When a baby is dropped on Faye Erwin's doorstep, she has three questions: Why's it here? Where'd it come from? And how does she get rid of it? The English professor's worked hard to distance herself from her trashy family, and she's got enough going on without taking on her irresponsible sister's problems. To make matters even worse, an airheaded student is there to witness the embarrassing event.
Jaz Neeson has never seen her calm, contemptuous thesis supervisor thrown so far off-balance. Faye's dazzling intelligence - not to mention her iridescent beauty - have always intimidated the masters candidate. Since Jaz adores kids, she offers to nanny the chubby-cheeked little girl. Winning Faye's approval is a potential bonus.
Faye's sense of duty means she's stuck with the infant for the moment. As she learns to change diapers and heat up formula, she also begins to appreciate Jaz's intelligence and tenderness. Forced to spend time more together, the two women realize they care for each other - and for Gretchen. But as the three start to feel like a family, Faye and Jaz's custody comes into question.
With outsiders trying to take their baby away from them, will Faye and Jaz be torn apart too? Or will they manage to give Gretchen a loving home?
I don't know if Harper Logan has children, but a generally accepted fact of parenthood is that infants need regular medical care. So the fact that these "baby daddies" cared for this infant without any mention of visits to a pediatrician for check ups and immunizations seemed a bit odd. Then again, I have no idea how they'd take her to the doctor when they had none of the necessary paperwork and information. They didn't even know her birth date. When she's around six months old, Phil starts talking about getting her enrolled for preschool to ensure she has a spot when it's time, and I'm still sitting here going, "Birth certificate? Social security number? Immunization records?" Hell, at that point, he wasn't even her legal guardian.
Half of the baby's behaviors were too advanced for her age. Jay was playing peek-a-boo with her and making her "wriggle and squeal" when she was just a couple of weeks old. When she's a year old, they introduce her to her mother by asking, "Darlene, do you know who this is?" And Darlene responds by shaking her head and saying 'No'.
And then, of course, the girl turns out to be an absolute genius. "She hadn't touched a book with a picture in it since she was three." Kudos to them for apparently raising an elitist snob.
As far as Phil and Jay? Ugh. Phil is a jerk. His constant hand-wringing over being the "stodgy older man" despite only being four years older than Jay, his paranoia about Darlene's safety while considering speeding with her in the car just so he won't be minutes late to a meeting with his sister, his insistence that Jay will be better off without being tied down to an "older man" and a baby....just, fuck Phil. And Jay is pathetic. Slouches off after Phil acts like a jerk-off, pines for him, generally acts like a spineless twit.
And the sister? Abandons her baby to try and hold on to a man and apparently doesn't know how to block a phone number.
Fuck every single one of these characters, and fuck the complete ignorance of child rearing and legalities in this book.
This author pronoun swaps and publishes the same book twice. SHAMEFUL!
Original review below:
I swear Harper Logan isn't one person. How else to explain the difference in writing style from one series to another? Recently, I read and really enjoyed the Long Haul and Runaway Hearts series, but Baby Daddies was utterly ridiculous.
First of all, I hated one of the MCs: Phil. He's judgmental and snooty. He takes complete advantage of Jay's baby expertise, never once thanking Jay for spending hundreds of dollars on baby paraphernalia, much less repaying him.
The entire focus is baby Darlene, Phil's niece who's abandoned by her mom (Phil's sister). Phil is a heartless bitch and wants to get rid of Darlene as soon as possible. He's so clueless about babies that he picks up a week-old infant without supporting her head! Are people really THAT stupid?
For all the fussing Jay does over Darlene, he never once suggests that, Hey, maybe we should take the baby to see a pediatrician! Babies see a doctor at least four times in the first two months of life. But possibly Darlene is SO advanced, she doesn't need a doctor. After all, picture books are beneath get by age 3.
I don't know about you all, but I STILL appreciate picture books! Darlene is superior, obviously.
I'm sorry not sorry; all I can do is make fun of this book. Yes, the steam was there; the HEA, too. But the story lacked tension and focus.
If you don't especially enjoy stories with kids, you can skip this book. But if you love babies, as in my case, you can give it a try. At your own risk.
This was an ok book, aside from some errors and of course gender problems. However, this sadly marks the last book I'll be reading by this author. As I've said in other reviews, I simply do not like this trend of converting books. Baby Daddies This just seems like such an insanely lazy and lackluster way to write a book. If you don't mind that this was a M/M convert, then read it, and you may enjoy it. When/If this author writes a F/F story that is 100% original, I will check it out... but I simply don't like the gender swapped stories. To each their own.
