Hello, and welcome back! The weather here has been very interesting this spring, and exceedingly wet. And now it looks like we’re heading directly from soaking wet to hot, hot summer. Not much chance to take my reading material outside so far this year, I’m afraid. We may actually have to turn on the air conditioning very shortly, and it’s far too early for having to sit indoors with my cool drink to do my reading.

This time out, I have a two-in-one from one of my favorite authors, Susan Meier, The Baby Project and Second Chance Baby (Mills & Boon, received from author). In “The Baby Project,” Whitney Ross and Darius Andreas become guardians of baby Gino unexpectedly. Darius is not father material. He’s not even ready to settle down with just one woman. But working with Whitney to care for their new child might make him rethink just how ready he really is. Whitney knows the bad boy isn’t a candidate for anyone’s husband, but she’s still attracted to him, even knowing all about his previous exploits. And the more time he spends with the baby, the more she thinks that maybe he really does want to settle down. He just never had a reason before. Still, Darius’s upbringing left much to be desired, and he and his brothers are not close. Not even friendly, really. But if he’s going to be serious about taking on his new responsibilities, perhaps he’ll have to reconsider that as well. But a serious, faithful relationship with just one woman forever? Unlikely. Whitney has her own issues to deal with, but nothing quite like Darius’s, so there’s the very strong possibility that she’s going to get her heart broken if he decides she’s asking too much of him. In “Second Chance Baby,” Darius’s brother Nick gets another shot at his ex-wife Maggie Forsythe when she comes to work for him. Only Maggie is pregnant with another man’s baby, reinforcing Nick’s remembrance of the heartbreak Maggie left him with last time he let her into his heart. His problem now, though, is that he can’t keep her out, even though he still can’t trust her. But close working conditions might just wear him down. Or leave Maggie heartbroken all over again. Ms. Meier is terrific at creating characters you might meet in your own life, people you can believe in as you fall in love right along with them, and cry when their hearts are broken. There are always families with who have issues they want to work through, romances you will always find satisfying. Even better for me, is that the version I got was a two-in-one volume, so readers are treated to two terrific stories. I’m borrowing four of Cupid’s five arrows for this one. I can’t wait till the third story in this series comes out next month.

Until next time, happy reading!

Susan Meier

Romance Novels Forum