What I'm Reading Wednesday

The week's review is Asking For Trouble by Jannine Gallant.

Blurb: Daycare owner, Miranda O'Neill, isn't looking for a miracle. But that's what it'll take to convince Cole Matheson the American Dream isn't a trap designed to suck the life out of him. She wants a house with a white picket fence. He wants adventure. She yearns for babies of her own. He's perfectly content claiming his aging hound as his only dependent. The one thing they agree on--they can't keep their hands off each other.

Six months ago, they'd admitted love wasn't enough and parted ways. But when Cole finds himself in charge of his nephew for the ten longest days of his life, only one person can save him.

Will Miranda put aside her heartache to jump into the fray? Can Cole find any redeeming qualities in a demon in a diaper? Either way, both know they're just asking for trouble.

Review:  Please note this is a novella with approximately 110 pages. I point this out because some readers buy a book and don't realize that it's of short length and then give a terrible review because it wasn't a full-length novel.

I felt like I knew Miranda right from the start. It's rare that I can identify with a character within the first few paragraphs. Miranda makes the right decision though it feels like the wrong one - she broke up with the man she loves because she wants children and he doesn't. Knowing a couple in my personal life who went ahead and married then made each other miserable, the push/pull between Miranda's need for a child and her love for Cole was completely believable. I found her to be brave and strong, strong enough to know that while Cole is the love of her life, by denying her longing for a child she'd grow to resent him eventually.

I have to admit, at first I wasn't sure I liked Cole. Some of the remarks he made about kids choking the life out a man and such bothered me. As I continued to read, I grew to know him better. While he loved Miranda, he lived a pick up and go lifestyle that he was worried a child would change. Having lived a lifestyle where that was the norm, I could understand his concern. As he spent more time with his nephew, Jackson, he became more comfortable being around him and caring for him. Cole went from a man who knew nothing about caring for a child and had no desire to learn to a man who kept a level head, administered the necessary aid, and got the baby to the hospital all without a panicked moment.

The best part of Asking For Trouble is not the ending but the journey Miranda and Cole take the reader on. It's at times funny, maddening, and heartwarming. Reading this novella is great way to spend a winter afternoon.

Rating:  5 Stars