Too much telling, irritating time jumps and though a baby is the catalyst and supposed to be present she never felt real at all. Furthermore, Phil's character really isn't likable. 1.5 stars
**Update: Changing my review, removing rating, because I am annoyed... This Author has the same exact book under a pseudonym, H.L. Logan and changed the character Genders From F/F to M/F to M/M. To me personally, it just seems really dishonest to take the exact same books with the exact same wording (basically plagiarizing your own work) and then republishing them all with different gender pronouns, I personally do not feel comfortable reading this authors books and will no longer be purchasing or reviewing them either.***
LOLOL how this review aged, I'm actually going to bump it down all the way to 1 star. If I could I'd give it one star.
I don't have time for it but I would rate all of this author's book one stars.
I might make a blog post out of this, but guys it is not okay to profit from making a book and making two versions out of it wherein you command + F and replace or the he/him for she/her where you make a m/m romance and make another version for f/f but you just replace the pronouns and maybe names (I saw one that it's gender neutral to make this author's job easier to replace and find).
I am baffled and disgusted that this author is making a profit out of sexualities by writing the same book for two sexualities. LIKE do you guys not know how not okay this is??????????????/
Official rating: 3.5 stars.
I really enjoyed this, but for some reason I can't quite give it four stars. I don't know maybe it will nag me and I'll come back and up it that .5 star.
The only part that Phil really irked me was towards the end, when he thinks he'd done the right thing. Like I can get behind with thinking you're holding someone back, but what I cannot get behind—and wish Jay would have made him grovel about—is kicking someone who moved in with you, who basically left their home to go and move in to your house, and without remorse you kick them out. At no point did Phil ask, wonder, or question were Jay was going to live. Basically, like oh I made this decision in point five second and now get out. GET OUT (literally).
Other than that it enjoyable in that it's just one of those stories were you don't build a fandom out of, want a break from a hard day at work? Read this type of read.
This is such a beautiful story. Jay is uncomfortably star struck for a short while, but once he is past the hero worship phase of knowing Phil, he turns into an incredible character. His kindness and openness in helping with the baby are what made this book interesting from the very start. His immediate love for Darlene is beautiful to behold. Now, I did not like Phil for the first handful of chapters, but he lightened up and got over himself enough to become a good character. His gradual acceptance and love for Darlene are a relief after his coldness at the beginning. Phil grows a lot as the book progresses and he learns to see and try to understand others around him, especially Jay. The spicy scenes were well done, and the reader gets a good feeling for the intensity of their passion. The author gives us a lot to process, with the abandonment issues, uncaring family issues, trust issues, alcoholism, elitism. I'm sure there are more, but these are what come right to mind. This book kept me interested. The author shows us the minds and hearts of the main characters and allows us to experience everything with them. And Darlene is just precious. The secondary characters are well placed, and there are a couple of them that I would like to just smack the hell out of. Kudos to the author. I did have one problem. The cover did not match the description of Jay. I really wanted to see the man bun. I'm very disappointed with that. I really enjoy reading this author. I am voluntarily reviewing the advance reader copy I received from the author.
My fav in the series. Jay has a crush on his thesis supervisor, Dr. Erwin. It's so bad that he becomes a bumbling idiot every time they meet. Dr. Erwin(Phil) believes that Jay is a flaky daydreams and is questioning if he made the right decision to supervise Jay. The two men are thrown together when a newborn baby is left outside Phil's office. While Phil has no idea what to do with a baby, Jay loved kids and agrees to help Phil in his time of need. The two mentors closer while taking care of baby Darlene and become somewhat of a family. Watching the two grow closer is a joy, they hit a few bumps in the road but realize that they belong together with Darlene. They just have to fight for the future that they want. I really really enjoyed this book. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Baby Daddies was a great addition to the Neeson Boys series. I felt that this story had a little bit different feel to it, which is very appreciated. Baby Darlene was so adorable and I just love that she was what brought Phil and Jay together. Phil however made me angry more than once in this story. After everything that Jay did for him and the baby, I just got so mad. Its been awhile since my stomach felt so sick, my heart broke into pieces for Jay. It was hard to come back from that for me. But I managed to, because I wanted to see Jay and Darlene happy. Ugh seriously that part was hard, I had just got to really liking Phil cause he was being a good dad and finally connecting with Darlene… I mean that just proves great writing when an author can pull such deep emotions out of a reader. I loved it. I loved Jay so much in this, gah he is just, such a sweetheart.
Starts fast and remains consistent. I enjoyed reading this book and believe that anyone who is willing to invest there time and interest will have the same experience as I did.
This was my favorite in this series. Lots of time jumps and some parts felt a little fake but major steps up from book 2. The end was cute. And I loved Jay.
