Cornelia Case is sick of obligations she doesn't want to do, of trying to show the world a happy face, of doing her duty for the sake of her country. After her husband, former president, has died she has been asked to continue her role as the First Lady of America. She almost lost her passion and identity during her loveless marriage with her former husband and this role she continues to fulfill will end all her ambitions and self-worth. She doesn't like to be the First Lady. She just wants for once to live an ordinary life. So she escapes from the White House and from the Secret Agents to follow her yearnings and embark on an exciting journey. On the road, her car has been stolen along with the cash she has brought. Disguised as a pregnant woman, she decides to hitchhike with a man named Mat Jorik who offers her a free ride in exchange of taking care of the two kids he has brought along with him.
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Mat Jorik has been a respected journalist in Chicago until he agrees on producing a tv series involving tasteless topics. He becomes a laughingstock and his reputation suffers. He dreams of writing just one great news story to bring back his former glory. But first he needs to take care of the two kids who have been suddenly shoved into his face when his ex-wife has died. Lucy and Button are not his children and because he doesn't trust the foster homes system, he decides to take them to their grandmother in Iowa and washes himself off the responsibility of taking care of them. Along the road he meets Nell Kelly who resembles the First Lady. But he shrugs it off being certain that no first lady is pregnant and strutting around the country without bodyguards.
Cornelia aka Nealy or Nell is frightened of babies. She has been with so many babies who are afflicted with diseases that they die after she touches them. So she botches up her nanny job and Mat is exasperated that he is now saddled with 3 dependent females again, one he assures to himself that won't happen again after taking care of 7 younger sisters. But eventually they settle in a familiar routine with strong-headed Lucy always stirring things up to the point of matchmaking Mat with Nell. When the news reveals that the First Lady is missing, Mat is suddenly sure that Nell is actually Cornelia Case. Nell eventually admits it and Mat feels betrayed because now he can't make love with her because she is actually the First Lady. Nell is furious with Mat that just because she has another title he will treat her differently now. Lucy brings back the couple together and set them up in way that they're trapped in a room with burning passion between them. They sleep together and Nell feels so happy with her life that she begins sharing her secrets to Mat. Mat feels guilty whenever Nell reveals her secrets to him for he is a news journalist.
The secret service agents eventually catch up on Nell. Nell feels betrayed and hurt when she finds out that Mat is a reporter who will reveal her, the most sensational news ever. Nell returns back and adopts both kids when it clearly appears that Mat doesn't want to be saddled with the kids. When Nell returns back to Washington, she takes charge of her life. She steps down from First Lady and runs for senatorial position just like she has dreamed of. Mat brings back his reputation by writing about Cornelia Case. However he hasn't written anything about Nell's secrets which he has promised to her that he won't tell. Despite his return to a big newspaper company, he feels empty and lonely. He only then realizes that he loves Nell and the kids. He wants his family back. So he plans to win them back.
The review of this Book prepared by Katrina Lo
