The Baby's Christmas Blessing

 

MEGHANN WHISTLER

Stats for my copy: Kindle ARC, Love Inspired, 9/27/22.

How acquired: Hidden Gems ARC Program

First line: Chloe Richardson gazed down at the baby in her arms.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This is my first time reading Ms. Whistler, and I enjoyed this sweet Love Inspired story. I’m a little partial to single fathers, and here we have Steve, who is actually a single uncle but that’s just as good. His sister died of a stroke while in labor, and Steve has custody of her baby. Chloe has recently broken up with a guy who was cheating on her, and after the Christmas holidays she will be moving to Boston where she’ll be starting a student teaching placement, the last step in finally getting her teaching degree.

But to back up a little, Steve and Chloe first met at a summer camp, when she was fifteen and he was seventeen. On the last night of camp, they shared an amazing kiss by a bonfire, and then Steve left, and Chloe never heard from him again. Now their paths have inadvertently crossed, as Steve needs a nanny for little Aiden, and Chloe applied for the job through his aunt Mabel, not knowing she’d actually be working for Steve.

Steve and Chloe are both great characters, each with their own particular baggage. Eventually Chloe learns why Steve dropped completely out of her life, and his backstory is just heartbreaking. He’s struggling financially between having just started a new business, then losing his sister, paying her funeral costs, and taking on Aiden. He’s determined to give his nephew the best life he can, and the childhood that his own father cheated him out of. I loved how earnest and sincere he was and how protective of Aiden, plus looking out for Mabel, who has debilitating arthritis.

The supporting characters are a bit eccentric, at least Mabel is, as well as Irene, another senior citizen who owns a candy shop and just happens to be Chloe’s roommate. Both of the elderly ladies were fun to read about. Chloe’s best friend has a daughter who is five, and she was cute, though her dialogue was a little tiresome as she talked like she was a bit younger, for instance: “We putted up our Chwistmas twee!”. I mean I guess some five-year-olds talk that way? My four-year-old granddaughter does not.

I read the entire book in two days, which I’m not able to do very often, but it was an easy and fun read, that also made me smile a few times. There is a theme of friendship running throughout, as Steve and Chloe begin to realize they want more than friendship, but are both afraid to be in a romantic relationship due to past issues. Watching them laugh and enjoy each other’s company, and then get scared and bicker, and then come back around to the easy friendship, was an enjoyable journey, and of course the resolution at then end was very satisfying.

*I received a free copy of this book from through the Hidden Gems ARC Program and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Goodreads Synopsis: A second chance at love... with a newborn as matchmaker!

Nothing will be merry about Steve Weston’s Christmas if he doesn’t find a nanny for his newborn nephew fast. But the best choice is Chloe Richardson, the woman he pushed away years ago. He has a second chance at making the season’s joy last for a lifetime—unless he allows old wounds to separate them once more…

Love Beyond Reason

SANDRA BROWN

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Warner Books, 1994.

How acquired: Unknown.

(For Goodreads synopsis, scroll down.)

My thoughts: A reissue of one of Sandra Brown's early romances, written under the name Rachel Ryan. It's a bit dated, which she mentions herself in the forward. Nobody has a cell phone; they use a car bed for the baby and in one scene while riding in a jeep Katherine holds the baby in her lap; when Jace gifts Katherine with a fancy new typewriter she's over the moon. But the story still holds up well and was very enjoyable. Of course there's a big misunderstanding over the other woman, and that was the only time I got irritated. I wanted to yell at Katherine to stand up for herself and demand an explanation from Jace, and I wanted to yell at Jace to just be straight up with Katherine and don't just get mad at her for being mad at him for what she saw. But again, I still very much enjoyed the book and especially at the end I was racing through the pages to finish before going to sleep.

Goodreads synopsis: Katherine Adams will never marry a Manning -- not if she can help it. Her sister Mary's fairy-tale marriage into the family's wealthy, powerful dynasty turned into a nightmare of abuse. And on the night her playboy husband was killed in a car accident, Mary died in childbirth. Now, the savvy, smart, and very angry Katherine has vowed to protect her sister's child, even if it means rejecting the dashing, charismatic oil man who shows up at her door. Katherine wants to believe that Jason Manning isn't like his ruthless family. But secrets and lies are part of his heritage. And Katherine could be destroyed by a truth she's afraid to face . . . and a man she can't resist.