The Single Dad's Patchwork Family by Claire Baxter (Harlequin Romance, April 2008)

A GREAT Saturday afternoon/evening read! Single Dad and Single Mom find love and renewed sense of family

Regan Jantz attends one of those kinds of cocktail parties... business, networking, information. She's a professional running a tuna farm and knows the drill but her heart leads her elsewhere. Something about Chase Mattner, a man away from the crowd just feels right. When Chase and Regan start talking, they find themselves sharing all those parts of themselves that had remained hidden. As a single mom with 2 boys, Regan wants to protect her sons and herself. As a single mom, she can't risk letting a man into her life only to walk out on her sons. But when Chase asks for help, can she resist? Chase never thought he would ever love again when his wife died. Can Regan break down his isolation? Can these two single parents find love and a new, richer sense of family together?

I just finished this book about 5 minutes ago so I am going to do a kind of first impression blog because I am still thinking about it. I have had a really busy crammed-in week. What I most wanted this Saturday afternoon/early evening was a quiet and gentle day. So much noise and activity all week... what I wanted was quiet and no noise and a good lose myself read. I wanted to think about other characters, hopefully have a gentle romance read. I just wasn't in the mood for a dark read or a new genre. Anyhow, I picked up this book mostly for practical reasons since it was the last April Harlequin Romance to read in my TBR.... but I was delighted to discover that this book was exactly what I had been craving!

The hero Chase is one wonderful man. I loved the way Claire Baxter made them talk and share secrets together. I felt and understood the hero and heroine's insecurities and especially Regan's reluctance to get involved at the same time as I felt their natural pull to each other. Once these two meet, they are drawn to each other from the heart. The reader feels the friendship growing between them as they share ---very well done.

The other thing that was really cool about this book was the heroine. I am not a mom, not a single mom and never will be but this heroine resonated with me a lot. It was weird because when I thought about this heroine, I saw both myself and my mom through adult eyes.

I am going to write a review for this one in the next two days, might replace that blog with my review, but I just wanted to write how perfect this romance was for a quiet Saturday read.  Just a delight to read about this hero and heroine discovering each other. Plus, this book had that extra special something I like in a book... it opened the doors to thinking about something beyond the book too.

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