Executive Mother-To-Be (Baby on Board) by Nicola Marsh (Harlequin Romance)

One Night in Singapore leads to a career girl's nightmare...but will it also lead to love?

Kristen Lewis TV producer sits in a Singapore bar, stood up by a co-worker buddy in favor of a young temp worker. Hard working to the max and driven, Kristen knows the loneliness of hotels and bars. When she eyes the handsome Nate, dark and morose but ever so sexy, she feels like she has met a kindred soul. As the CEO for his own company, Nate seems to understand her long hours and her passion for work. Together they share a fabulous night. Months later, Kristen walks into her first day of work at a new job. Called in to meet her new boss, Nathan boyd, Kristen is shocked to see the face of her Singapore Nate, the man she cannot get out of her heart. Both driven professionals, Kristen and Nate decide to keep things on a professional level --- but their decision chafes at their very hearts. Then the worst thing possible happens to this sigle-minded, focused career girl --- not only is she pregnant but she is pregnant with Nate's baby!

This is my first Nicola Marsh read. Besides being a wonderful light read, interspersed with some tense moments, several areas drew my attention. Nicola Marsh has a lot of skill in setting a scene so that when she writes about the characters, the reader is drawn to them and understands them behind the exterior. Her style is quick, sharp and focused --- in just a few well-chosen descriptions, the reader is right there on the scene an in the hearts of her characters. I also very much enjoyed the way she wrote dialogue --- fun, witty and dynamic. But more, as Nate and Kristen encounter each other and spend time together in Australia, one feels them become more and more comfortable with one another through their dialogue. Interesting hero. As with most HR heroes, a good guy with past hurts. I really do love the way these HR authors write their heroes.

In general and on a personal level, I am less of a fan of baby romances than other kinds of romances but I was very impressed with how Nicola Marsh wrote this one. She added several very done well details that made me understand her and how she could end up in the situation she did and still be an intelligent woman. I grew up when women's lib was gaining ground and the one thing parents drove into their children was don't get pregnant and work hard to be successful in your own right. Some dramatic moments here, especially towards the end. She writes drama well --- quick plot with precise details, allowing the story itself to tell the drama.

Mini-Challenge:

News Blues by Marianne Mancusi (to be blogged) led to this read: 2 stories where the heroine works in the television industry.

AKA Merri
Family Challenge Team: The Spine Breakers with my dh Glenn AKA Phaedrus