Honeymoon Baby (Do Not Disturb No. 2; Harlequin Presents No. 1985)

SUSAN NAPIER

Synopsis from Goodreads: Jennifer had taken drastic measures to become pregnant, and she was saving every ounce of love she had for her baby. There was no room in her life for marriage -- only now the father of her unborn child had turned up on her doorstep.

Jennifer's first problem was that her entire family believed Raphael Jordan was actually her husband -- and that, at last, the happy couple could have a honeymoon! Her second was that Raphael was delighted with the idea -- and suddenly Jennifer found herself sharing a bed with her gorgeous, sexy, pretend husband!

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 1998.

How acquired: Via BookCrossing.

First line: Jennifer was filling a vase at the kitchen sink when the sleek, low-slung dark green car came gunning around the tree-lined curve of the driveway, almost fish-tailing into a bank of ferns as the driver belatedly realised the bend was a lot sharper than it looked.

My thoughts:  A convoluted plot that slowly unfolds, revealing secret after secret. A recently widowed and pregnant heroine, running a B&B with her mother in the shadow of a once dormant but now awakening volcano. An angry stepson who barges in and, upon being mistaken for her husband by the heroine's mother and other household members (who did not know she was widowed), smoothly steps into that role, forcing the heroine to follow along or tell her family she lied to them. There's so much going on in this book, while not a lot actually happens for a good part of it. Jennifer is likable, but Rafe stole the show, despite the majority of the book being from Jennifer's POV. I was glad I started this book on a Saturday so I had the time to pretty much read nonstop. Sometimes you have to suspend belief and just enjoy the ride, and for me this was one of those times. 

Girl Trouble (Harlequin Presents No. 1964; Man Talk No. 2)

SANDRA FIELD

Synopsis from Goodreads: He wanted a lover...

Cade McInnes had fallen in love with Lori when she was sixteen and he was old enough to know better. But he hadn't known better. They had parted bitterly.

Not a family!

Now it was ten years later. Lori had a bad marriage behind her and two adorable daughters, Liddy and Rachel. Except they didn't seem all that adorable to Cade. Liddy had taken an instant dislike to Cade. Which was fine with him--he wanted only one blond in his life, not three. But getting Lori into his bed meant accepting two little girls into his heart!

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 1998.

How acquired: Via BookCrossing.

First line: Two shocks in one day.

My thoughts:  The first chapter opens with Cade MacInnis (while it's spelled McInnes in the synopsis, inside the book it's spelled MacInnis) standing outside a photography studio, staring at a picture of Lorraine Cartwright, and remembering the past. The second chapter opens with Cade going to the gym. The third chapter opens with Cade calling his mother. Do you see the pattern here?

GIRL TROUBLE is part of a multi-author series titled “Man Talk”. The entire book is told from Cade's point of view. We never see anything from the heroine's point of view, are never privy to her inner thoughts. And I gotta tell you, I loved that. Back in the day they were all from the heroine's point of view. Then we started getting books told from alternating points of view, and while I still love the old romance books, I loved also getting inside the hero's head. But this is the first romance I've read that is entirely from the hero's point of view, and I would gladly read many more.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's get back to the book. I very much liked Cade, though there were a couple of times when I wanted to tell him to stop being childish. (Of course Lori, as she's now called, doesn't want you to come over when her young daughter, who doesn't like you, by the way, has just learned her father was an abusive jerk. What possible good could you do by inserting yourself into that situation?) I loved the girls, Rachel and Liddy. Loved that Rachel, the older of the two, quickly accepted Cade, while five year old Liddy made no secret of her disdain for him. Usually it's the younger child who attaches herself to the new man in mom's life and the older one who holds him at arm's length. I liked Lori well enough, and that was well enough for me.

He hadn't wanted to leave. And he was hurt by Liddy's attitude. Hurt that a five-year-old didn't like him.

The conflict with Lori's father was resolved ridiculously fast, and her reaction the first time things start to get a little sexual with Cade was a bit over the top, setting up Cade to become quite angsty, which I didn't mind. I got really tired of hearing the ex-husband's name and was glad he did not make an appearance. I really expected him to show up at some point, and maybe even show Liddy his true colors, leading to her opening up to Cade, so I was very happy (and relieved) that the story didn't play out that way.

This is the first book I've read by Sandra Field. But as much as I liked it, I don't feel compelled to seek out more of her books. I suspect a small part of my enjoyment was the novelty of the point of the view. But whatever the reason, I really enjoyed this book.