Rochelle Alers is one of my favorite HQN Special Edition authors. She writes compelling stories full of drama and heart and this book is no exceptions.

The books opens with Taylor, a retired male supermodel turned structural engineer responsible for the restoration of the historical estate his family inherited. Dealing with the emotional trauma of his life before being adopted makes Taylor is emotionally scarred and hesitant about love.

Sonya, his love interest, is an architectural and art historian hired catalogue of historical items on the same project. Her backstory is also compelling, having been emotionally abused by her ex-husband, and, understandably, making her wary of love of love as well.

The novel is well-researched and realistic. I'm a sucker for competence and Sonya and Taylor are simply good at what they do. Their chemistry is powerful, but their past weighs them down, so the challenge for them is to resolve that baggage to allow them to move forward with their relationship. Alers writes them with a well of emotional depth that I enjoyed very much.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Multicultural romances are becoming more and more readily available for reviewers. A New Foundation was a wonderful book to have come my way. In this first book in the Bainbridge House series, Taylor Williamson has a huge job on his hands. He will be restoring his family's historical estate. He definitely will not be working alone. One of the people he hires is an architectural and art historian, Sonya Rios-Martin. As a previous victim of emotional abuse at the hand of her ex-husband, Sonya is more than distrustful of men and gives Taylor a wide berth.

Sonya is not the only one with a sad past. In fact, Taylor has his own demons but after having been adopted, had time to heal. In fact, he became a model at one time and also a structural engineer. It is his engineering skills that make him perfect for the project. One thing becomes almost immediately clear with regard to Sonya and Taylor - they are both strongly attracted to one another. However, with their pasts in mind, it seems doubtful that either of them is prepared to act of their growing feelings.

This was an enjoyable and emotional story of two broken people who found happiness and joy with one another. However, there are hiccups along the way and it was quite pleasant to read how the two found their future together. This enjoyable frist book in this series was followed by Christmas at the Chateau.

Many thanks to Harlequin Special Edition for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book. I felt this book’s pacing was really slow as Sonja and Taylor navigate their friendship and attraction to each other. Sonja’s issues with her past didn’t feel resolved and I feel like she needed therapy before she could move on with Taylor. It was enjoyable but I really wanted more to the story.

Author, Rochelle Alers, has written another engaging story for our reading pleasure. The storyline was well-written and it flowed seamlessly.. The love scenes were sweet, yet spicy. I can’t omit that there is also some drama and mystery brewing. I can’t wait to see what Ms. Alers has for her readers in the next book of this series. I love Taylor Williamson and Sonja Rios-Martin. as a couple. I recommend A NEW FOUNDATION.

A New Foundation by Rochelle Alers was a great read. I featured it as Book of the Day on all my social media platforms,.

Taylor and Sonja's story is intriguing. Taylor and his siblings unexpectedly inherit an estate from their father and Taylor becomes the family lead to oversee the restoration. His sister Viola connects him with Sonja who becomes a key party to the restoration project. As we learn about the estates history and the various characters personal histories things become more complicated and intertwined. A New Foundation is a great way to kick off the Bainbridge House series.

What worked for me was the closeness of both characters to their families. I liked the mention of Taylor and his siblings relationship with each other and their adoptive parents. This series is definitely going to be set up as a multi-cultural romance series. The romance between our couple is sweet and for the most part, not filled with a whole lot of drama. Also, the moments of historical detail were interesting as well.

What didn't work for me in this book is the constant long dialogue. So, while I'm a fan of authors not leaving out important details; I just feel like some conversations in the book could have been left in the drafts. There was a lot of over sharing in this first book which led it being long and honestly repetitive. So while I found Taylor and Sonja's romance sweet. It also at times read as monotonous and I feel like the constant dialogues overshadowed their romance. And finally, that third act break was so unnecessary or it was more on the lines of "ain't make no sense".

