Making Babies (Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Making plans, making friends, making a baby?
Review: Elaine Lowry had always wanted a child of her own, but her ex-husband Kevin had never thought the time was right. Now Elaine finds herself a 37-year-old divorcee with no children of her own, while her ex-husband's new trophy wife is expecting Kevin's child. So Elaine decides to take matters into her own hands and try artificial insemination as a way to get a child of her own. And she's content with her plan, until the lawyer that represented her ex-husband in their divorce shows up at her doorstep, challenging her notions about artificial insemination and stirring her long-dormant heart.

Mitch Ryder had always felt guilty about representing Kevin in the divorce, although he had had little choice in the matter. He has been trying to discretely look after Elaine for the past nine months, and he just bought her apartment before it was sold to someone who would probably charge her a lot more money to live there. He's definitely tempted by his colleague's ex-wife, but he doesn't believe in love or happily-ever-afters. But when she tells him of her plan to have a child, Mitch wonders if maybe he wouldn't be the perfect father for her children!

This book was really good! I was laughing aloud several times, especially during the "Pick a Daddy" party. Elaine was a really likeable character, and I think a lot of women can identify with some part of her struggles. As for Mitch, he was sinfully delicious. Who wouldn't want a Mitch showing up on their doorstep? :) The cover art on the book is beautiful! I usually don't buy a book because of the cover, but the cover art was really what drew my attention at first. The cast of secondary characters was excellent, from Mitch's workaholic meat-loving sister, to Mitch's sugary sweet but surprisingly attuned step-mother (and Elaine's neighbor). This book really just about had it all. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet, funny, and tender romance with realistic characters.

Rating:
Summary: Boring, not romantic, just plain stupid
Review: Wendy Warren is not funny. The attempt at humor in this story fall flat (Oy vey? - dumb). I scanned the book, instead of reading the whole thing. Scanned, not skimmed. It's not romantic, not steamy like the other Harlequin series. By steamy, I mean Harlequin Presents, Historicals, mild scenes in Romance, maybe even Temptation or Desire. I'm not fond of Blaze that much (filled with slutty women and sex toys - not romantic). These books are fiction, but women like to be transported out of their ho hum lives - be swept away by romance, not porn. I like Allison Leigh's books better. The Men of the Double-C Ranch series are the best, especially the first 2 books of the series "Stay" and "The Rancher and the Redhead". This book is not even worth a skim. There's no passion!

Let me just sum it up for you. Woman's husband of 10 years leaves her for his Tae Bo instructor (blonde bimbo with implants). He marries her and has a child with her. Woman bitter because husband promised her a baby years ago but it was "never the right time". Ex-husband's law partner was his divorce lawyer and somehow she gets involved with him. She askes to have a baby with him. They are attracted to eachother and eventually make love (a few times), but those scenes are cut off.

I didn't feel the attraction between the characters, the writing is terrible. When I read a book, I like to feel the characters' emotions. These characters are at best two dimensional.

She finds out she has Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (which is MISSPELLED in the book - come on! "polycycstic"? complicated by endometrial hyperplasia which will make getting pregnant near impossible and she might not be able to carry a baby to full term. She is afraid to say anything, but of course we find out that the man she loves is okay with this. That's the end of the "story" until the epilogue where the reader is told the woman and her new husband have adopted two children, and miracle of miracles were able to have one daughter of their own.

If you like bad writing, two dimensional characters, no passion, and bad humor, go ahead and waste your money on this book.