Because of a Boy

Kate Brooks is a nurse who suspects child abuse and feels compelled to report it to authorities. Dillon Digarro is a scared little boy whose father fled South America to keep him safe until they could find a solution to their problems. Manny saw a murder and knows if he is found, he will be next. But Dillon is sick, and now needs help from an illness.

Stephen Creighton finds himself believing Manny’s story that he did not ever harm his son, and goes to battle for him even though Manny is not legally in the country. He knows in his heart that Kate is only trying to help, but he needs to find a way to keep both Manny and Dillon safe from authorities and the men who want Manny dead.

Kate and Stephen’s story is a classic tale with a twist. Stephen becomes Kate’s knight in shining armour even when she thinks he is the bad guy. She may not want to trust him, but knows that the Digarro’s need to be found before the boy’s condition worsens. Anna DeStefano’s BECAUSE OF A BOY is an emotional story that forces her characters to trust based on gut feeling, and this left this reader in tears more than once.

This story comes to readers at a time where America is at war with itself on what to do with illegal immigrants, and this story slants a whole new look into the lives who escape here for reasons most of us will never understand. Ms. DeStefano has taken a tale about a family facing deportation and other evils and made it a backdrop for a beautiful love story. While Kate and Stephen’s story may be a happily ever after love story, this reviewer was just as glad to see Manny and Dillon end their tale with an ending that beat the odds.

Anna DeStefano is an author already on this reader’s auto-buy list and she highly recommends finding the other novels by this author, as well as this one, you will not be let down, she writes a mighty tale filled with emotion.

October 2007