Rochelle Alers works always read as inspirational to me and how mad can I be at that? Also, if you're a fan of contemporary romances with a bit of history thrown in the loop, then A New Foundation works.

Rating: A | Reviewer: Jennifer Copeland

A NEW FOUNDATION by best-selling author Rochelle Alers is an amazing and heartwarming book. This is the first book in her new Bainbridge House Series. With this new series, she is taking us to a small town located in New Jersey. This book brings to life the romance of Taylor Williamson and Sonja Rios-Martin. Taylor is one of the five adopted children of Conrad and Elise Williamson. He is also a Structural Engineer and a former male model. Sonja is an Architectural Historian. Taylor is honoring his late father’s request of restoring the famous Bainbridge House that has been in his family for years, and his father left it his mother and all of the children. Sonja is a divorcee that coming out of a painful and abusive marriage.

Taylor and Sonja meet for the first time when his sister recommends Sonja for the Historian position to restore Bainbridge House to its former glory. The pair meets for dinner and the Taylor is bewitched by Sonja from their very first meeting. Sonja is also enthralled by how handsome and kind that Taylor is towards her. Sonja accepts the job with Taylor, and they begin to work together to get started restoring Bainbridge House. Along the way, the pair starts developing feelings for each other. Will Sonja unearth a secret about the Bainbridge House? Will Taylor and Sonja get their happy ever after? You will have to read A NEW FOUNDATION by Rochelle Alers to find out!

Ms. Alers did an amazing job with this book. The storyline was well-written and it flowed so seamlessly I felt like I was in the book. The love scenes were sweet and spicy. A NEW FOUNDATION also has some drama and mystery brewing. I can’t wait to see what Ms. Alers has for us for the rest of the books in this series. I couldn’t put my kindle down until I finished reading this book! Make sure to grab your copy.

Good start to the new series. I love the theme of restoring an old French chateau that was moved to New Jersey. Taylor is committed to honoring his late father's wish to renovate Bainbridge House, as are his three brothers and one sister. His sister, Viola, tells Taylor about her friend, Sonja, an architectural historian, as the perfect person to help him get it right. Sonja spent four years in an abusive marriage before escaping and working to regain her independence. Working on the Bainbridge House restoration will go a long way toward establishing her reputation in her field.

I loved the first meeting between Sonja and Taylor. The sparks were there from the beginning though both initially tried to ignore them. Taylor plans to concentrate on the renovations, while Sonja has no intention of getting involved with another man. Sonja's intelligence and passion for her work fascinated Taylor, and he knew she was exactly what he needed for the project. I liked watching them connect over their love of the house and the friendship that evolved because of it.

It wasn't long before Taylor realized he wanted more than friendship with Sonja. However, as attracted as he is to her, he doesn't just want to sleep with her. Taylor craves the kind of loving relationship his parents had and believes he can have it with Sonja. All he has to do is convince her. I enjoyed his efforts to do so and appreciated how he was always careful not to push. That care is what slowly worked its way past Sonja's walls.

I liked seeing Sonja let go of her fears and embrace her feelings for Taylor. Their connection over the house added an extra layer to those feelings. Their relationship looked very promising for the future until Taylor saw something that he misinterpreted and reacted poorly. His words and actions brought back bad memories of her marriage and drove Sonja away. I ached for Sonja as she tried to reconcile those memories with her feelings for Taylor. Conversations with her mother helped her enough to think about what had happened from another perspective. I liked that Taylor was smart enough to realize how badly he'd behaved and patient enough to give Sonja the time she needed. The ending was great, as both Taylor and Sonja shared their fears and feelings before moving on to their future.

One of the things I liked about this book were the little details that go into restoring a building like Bainbridge House, from the foundation to the landscaping. I'd love to see more about some of the treasures Sonja finds. I loved her suggestions about the farm-to-table for the planned restaurant. I look forward to the future books with Taylor's siblings, each of whom has a talent/career that blends well with their plans for the chateau.

