64. Maureen Child ~ Prince Charming in Dress Blues~ SD #1366 May01 [Bachelor Battalion]

   Even though it is now March, I'm behind in my reviews for the February Cahllenge ~ One Thing Leads to Another.  This is the first of four of my February books... and I've told myself that I can't start the March challenge until I'm done the reviews... which actually means that I cannot read until I'm done!  That's pretty powerful motive for me. 
     This is the third of Maureen Child's Bachelor Battalion series books that I have and the series is still just as enjoyable.  I'm definitely going to be doing a backlist hunt of the titles that I don't have... and of the fourteen that I know of I only have four, so you can see that I've got a way to go.  But it'll be fun!

RATING:
Excellence: Excellent to Outstanding ~ 4.5 stars
Steaminess: Sensual

BOOK READ:
Maureen Child; Prince Charming in Dress Blues; SD #1366; May 2001
                       11th book in the Bachelor Battalion series

FROM the BACK:
     If someone had told her only yesterday that a perfect ~ in every way! ~ stranger would be delivering her baby, Annie Foster would never have believed it.  But here she was, stranded on top of a mountain, with gorgeous Gunnery Sergeant John Paretti holding her newborn daughter in the crook of his powerful arm....  And the more time the single mom spent gazing into John's pale blue eyes, the harder it became to ignore needs that had been neglected far too long.  Needs that only the right man could satisfy ~ or the right marine....

MY NOTES:
     Oh I loved John Paretti!  A strong man who is not afraid of tender emotions; not at all flummoxed by a new baby or the care of one; a man who... doesn't know what's hit him! 
     I also liked that Annie had no idea what to do with this tiny person.  She loved her with her whole heart, but Maureen Child didn't create a 'she knows - he's lost' scenario.  It was refreshing, very much so, to have an author show that just because someone's female does not make her comfortable, or even knowledgable about babies.  And that a man who has been around children all his life could very well have a huge edge over a woman who hasn't. 
     This is a bit of a digression, but maybe not too much:  I am heartily tired of stories portraying all men, by virtue of their gender, as being useless around a kitchen or a child.  Personally my brothers are just as capable, or in one brother's case even more capable, as their wives when it comes to home and family.  And I better stop here, 'cause this is easily headed for a serious rant regarding society's view of male and female roles ~ with an emphasis on how men just can't measure up to women in the realm of hearth and home. 
    So, as I was saying ~ before my little detour  ~ kudos to Ms. Child for the characters in this story.  Both very true to life... if not society's standards.  OUTSTANDING!!

Books read in February: 30
Har / Sil ~ 24
Others ~ 6

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kalyko ~ Reading: One of life's little joys and a much needed reward!