#BookReview: Love’s Legacy by Feyi Aina

Anjola's boyfriend, Jimi, dies unexpectedly during their NYSC year. When his mother comes for the body, she warns Anjola not to darken the doorstep of their family house with a pregnancy she is not even sure is her son's own.

After parents throw her out of the house, Anjola is determined to raise her daughter, Simisola, by herself. She does so for five years, till one of Jimi's brothers tracks her down. He convinces her to bring Simisola to meet their family. 

Anjola is unsure what Jimi's mothers reaction will be, especially when the unofficial head of the family, Folarin, Jimi's older brother, hates her guts on sight.

My Review

The story starts with a scene where a pregnant Anjola is rejected by the mother of her unborn child’s father, who has recently died. Jump to five years later. Anjola has raised her daughter on her own when she’s found by her baby daddy’s family who now want to be involved in her daughter’s life. Naturally, she’s anxious and angry, but eventually agrees to let her daughter meet her other family. She unexpectedly finds herself attracted to here dead baby daddy’s older brother, Folarin, who hates her on sight.

It turns out, though, that Folarin is actually attracted to her. It’s the old 'he pulls her hair because he likes her' theory. Although, I like the somewhat forbidden aspect of this relationship, there were a few things I found problematic about it:

1) the fact that the brother she’s attracted to has a close resemblance to the brother she’d once loved. It made it difficult to believe she loved Folarin for real. 

2) The transition from I hate you to I love you on the part of the hero was a little sudden. 

3) there was another, much nicer brother whom I’d much rather she’d ended up with. I kept thinking "if only he wasn’t married". 

4) falling for her dead boyfriend's brother would normally be considered a no-no, but that didn't really reflect in the story.

There were cultural issues that added a nice flavour to the story. However, there were also a number of things I couldn’t get past. Particularly the subject of sexual abuse, which I felt could have been handled better. 

I would also have liked to see more passion and fire from the heroine. After all she'd been though, being rejected on both sides, she came off as a little too passive.

Overall, I found the story and characters to be interesting, and would definitely want to read another book by Feyi Aina.