I was a bit shocked to realize I’d never read anything by Rochelle Alers before, so when I saw this was the start of a new series, I had to pick this up. This is a delightfully sweet romance with the best friend’s sibling and workplace romance tropes and it was so much fun to read!

Taylor is the oldest of five adopted siblings, four brothers and one sister. After their father’s death, they discover that they’ve inherited a mansion in New Jersey – more than 100 rooms on over 300 acres of land. Their father always intended to renovate Bainbridge House, so now Taylor is taking point on turning it into a hotel. To do that, though, he’ll need help clearing out the excesses of Gilded Age rich folks. Luckily, his sister Viola has a friend who just might fit the bill. Sonja grew up as an army brat all over the world, fascinated by the art and history of museums her mother would take her to, leading to a career as an architectural and art historian. Cataloging and helping with the restoration of Bainbridge House is like a dream come true, and it doesn’t hurt that her new boss is very easy on the eyes. But neither Taylor nor Sonja are looking for anything romantic right now, even if they’re both very attracted to each other. Besides, they only have to work closely together for two years. How hard could that be?

“I believe trust is more important than love because people can fall in and out of love. I’d rather trust you than love you.”
Sonja had just given Taylor the opening he needed. “Can you love me?”
“I’m sure I can.”


Both Taylor and Sonja are very career focused individuals. For Taylor, it was in service of getting a new promotion at his engineering job, though he’s willing to walk away from that to take over the new family project. For Sonja, it’s more about being able to take care of herself. Sonja feels like she’s never been truly independent. She’s always lived with family, a roommate, or her ex-husband. Her ex was extremely controlling and while she’s overcome a lot of the trauma from that, she’s still distrustful of relationships in general. And while Taylor had an absolutely idyllic childhood after he was adopted, his life before that wasn’t so great. They both have a lot of reservations about getting into a relationship, especially with someone they’re committed to working with for the next two years. Unsurprisingly, Taylor’s interested in pursuing something sooner than Sonja, but he’s good about letting her set the pace. My only complaint about their relationship was the bleak moment, which was spurred by something I thought was completely out of character for Taylor.

“There was something about her best friend’s brother that turned her into an emotional pretzel whenever she asked herself what she wanted from Taylor and the answer continued to evade her.”


The details in the book are absolutely enthralling. I loved all the information about Bainbridge House and the items inside it, from jewelry to glassware to bottles of wine. I would’ve loved to read more about the items Sonja was cataloguing because it was just so interesting, and honestly, I think 50% of my desire to read the next book in this series is just so I can find out more! And that doesn’t even cover the food! Pastelón, stuffed clams, chicken and waffles, yum. Both Sonja and Taylor know how to cook and everything was described in delicious detail. I don’t read a lot from the Special Editions line (I usually prefer higher heat levels) so I’m not sure if this is usual, but there was a definite aspirational quality to a lot of the wealth displayed in the book. Most of it I enjoyed (heck, who doesn’t want to be given a condo and a car as perks of your dream job???) but the fact that not only was Taylor an experienced engineer but he’d also previously been a famous model made me giggle a little.

Though Taylor has four other siblings, only one, Viola, the youngest, is really involved in any detail in this book. I appreciated that because it gave me time to get to know Taylor and Sonja more clearly before getting involved in too much sequel baiting. As for other characters, I adored Taylor’s mother and how sweetly obvious her love for her kids was. I’m also particularly curious about Dom Shaw, the latest in a series of family caretakers of Bainbridge House. Sonja found out some info about him that wasn’t explicitly stated but was easy to guess, but I’m wondering how that’s going to fit into the rest of the series.

