Misleading blurb - he does not want a baby. Expect a lot of sex.
I was really looking forward to a nice second chance romance with forced proximity because she wants a baby, and he will only do it "the old fashioned way." Nope. He very explicitly does not want a baby.
After 3 months of "dating" (used loosely because it's mostly sex), she's already mentioned having a baby for a few weeks and feels she's in love with him. I'm all for instalove stories, but these two did not have the romantic chemistry to pull it off. Not surprisingly, he calls off their relationship. Then 3 years later, she goes to the fertility clinic, and he's the doctor.
Honestly, I didn't like any of the characters. They are all (even secondary characters) very much emotionally stunted, self centered, and "oh woe is me." Everyone is super judgmental and expects other people to act a particular way. Then they are very upset and affronted when people do things differently. Very little empathy is exhibited when someone is suffering. Very poor communication all around and a lot of assuming other people's thoughts and feelings.
One positive, I totally believed the physical chemist between the two. On the negative side, it felt gratuitous because it didn't add to the story, and I love explicit, steamy stories with a lot of heat. It made me think that their emotions for each other were forced because they wanted to bone multiple times a day, and I still didn't buy the love story at the end.
3 stars bc even though it wasn't my cup of tea, it was decently written, but starring people I couldn't care about. Except the beautiful baby.
SPOILERS
She gets pregnant after a one night stand with him. He didn't want a baby and suffers from a stupidly awful case of foot in mouth the entire book. She throws things at him and wonders how he can be so unattached. Well turns out he was recently widowed a few months before they slept together the first go around. Does this create empathy within her? No.
They family dynamics are messed up all around. Normally that doesn't bother me, but both main characters act like they're being dealt a cruel hand and can't do anything about it. Mustn't tell our families that we had an accidental pregnancy because they'll think she's a slut and he's a loser who needs to marry her. So we'll just get fake engaged. Only he forgets to remind her of that so he does a romantic proposal, and then she gets upset when she realizes it's not for real.
This couple's emotional roller coaster wore me out. All their friends say "you love each other" but they can't see it. Not surprising since they act like friends with benefits and not actual lovers. Sure they have romantic gestures, but I didn't see true romance or love aside from some minor internal musings. And for all that, the entire book is resolved in a page and a half of "oh sorry, I love you, marry me." And she said yes. The end.
Specific annoyances:
- She's described as having a lithe, athletic build but then later has a lot of curves.
- He title dropped when meeting her family. "Thomas. Doctor Clarkson."
- They were worried about the baby being more premature, but OB said she was full term. THEY KNOW THE DATE OF CONCEPTION!