Like book 1, not a book I will probably remember forever but it was a cute fluffy read. And everyone lived happily ever after ;)
The forbidden relationship between a professor and a graduate student is one of the themes of this book. The second is becoming a Sudden Single "Dad" / Uncle which was so shocking - it threw the professor completely for a loop. And how he acquired the baby was pretty shocking as well. Professor Phil was 100% unprepared for the little bundle of "annoyance" he received. As I read the story a title occurred to me - The Whinny Professor - because he continuously bemoaned his life.
Professor Phil continued to harp on what his sister had done, how he couldn't find her, how unhelpful his mother was being, how much trouble the baby was, and how pesky the grad student Jay was. I kept picturing the professor as an older, but in actuality he was only four years older than Jay. The professor just acted older and stodgy.
The quintessential English professor Phil even wore a tweed jacket. And despite being a man of words, Professor Phil was a poor communicator who made a lot of assumptions. Instead of asking questions - he just assumed what the answer would be.
Luckily for Dr Phil, Jay had already developed a huge crush on him otherwise I can't imagine him tolerating some of the professor's actions and attitudes. Lucky for Professor Phil, Jay was there when he learned he had a niece. Jay was adept at handling babies. He loved children. The opportunity to help the professor with his Darlene niece was serendipitous. Without his help I don't know if the little girl or professor would have survived.
Caring for the baby together brought them closer and yet there was something missing. The secrecy of of their relationship bothered Jay, but he wanted to be with both the professor & the baby so he tolerated it. Actually he tolerated a lot. He fell hopelessly in love with the baby while the professor could really get on his nerves. Especially when Phil excluded him when he should have been including the grad student.
Jay was not without his faults. He often kept his feelings to himself. When he should have been speaking up (Lord knows the professor was no mind reader) he remained silent. Leading to both he and Phil having to guess, make erroneous assumptions, meaning they both were moving forward without all the facts.
This is a story full of family drama, angst, selfishness, selflessness, and a bunch of nacelle gazing. Making unnecessary sacrifices, sacrificing everything, and hurting deep down. This book generated many emotions: anger, astonishment, jealousy, craziness, callousness, unhappiness, disappointment, despair, and love. Even it made it annoyed me, I enjoyed this story with a darling baby girl who was lucky to be loved.
It was a very fun but totally unlikely story-line. The chemistry between the two heroes was enjoyable but rather weird. Jay was pretty adorable with his crush with Phil. Phil, on the other hand was the weird one in the relationship. Jay was not in even in his line of sight until Jay told him that he was gay. It was actually an alright reason but the way he just suddenly found everything about Jay to be perfect was weird. and he was actually the immature one in the relationship which was even weirder. In fact, every characters in this book acted very unusual. From Phil to his baby sister to everyone at the college who seemed to be normal with a baby hanging around their professor. Everyone seemed to be okay with it. However, I did enjoyed reading this book despite all the weird tingling going on.
PS. I realised that if I was Mrs. Neeson, I would totally question why all my sons were gay. Not that that was a bad thing but the situation would probably make you wonder...
I stumbled across this book and took a chance and so glad I did! Jay is an awesome guy doing a favor for the professor. He loves kids so it's not really a hardship. I thought that Phil took advantage of him for awhile. But as time went on he did have some redeeming qualities. They did work out fairly well as a couple. The sister not so much. They should have kicked her to the curb! Need to go in search of the previous books in the series!
The last thing Phil expected was a baby being dropped at his doorstep but there it was this beautiful baby girl. Jay has such a big crush on his professor and he also has a thing for babies and he would do anything to help his professor with his new ward. What started off as a simple babysitting job turned into so much more, now Phil has the family he never knew he needed in life. "I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book."
I originally gave this book a 4 star rating but after reading other reviews and realizing that this book was lazily gender swapped and published under a different name I have reduced my review.
The typos with pronoun issues now makes sense and makes me even more upset. I won’t be reading anymore of this author’s books until as another reviewer said, they write an original F/F story.
This story about a professor who suddenly finds herself responsible for her sister's baby and the grad student with a crush on her who volunteers to help her care for the sweet little girl is charming, heartwarming, and sweet. The way the relationship between the characters grows gradually as the story progresses comes across as very natural.
They bond over a baby left at the professors office door. Life will never be the same again for either of them. Can this lead to a wonderful life? Great story with wonderful characters and lots of love and humor. Recommend.
This is book 1 in a three book series and it’s a great read,but what I enjoy most about them is that although all three are linked by the Neeson sisters each one can be read as a stand-alone book.Looking forward to the next 2
It is very interesting and sweet and tough fight when come with baby if not for Jax she help her through and turn thing around and dislike how Derek does or so
What a sweet story! The characters were so endearing. Loved baby Gretchen. What an adorable baby!!! Jaz and Faye had so much chemistry. Well developed plot.