Limecello’s review of Another Man’s Baby by Kay Stockham
Contemporary Romance released by Harlequin SuperRomance 1 Mar 08

Proof that online promotions do work. I saw this book on blogs everywhere, and finally had to go and read it. I’m glad I did.

This is the first book in the Tulanes of Tennessee series (and it always made me think of the University in N’awlins…). I was a little skeptical starting the book, but it got me. We’re introduced to Darcy Rhodes minutes after her car has an unfriendly meeting with a guardrail on a mountain road. Luckily, Garret Tulane happens to come by.

She’s a massage therapist, and a very pregnant unmarried woman. The typical “wrong side of the tracks down on her luck” heroine. He’s the administrative chief of staff at the local hospital, an attorney, and from one of the prominent families in town. It couldn’t be more clichéd, could it? Yet somehow, Ms. Stockham makes the story new and believable. Oh, and I forgot to add, Garret also has an almost fiancée, and she happens to be his boss’s daughter. (Yes, still a believable story.)

What saves this book from rehashed storyline oblivion, is how very well it’s written. Darcy comes across as a very real person, and you like her. She knows the masseuse jokes, and the assumptions people make as soon as they learn what her profession is. Garret and his relationship (or lack thereof) with his not-fiancée is also very believable. I liked how honest the characters were with each other–it showed a quality and maturity to them that I appreciated. Darcy also stands up for herself, which I love. The characters work for their relationship. The roadblocks to the relationship and all the machinations of Garret’s boss, were at times excessive, but didn’t seriously detract from the book.

I wasn’t that big of a fan of the secondary romance. I knew how it would play out, and I couldn’t really respect the characters. Regardless, this was a great book, and I’m glad I read it.

Grade: B+

     From the back cover:

     He’s her shelter from the storm.

     Garrett Tulane is Darcy Rhodes’s personal knight in shining armor. Not only did he rescue her from being stranded in the middle of a snowstorm, but he’s also given her a place to stay. His close family ties and his caring support create the secure home life she wants to give her unborn child.

     That security is an illusion, however. Despite the growing closeness between Darcy and Garret, she knows he has obligations and commitments that don’t include her – or another man’s baby. But feeling as she does, when the time comes, will she be able to walk away?

     Read an excerpt here.