Ali Vali

Augusta "Tucker" Delacroix is perfectly content running a successful oil field supply company until her brother and business partner, Jim Bob, dies suddenly. Things go from bad to worse when she gets a call from Monique, a beautiful stranger who turns out to be Jim Bob's mistress and mother to his son. Monique needs financial support for her child, and Tucker steps up--it's what family does. Willow Vernon has never approved of her sister's affair with a wealthy married man, but when Monique becomes ill, Willow assumes care of her nephew. When Tucker insists that financial support should give her custody rights, Willow's ready to go to battle. Tucker's the same kind of irresponsible philander as Jim Bob, and she's not falling for the Delacroix charm like Monique had, no matter how tempting Tucker might be. Family ties bring Tucker and Willow together, but they could also tear them, and any chance they have at love, apart.

The Inheritance

Lucia Correa

The Inheritance by Ali Vali
4 Stars

This is an “old school” Ali Vali romance. And that is a good thing.

This is the story of two sets of siblings. Tucker Delacroix and her brother Jim Bob have been running a very successful oil field supply company in Louisiana. Delacroix Oil and Gas Co. that was started by their father and grandfather, but under the leadership of the two siblings, the company has grown substantially. Monique and Willow Vernon are also very close siblings. Monique is a paralegal at a law firm that specialized in oil field contracts and leases and Willow is an engineer at a major oil company, Suntrust Oil. Willow isn’t very thrilled that Monique has been in a long term relationship with a married man and even less thrilled to learn that Monique is pregnant and she has yet to tell Willow who the father is. I think you can guess.

Tucker is one side of a classic Ali Vali heroine. Tall, dark and beautiful. She is charming, smart and the best at whatever she does and she turns women’s and men’s heads wherever she goes. Willow is the other half - petite, blond/reddish hair, green eyes and curves. Both women are fiercely loyal. Sound familiar? Yup, it’s the Xena/Gabrielle trope. Is this a bad thing? Not in Ali Vali’s capable hands. I might be biased. I never read Xena fanfic, but I did read Xena AU (alternative universe) stories. Usually, Xena/Gabrielle type characters in a modern setting. Vali’s online stories were among the first and best that I read when I started reading online fiction (2004ish).

This story has a lot of family drama and angst. I almost teared up at one point. There is also corporate drama, especially when there is multi-million dollar deals at stake. But mostly it is about family and of course romance.

It not all drama. I loved Tucker’s Louisiana mother, Stella full of wisdom and sass. Willow described her as “a woman who exuded strength, and she seemed to genuinely care about those she loved”. A couple lines I highlighted – 
On Ivy, her daughter-in-law: “Hell, God himself is unfit to deal with Ivy even with Satan backing him up.”
Or… “Being different isn’t a bad thing. Who we are as individuals is not only what makes life a wonderful thing, but gives us power to annoy the hell out of people.”

If you want to read early Ali Vali fiction – check her out her page on Academy of Bards or Xenafiction.net (Athenaeum). After I finished this book, I went back to read a couple of favorites – Over Easy and her Harry & Desi series.

 An ARC was given to me by Bold Strokes books and Netgalley for an honest review.

Augusta “Tucker” Delacroix is perfectly content running a successful oil field supply company until her brother and business partner, Jim Bob, dies suddenly. Things go from bad to worse when the family's lawyer introduces her to Monique, a beautiful stranger who turns out to be Jim Bob’s mistress and mother of his son. Monique wants Jim Bob's son to be a Delacroix, and Tucker steps up—it’s what family does. Willow Vernon has never approved of her sister’s affair with a wealthy married man, but when tragedy strikes, Willow assumes care of her nephew. When Tucker demands shared custody rights, Willow’s ready to go to battle. Tucker’s the same kind of irresponsible philanderer as Jim Bob, and she’s not falling for the Delacroix charm like Monique did, no matter how tempting Tucker might be. Family ties bring Tucker and Willow together, but they could also tear them, and any chance they have at love, apart.

Jude Silberfeld

As others have written before me, this is a classic Ali Vali novel. Don’t trust the blurb, it manages to both be misleading and give too much away.

Willow Vernon meets Tucker Delacroix at a work meeting and they end up having dinner then spending the night together. Neither knows their siblings are involved and parenting a child together. Willow knows of her sister’s affair with a rich married man and when she realises Tucker is his sister, she feels played and nips the relationship in the bud. Then all sorts of events happen, both in their personal and professional lives, that bring them together, for better or for worse. I won’t spoil, the author took her time setting the scene and it wouldn’t be fair to jump the gun (though there’s no gun in this book).

The Inheritance is all about family, what makes a family and the sense of duty that goes with it It’s full of angst and miscommunication and banter. Yet for some reason, in Ali Vali’s books, that’s not enough for me.

I always get the same feeling with Vali’s novels, the story is good but I can’t get myself to care about the characters. I often find them monolithic, and the characters in this book are no exception. The butch hero is strong and loyal, her love interest is femme to some extent, stubborn and sexy. The villains are bad and more often than not stupid. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just not for me.

Then again I couldn’t stop reading, all the while rolling my eyes at how far-fetched parts of the story were. In her review, Lex mentioned the soap opera feel of this book and she’s totally right. Which makes me think that what doesn’t do it for me in Vali’s books is actually what her fans enjoy.

So if you’re already a Vali fan, you’ll probably like this book a lot. If you’re still on the fence, it might help you decide. And if you haven’t read any of the author’s novels so far, this might be a good place to start.

I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

The Inheritance

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