Father To Be

J.D. Grayson agrees that the Brown kids, abandoned by their parents, deserve a loving home. He's just not sure that one man is parent enough for four young children--not if he is that one man. But a persuasive--and mysterious--young woman insists he's exactly what the children need. Now he has to convince twelve-year-old Caleb, fierce guardian of his younger brothers and sister--and then pass muster with Kelsey Malone, Bethlehem's newly arrived social worker.

With one good deed, J.D. finds his life turned upside down. The kids barely talk to him and they won't eat his home-cooked meals. Then he finds himself looking forward to Kelsey's home visits too much. Her buttoned-down suit and tough-as-nails professionalism can't hide the vulnerable woman inside. But haunted by the shattered life he left behind, J.D. doesn't want to risk loving again.

It'll take a miracle to make a family of them all...but as one enigmatic young woman knows, Bethlehem has no small supply of miracles.

I picked up this book the last time I went to the UBS. I chose it because of its cover. Seriously. Something about it got to me and it was one of those impulse buys. The thing with impulse buys usually (more time than not) you end up returning them or just not liking it. But fortunately for me, this impulse buy proved wrong. I truly enjoyed reading Father To Be.

J.D. is a man that unexpectedly is saddled with three children. He truly wants to help these children, but the eldest is giving him a hard time. Also there's the children's case worker, Kelsey, who he finds very appealing and there might just be something more...

Although I liked all the (main) characters, I had a soft spot for J.D.. He had this tough exterior, but you just knew that somehow he was covering his true feelings: hurt, guilt, and the fear to love again. The children and Kelsey helped him with that. His story is one of redemption.

Reading this book was quite an experience. I cried, and laughed and cried some more, but it was worth it.

Father To Be by Marilyn Pappano (4/5) Contemporary Romance; Published: Bantam (9/99); New Author; 2009 100 + Reading Challenge (62); Keeper Shelf;