it Legal is not a complicated, overly dramatic story. And that's probably what was so charming about it; because it was a story that didn't need to make heaven and hell happen to capture the reader and it's heart. A story that didn't need to be action packed and keep sending problems every few pages or so to keep us hooked. The simplicity and honesty of the book did it enough.
Simple yet Sweet, as I'd call it.
The Characters in the book were easy to identify with and easy to like. They were just a couple of people; one a driven woman with self confidence issues when it comes for her looks, having been raised by her father as the son he never had, the other a caring man who after his wife's death pretty much hid away from the world and did everything in his powers to be with his children as much as he possibly can, including opening a business from their own house.
John and Sydney were real people. And like real people you sometimes got annoyed with their actions, but couldn't help but forgive them a few seconds later, especially because both were often very quick to understand they were wrong.
Their Relationship moved rather quickly, with the two falling in love after a few weeks of seeing one another. Usually that might bother me, but there was enough development with both of them and you could feel their love that it didn't.
Their actual relationship was extremely sweet. John is such a sweetheart and Sydney was rather cute, despite the iron maiden persona she has at work. I loved reading about it, and loved even more that there wasn't an excruciating drama every other page - just their relationship, just their lives, just normal but troubling worries, such as how can they continue to be with one another in the long run when their life styles were so very different.
The Writing was very well done and captivating, another reason I liked this simple, honest & sweet story so much (yes, I've been repeating these words a lot about this book. They just describe it so well!). I actually finished this book in one sitting, partly because the writing just flew so well I didn't notice I was reading so much.
Combine the characters, the romance, and the writing and you get one excellent book, very enjoyable and easy to like. One that despite being simple can make your heart clench and refuses to let go of you until you finish it. I'm so very glad I opened this book because I believe it was just the pick-up I needed.
About the warning... I told you in the beginning of this review there was "light adult content" here. Sydney and John are adult people, therefor there is sex. The act is described very lightly (not very explicit) once in this story and that's it, therefor I believe a lot of people who find adult content not to their liking can enjoy this book still! show less
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- 78
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- 886
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- #28,919
- Rating
- 3.4
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