Tina's Reading Books

Holy cow.  A secret baby plot that does not make me want to slap the heroine.  Who knew?

Usually I am over the secret baby plot.  Unless the guy is a total dick, then my thought usually is...how hard can it be to say "I am knocked up and it is yours."?

But the  author set this up really well.  She created a communication barrier that did not seem like a Grand Mis.   I could see why Mia, the heroine, made the decision she did.  Yes, from reader perspective she could have made a different choice.  But from a character perspective I got what she did.

I also liked the narrative decisions the author made when  Nate finally does discover he had a son.  He is mad but not a total asshole.  He and Mia argue and talk and allow themselves to vent it out.  At one point Nate is trying to work through his anger.  No, he had not  wanted children but he doesn't regret having one. 

"Though he couldn't accept or excuse her decision to keep Mikey away from him, he couldn't ignore his role in making her feel as if she had to."

See, there?  That there is some grown folks thinking.    There are lots of these little moments of rationality sprinkled throughout this book.

I also liked that nobody in this book prevaricated or kept crap from each other.  Mia finally contacted Nate because she needed money.  Simple.  Se wasn't trying to be a noble sufferer.  She had exhausted all the proper channels to get the money she needed.  I thought the scenes with her wrangling with the insurance company were great.  They weren't painted as villainous, just bureaucratic.

So with Nate she is lays it on the line.  "I need help."

I also loved the fact that there was no incessant hand wringing about telling Mikey.  Unlike Darth Vader, Nate does not wait til the second movie to go all 'Luke, I am your Father.' Nate pretty much let the cat out the bag within nanoseconds of meeting the kid.  LOL.

I enjoyed the romance and the emotional angst the author set up with the main couple.

My biggest quibble is with the Mia's sister.  She was the worst.  Honestly I thought she was a totally unnecessary character.  Just a drag to even read about.  Even Nate's awful father wasn't as bad as Mia's awful sister.

Also the love scenes are kept to a minimum and are of the 'constellations bursting, violins crescendoing' variety.   So kind of old skool metaphor heavy descriptions.

The author is new to me and on the strength of this book definitely someone I plan to keep my eye on.