3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great debut from a talented author!, December 9, 2002
This review is from: The Baby Plan: 9 Months Later (Harlequin Superromance No. 1103) (Mass Market Paperback)
Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques
Jake Manning has a plan, a BABY PLAN that is! He has everything a man could possibly desire, except for one thing... a baby. He is so busy though, that he has no desire for a wife to go along with the baby, in addition to the fact that he has already had experience in the husband department and didn't have much luck there. Having raised his younger siblings pretty much on his own, he is feeling a bit of "Empty Nest" syndrome, now that they are grown up and starting to have families of their own. So he starts to hanker after having his own child, without the stresses that marrying a woman would add to his life. He knows he can raise a child by himself. Now, he just needs to find the woman to go along with his plan.
Harley Emerson is a young woman who has had nothing but a string of bad luck in her life. She is highly intelligent, but has no formal higher education. She has no family, having spent most of her young life being shuffled from foster home to foster home. She is a brilliant mechanic, but having been arrested and convicted for a crime she didn't commit, she finds it rather difficult to get and keep a good job. She's flat broke and has no one to turn to, her only friend being her former parole officer, a man who took her under his wing and tried to help her overcome her past.
When Jake meets Harley at the garage where his car is being fixed, he is quite intrigued by the young woman. When she loses her job due to a misunderstanding between Jake and her employer, he feels responsible. As he gets to know her while trying to help her out, he decides she is the perfect woman for his plan to have a child. Upon approaching Harley with his idea, going so far as to send a "Daddy R'sum'," she is at first insulted and infuriated. She finally comes around though, but not without making a few conditions of her own - she will only agree to a traditional conception and a marriage of convenience until the baby is born. No child of hers will be born outside the boundaries of marriage, even if she won't be keeping it herself.
All goes according to plan; until a monkey wrench is thrown in to the works... they find love. Jake has been hurt and betrayed by every woman who has been in his life, the only exception being his younger sister, so he finds it hard to trust Harley. And she is convinced a fine upstanding citizen of Erie, PA, like Jake, could never love an out-of-work mechanic with a record. Now comes the biggest challenge of all, how to overcome the obstacles to find the happiness both so desperately desire.
What a wonderful debut novel! Ms. Gable packs an emotional wallop with this story. This is one book that is totally and completely character driven, but circumstances between Harley and Jake are cause for some conflict in the story, helping to flesh it out and make it all the more compelling to read.
Harley and Jake are strong characters, with strong personalities, so it is no surprise that this story tugs at the heartstrings. Harley has had a tough life, molding her into the woman she is. There are times when she is reliving past experiences that the reader cannot help but feel the full intensity of her pain. She is a complex blend of woman and child, and that is evident throughout.
Jake's feelings for his brother and sister are overwhelming to him at times, causing much inner turmoil when it is apparent that his feelings for Harley and his family are at odds with what everyone expects of him. Also, his pain over those he feels deserted him when he needed them color his way of thinking and his attitude in general, until he learns to let go of the hurt finally.
The reader knows from the start that Jake and Harley are meant for each other, and can't wait for them to figure that out themselves. They need each other, and the journey to that realization makes for a powerful read. If this story is any indication, Ms. Gable will be a force to contend with in the genre. She knows how to tell her story with plenty of emotion to enthrall the reader, while balancing it out with a strong plot line and even stronger characters. This reviewer will be eagerly awaiting her next book, THE MOMMY PLAN, due out in the summer of 2003.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Exceptional Heroine, December 29, 2002
This review is from: The Baby Plan: 9 Months Later (Harlequin Superromance No. 1103) (Mass Market Paperback)
Jake Manning has raised his younger siblings and now finds he wants a child of his own ... without the customary wife.
Ex-con and mechanic Harley Emerson meets Jake's baby plan qualifications, plus she's without a job and desperate to get herself through college. Jake can provide the money; all Harley has to do is agree to have his baby. Living with Jake is harder than anything Harley's had to do. How can she walk away from her child and the nicest guy she's ever met?
An ideal marriage it is not, but beguiling Harley proves too enchanting for Jake, and soon, he's not sure he can let her go.
Susan Gable's story is warm and charming, the writing fluid and engaging, but it's her characters who are outstanding. Highly recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
EXCELLENT - HEARTRENDING - LOVABLE!, August 27, 2003
This review is from: The Baby Plan: 9 Months Later (Harlequin Superromance No. 1103) (Mass Market Paperback)
Boy am I glad I don't have to agree with some reviewers [grin].
Cover is an excellent match with the story.
Jake Manning and Harley Emerson are ideal leads for a different marriage of convenience. I thought it was neat that she insisted on a legal marriage and conception the "natural way", no illegitimate child for her.
It was humorous that Duffy, at 25 wanted to protected his brother who was 35 but it wasn't hard to understand his reasoning. Their sister, Mel with her husband, Peter and their adorable twins, Grace and Hope was a bit more mellow.
Harley was sure getting a crash course in child care one night. I felt a bit sorry for her in learning what she had gone through in her young life but she came through with flying colors. Yeah! for Charlie. He gave Jake a couple of moments of unease.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED - great story to enjoy - maybe even a second time.
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