Synopsis:
Holt Landen was in trouble. He'd been left a six-month-old child he
never knew he had, and while he'd attracted plenty of babes in the
past, they were always the kind in high heels and garters. Diapers
were disturbingly new, and they called for a plan.
Stevie
Stedquest had a problem, too. She dispensed parenting advice on a
radio talk show, but she didn't have kids. And though she wanted a
child of her own, Mr. Right was nowhere on the horizon – only
commitment-phobes and womanizers.
Baby
Isabelle needed a mother in the worst way. A temporary marriage
between her newfound father and Stevie would solve the problem, but
they seemed terribly mismatched. Fortunately, Isabelle had two aces
up her diaper: opposites attract, and her daddy wasn’t the only
babe magnet in the family.
Stats
for my copy:
Mass market paperback, Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc., 2004; 374
pages; purchased at a library sale.
My
thoughts: Where
do I start? Ok, with Holt. He's a self-confirmed permanent bachelor,
whose parents went through an ugly divorce when he was seven,
remarried and divorced again. Holt doesn't believe in love and he's
definitely not looking for Miss Right when there are so many Miss
Right-nows around. And when a Miss Right-now starts thinking she
could be Miss Right, he disabuses her of that notion quickly and
moves on to the next Miss Right-now. And then he gets a call from
Texas – one of his Miss Right-nows has died in a car accident,
leaving behind a six month old baby with a birth certificate naming
him as the father. Despite not wanting children and having no idea
what to do with one, Holt mans up, goes to Texas and takes custody of
his daughter.
Baby
Isabelle's mother provided for her financially but not emotionally,
leaving her with nannies who never stayed long. Now she's a skinny
little waif baby with Attachment Disorder who doesn't like to be
touched and cries all the time. When Holt is about at the end of his
rope, Stevie's radio program comes on and her voice has a
miraculously soothing effect on Isabelle. Holt's solution becomes
clear – get this Stevie woman to marry him, become Isabelle's legal
mother through a step-parent adoption, then divorce amicably and
co-parent Isabelle while living in houses across the street from each
other. What could possibly go wrong?
Stevie,
of course, is resistant, and I like that it took her awhile to come
around to the idea of marriage with Holt. I like the marriage of
convenience trope, but I especially like it when the reasons for the
marriage are compelling and believable. Holt is everything Stevie
avoids in a man, but Isabelle eventually wins her heart, convincing
her to agree. It's no spoiler to say that of course Holt and Stevie
will end up loving each other and having a satisfying HEA, and the
journey to that point is a fun ride.
Robin
Wells has a wonderful sense of humor without taking her characters
over the top, and her descriptions of Isabelle when she first comes
into Holt's and Stevie's lives made my heart ache for her sad little
life. The characters of Holt and Stevie are fully fleshed out, and
the supporting characters and their side stories are also given
substance without interrupting the flow of the book.
Stevie
has struggled with weight issues, and is still very self-conscious
about her body. At one point, Holt drags her to a mirror and tells
her he wants her to see herself the way he sees her, then proceeds to
describe her body to her in great complimentary detail. It's a very
well written sweet romantic scene that quickly turns scorching hot.
In a later scene Holt and Stevie indulge in a little role playing
that had me laughing out loud. Actually, I laughed out loud several
times throughout the book.
I'm very pleased to have discovered this new to me author, and I'm eager to track down the rest of her backlist.
She'd said she loved him, for Pete's sake. He couldn't sleep with a woman who loved him! That was just courting disaster. - pg 317
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