Kate Hewitt – Zoe and the Tormented Tycoon

The fifth book in the Balfour Brides series, published November 16, 2010.
Genre: contemporary romance.



Everyone's talking about Zoe Balfour - the illegitimate heiress! She flies to New York to discover more about her biological family and goes a little wild, shocking even herself by spending one night with a gorgeous stranger...

The gradual loss of his sight has caused Manhattan mogul Max Monroe to close himself off from the world - a wife and child are most certainly not on his agenda! How will Zoe, once just a spoiled socialite and now unexpectedly pregnant, unlock the dark heart of a man who may never see his own child?


I don’t usally read Harlequin’s anymore (devoured them by the hundreds as a teen), but I have won this book at Novel Thoughts blog, signed and with a lovely bookmark and it was high time I picked it up. And I have to admit to being surprised how much I enjoyed it.

Apparently, in a previous book, Zoë Balfour found out that her mother cheated on her father, and she is not his daughter, not a Balfour. It has rocked her foundation, she doesn’t know who she is anymore, even though her father tells her it makes no difference, he has always known it, and he loves her the same as her sisters. The gossip in England is vicious, and is really hurting her, making it hard to keep her head up, and so she decides to go to New York, America. Her father even gives her the name of her biological father, so she can find him if she wants to. She can’t ask her mother anything, as she died when Zoë was born.

Zoë is bored, she wants a new life for herself, to start over, but she has no idea what to do. She is not all that bright, and she is just a party girl. At a party in an art gallery, Zoë meets Max Monroe, and there is some kind of instant connection between them. She goes home with him that night, something she never does. And they have great sex, but the next morning, Max is very cold, and almost throws her out of his penthouse. He wants nothing more to do with her. Zoë can’t take any more rejection, not after her biological father tried to buy her silence. He has a family of his own, a wife and children, and does not want her in his life, messing it up. What Zoë doesn’t know, is that Max is fighting with himself. He is slowly but surely going blind, because of a rare eye disease. There is nothing to be done about it. He is also fighting some bad memories that happened in the past, when he was in the military. He doesn’t want to bring Zoë in his life, she deserves a whole man.

But when Zoë has gotten pregnant from their one night together, even though they did use condoms, things change. Zoë tells him, as she wants her child to know her father, as she never got the chance. At first Max hurtfully rejects her and their baby, but later he has second thoughts. He invites Zoë to his weekend house in the Hamptons, to talk things through. But when Max is cold and hot towards Zoë and does his best to send her away, she finally has enough and goes back home, to England. Her family is there for her. Will Max come to his senses in time?


At first I could not connect with Zoë, a shallow partygirl. But she tried to change, and even did some volunteer work before she got too sick with morningsickness. She wants to do what is right for her child, and be a good mother. I have really no idea why she fell in love with Max, who keeps her at a distance, and is snarly. Okay, there is a connection, and she does see his vulnerable side, but still. Love came way too soon in my opinion.
And Max is a businessman, and soon he will not be able to read his newspaper, follow the news, the stockmarkets as he used to be. He will have to change the way he works, his whole life. And Zoë and a baby are not something he was looking for. But being blind does not make him a bad father, he can still mean something in their lives. That he is willing to just throw it all away, made me dislike him, even though he is suffering. And he has daddy-issues. He is not as strong as he looks.

Still, I enjoyed it, and became involved in Zoë’s life. She tried to change, to make something of herself, and I do admire her for that. And yes, I totally felt her emotions, even though I could not understand her. Cudos to Kate Hewitt for drawing me into the story in such a way that I cared for what would happen. I like Kate’s writing style, and her vivid descriptions of places and people.

7 stars.

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian