A Dad for Her Twins

The State of Parenthood #4

by Tanya Michaels

When Kenzie Green relocates to Atlanta, she isn't looking for a man to complete her family. Then she meets her enigmatic new neighbor across the hall. Jonathan Trelauney seems to know just how to handle Kenzie's domestic handful. And her kids are already falling in love with the widowed artist.

Kenzie's twin son and daughter are shattering his peace…and JT loves every minute of it! They're slowly but surely bringing him out of his reclusive shell. Now he'd like to do the same for their independent single mom. Can JT make Kenzie see that he's a man she can count on? That he can be the husband and father her family needs?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Tanya Michaels is an award-winning author of more than thirty romance and women's fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories and nonfiction essays. She is a four-time finalist for the prestigious RITA, awarded annually by Romance Writers of America, and was nominated for RT Book Review’s Career Achievement in Category Romance. When she's not speaking at reader events and writer conferences, she's at home in Georgia with her husband of fifteen years and their two highly imaginative children. For a glimpse into Tanya's chaotic daily life, as well as updates on her current books and TV show addictions, follow Tanya on Twitter.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book.  Kenzie has moved to Atlanta to make a new and better life for herself and her kids.  Her ex-husband was a musician who had not been reliable at all, and she had been the one who had to do everything.  When she first met JT she thought he was just another flaky artistic type.  When JT first met Kenzie and her kids, they scared him to death.  He was still trying to recover from the deaths of his wife and baby, and being around them made him start to feel.  I loved the way that JT began spending time with the family and slowly started to get back to his painting.  It was painful at times to watch both Kenzie and JT as they would advance and retreat, but it was a great healing process.

[Becky Tatar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice story. Divorced single mom Kenzie has relocated to Atlanta for her bank job, along with her two children. Who aren't exactly happy about the move. But their house isn't ready, so an short term apartment is. And a neighbor is JT, or artist Jonathan Trelauney. Who is in a long dry spell after the death of his wife and child.

[Sharon Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy reading love story; finished at the pool today!

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

HAR #1225 = 3+ stars

[ShannonCC · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this. It wasn't blow you away amazing but this was a lot better than some I've been reading lately.

My one big eye rolling complaint was when the teachers at school, after having met the boy for like 2 minutes, decide his problems are from the fact that there are too many "females" in his life. Estrogen overload. Really? You don't think (as his mother did until then) that his problems are because his father is a deadbeat dad who neglects his children, makes promises he doesn't keep and (at that point in the book) hasn't even made contact with the kids for months? But ok, let's blame the fact that there are a lot of women in his life. Sorry, "females".

But other than that, it was a decent book. Romance wasn't actually romantic, more like ooooooo, sexy dude, but still. Nothing that made me rant or want to throw the book.

Damn, my bar has gotten really low lately, huh?

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute!

[Ashley F · Rating 2 out of 5]

** spoiler alert ** While reading this one I found I preferred the second story but both stories sort of dragged for me. While I loved the general premise of both I wished different aspects had been explored longer than the ones that were.

I've been running into this problem with some romance novels, especially the Harlequin lines. Most of the books are either long (in excess) but never broach the topics I find interesting (more on this later) or they are short (too short) and never delve into anything for any length of time.

For example, in Susan Mallery's book, the heroine lives in a Bed and Breakfast and runs the place while caring for her three sons. Nash is a guest, which is understandable. I like the Inn dynamic and wish there had been more exploration of the Inn and the town she lived in, rather than Nash and Stephanie fighting the attraction.

I understand this was part of a series so the town had some exploration before this story but that raises another problem with the Harlequin/category romances. Each author builds a little storyline to go through a bunch of their contracts. They might be months or a year apart but they follow the same characters. The problem is newcomers cannot always access the backstory or the world building easily. I've run into that since some big names in romance novels have major backlists and I cannot seem to catch up. I like to fall in love with the story by reading the books in order.

I liked the concept of Stephanie and Nash but I got lost in the details I missed. I had no feelings towards any of the side characters who had been heroes in past books. I wanted more from the children who became virtual plot moppets. They had no purpose except to cause some minor conflict. At the end of the story I had no feeling of their personalities.

I would have loved to have seen Stephanie and Nash have a more complete story with the above things being addressed. I would have loved to see more from the kids and much more from the side characters but of course, that didn't happen.

I spent a lot of time looking for something that would suit the above review. Then I found this.

I had a similar problem with "A Dad For Her Twins" by Tanya Michaels. The book felt short to me and I kept wanting more information. For example, I wanted more about the ex-husband. They had all these issues but of course he turned his life around instantly. This story had a big case of instant fixing.
Magic is all in the wrist.
The kids are sort of useless other than the son being the one who joins the hero and heroine (art classes). The daughter has some good one-liners but the son tends to act as the reason to bring the two together. The story follows the premise of two people fighting their attraction. Sure each have relationship issues (dead spouse/horrible ex) but still! They spend so much time fighting the attraction that when they actually get together I kind of don't believe it.

At the end of the book everything is suddenly resolved effortlessly. The plans Kenzie had in place were horrible for her because she fell in love (weird stuff). The ex was better while the hero and heroine found true love. I'm all for the happy ending but I just couldn't believe how effortless everything was in the last twenty pages or so.

Maybe I'm too hard to please...

One in a Million: 2/5 Stars

A Dad for Her Twins: 2/5 Stars

~Read as Part of an Anthology. Both reviews are identical

[Monica M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it! JT and Kenzie were cute together and made interesting characters. Kenzie is a mother of twins, obviously, who has an wild child in her but refuses to let it out after it had her married to a musician at eighteen. Now all she wants is someone reliable in her life. JT is of course an artist, who has become a recluse after the death of his wife and unborn child. Naturally they end up liking each other. This was a nice short story that makes you sad when it ends, cuz just just want more.

[Chele]

**note: my copy of this story found here, One in a Million / A Dad for Her Twins

[Sophia Musgrave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok easy read. Good story line but it left me thinking, "OK, way too happy of an ending and it just seemed to be too falling in love is wonderful and great" A bit mushy for my taste.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two-haiku review:

She moves with two kids
Artist across hall lost wife
Both resist romance

Depressing to me
Well written but just too sad
In spite of ending

[Beth Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it, it was a cute story with a happy ending.

[Mem]

AR1225 Sept08.

[Md · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very harlequin. A nice happy ending for all.

[Carla Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a really cute book.
One of those family romance that actually involves the kids in the storyline. I liked it