The Life of Riley - Lenora Worth (HS #1815 - Nov 2012)

Georgia socialite Riley Sinclair is finally embracing the life she wants. But the news of her successful embryo implant pregnancy -- her second chance at motherhood -- brings her face-to-face with her ex-husband, Jackson. Fine. She knows how to handle him…most of the time. Too bad the unresolved passion is complicating matters. Worse, the problems that pulled them apart are back, too!

Sure, he seems to be handling their relationship differently. But with all that's gone on between them, can Riley really believe he's changed his run-when-things-get-tough habits? Some impressive proof is certainly required. And when Jackson delivers exactly that…well, Riley might have to say yes! 

Good book.  After five years, the death of her newborn son and her divorce, Riley is pregnant.  She is determined to do this on her own, with no help from anyone.  She did not expect her ex-husband to show up back in town.  He claims to have changed and wants to be back in her life, but she doesn't trust him to stay.  I liked Riley and Jackson fairly well.  Jackson had left town after his divorce and spent the time traveling the world.  He has finally accepted his share of the responsibility of the end of his marriage, but really wants to try again.  He is stunned to find out that Riley has used one of their embryos to get pregnant again.  This brings back memories of the problems they had before.  He had never felt good enough to be a father, and the problems that they'd had did a number on his self-confidence.  Now he wants to be a part of their lives, but doesn't know how to show Riley how he has changed.  He still has trouble sharing his feelings and this is still causing problems.  He has to come to terms with his grief before he can move on.  Riley is a woman who is big on planning and self control.  When they were first married she had felt she needed to live up to the Sinclair name and tended to try to make everything perfect.  When she had difficulty getting pregnant she went into planning overkill and had their attempts planned to the minute.  She was so focused she didn't realize what it was doing to her marriage until she found herself spending more time alone as Jackson pulled further away from her.  When the baby died, it caused further distance until the marriage ended.  Now that Jackson is back, Riley is afraid to trust that he will stick around.  She tries to keep him at a distance to protect herself, but that doesn't work too well.  With more maturity she also realizes that their problems weren't all Jackson's fault, but she is afraid to try again.  I liked the way that they tried to spend time together and get to know each other as they are now.  I had problems with Riley's frequent changes from wanting to try to not wanting him near her.  I was glad to see how everything worked at the end.