Overall, this is a quick and sweet read, and a great start to a new series. I will definitely be on the lookout for the next book!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

4.5 Stars! I really enjoyed this new multicultural romance series opener by this author, who’s a definite favourite of mine. The series is clearly going to be set around a group of siblings who’ve inherited the historic Bainbridge Mansion Estate from their late father. The series opens with Taylor, a retired male supermodel and current structural engineer, managing the restoration of the historical estate his family inherited, and Sonya, an architectural and art historian, who he’s hired to support the restoration work and cataloguing of historical items. Sonya is distrustful of men after being exploited and emotionally abused by her ex-husband who she married young, and Taylor also has scars from his past before being adopted into a loving family. So, this is a story about the healing power of love™️.

I enjoy this author’s work because it’s always aspirational. These aren’t billionaire romances but everything is always super classy, super well-researched, the food, the interior decor, the architectural detail, everything makes you feel like you “summer” and “dine” and “holiday” as verbs, and yet it is very accessible and never feels stuck up. This author’s work is feminist but also kind of sometimes subscribed to some old-fashioned-ish gender roles of men taking care of their women that might not be for everyone, but they’re for me. Take note, if those kinds of narratives bother you. I liked that these were two eminently human characters working their way through their instant attraction for one another whilst dealing with their own baggage.

This specific book I believe, was black romance but I foresee that this series is going to be more a multicultural romance, featuring a diversity of cultures and backgrounds and I can’t wait for it. I look forward eagerly to the rest of this series. I’m already a fan! This is a home fun from Harlequin Special Edition.

I received a complimentary advance copy of this book from Harlequin Books.

This work place romance is surprisingly deep, in an unexpected way. Our heroine, Sonya, has escaped her abusive marriage, and is starting over with this new job. The last thing she expects is to fall for her boss!
Taylor is bound and determined to honor his family's wishes with his current work project, and is thrilled when Sonya signs on to help him with it. He doesn't expect anything to come of their attraction, when they are clearly meant to be.
Alers has a beautiful way of coming at a story, and I am excited to continue to explore her works.

A New Foundation was a charming romantic story. Rochelle Alers wrote educated and cultural characters who were very much relatable. I enjoyed how Sonya was so educated and knowledgeable about art and history. Her world view was very open and welcoming. Taylor’s strength and ability to not become a product of his history was astonishing. Very rarely are stories such as this written and showcased. Though this story had a slow speed and relaxed setting , Characters of color not fitting the typical box they are put in , but pushing boundaries was refreshing. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for this opportunity of ARC.
#Anewfoundation
#NetGalley

Taylor hires Sonya to curate the art at the historic house he's renovating. But their business relationship quickly turns personal. The trouble is, Sonya is carrying around the wounds of an abusive marriage, and she's not willing to take that chance again. Taylor, though, seeks something permanent. He wants to create the kind of close-knit family he grew up in. Can these two overcome the past and move forward together?

This is the kind of book you take time to savor, with its well-developed characters, palpable settings, and strong romance arc. It's a smart book with grown-up characters who know what they want and aren't afraid to go after it.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Taylor Williamson is committed to honor his parent's wishes and renovate Bainbridge House. He has big plans for the project and is pleased when Sonya agrees to work with him,
Sonya Rios-Martin has overcome an abusive marriage and is on her way toward becoming an independent woman. When Taylor Williamson, her friend's brother, offers her a job, she gladly accepts, knowing it could launch her career to the next level. What she didn't expect to feel was a strong attraction to her new boss.
When I read Rochelle Alers, I know I am going to be exposed to rich settings and decadent meals along with some great characters. I found Sonya and Taylor's story to be a sweet tale. I enjoyed how the author set up the foundation for the series and I am intrigued to meet the other siblings. I look forward to reading more of her work. and the rest of the series. The cover art is amazing.
Thank you #Harlequin and #Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4/5 Stars

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!**

I really enjoyed reading this. I liked the characters and really enjoyed the romance. It all felt very relatable and real, which made it easier to connect to the characters and the overall story more enjoyable. If you're looking for something to connect to I would recommend this book!

There's something about seeing the Harlequin logo that has me one-clicking, ready to indulge in a great romance. And this author definitely brought me that. This story really got to me. This was hot!