Her Two Dads

by Ariel Tachna

Srikkanth Bhattacharya is a quintessential gay bachelor and perfectly happy about it-until he gets a call from the local hospital telling him his best friend died in childbirth. Sri had agreed to provide the sperm to make Jill's dream of motherhood come true, but he'd never expected to have to make decisions for a baby girl. He intends to place her with an adoptive family, but once he sees her, Sri can't bring himself to do it, so now he's struggling to learn how to deal with a newborn. His housemate and friend, Jaime Frias, volunteers to help, never guessing he'll fall in love with both the baby and Sri. Everything seems perfect until a visit from Social Services sends Sri into a tailspin, feeling like he has to choose between his daughter and a relationship with the man he's coming to love.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, Friends To Lovers, LGBT, Childrens, Gay

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 21, 2010

About the author

Ariel Tachna lives outside of Houston with her husband, her daughter and son, and their cat. Before moving there, she traveled all over the world, having fallen in love with both France, where she found her husband, and India, where she dreams of retiring some day. She’s bilingual with snippets of four other languages to her credit, and is as in love with languages as she is with writing.



Visit Ariel at her website http://www.arieltachna.com or on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ArielTachna, or e-mail her at arieltachna@gmail.com.

Reviews

[Nichole (DirrtyH) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so disappointed by this story. I plugged along faithfully because the premise was so appealing to me I was determined to ignore its faults and let my imagination fill in the rest. But I couldn't finish it.
The dialogue was stilted and the relationships between the characters, including the baby, never came alive. There was way too much time spent on detailing the supplies (including brand names) that they had to buy at the store. There was just no soul here and I got bored.

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty cute and I liked how it played out. The way Sri got Sophie made sense and I loved that Jaime stepped up immediately to help out. Their relationship felt really organic and grew nicely. I felt so bad for the guys when they had to endure homophobic remarks and accusations. Sri and Jaime made a great couple and were awesome dads to Sophie. Great listen!

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Srikkanth Bhattacharya had thought when he served as a sperm donor to his best friend that he'd be nothing more than a friend to the child. Unfortunately his BF dies in childbirth and Sri finds himself faced with making difficult choices for the baby's future. When he goes to sign the paperwork to set her on the road to adoption he finds himself unable to give her up. But with no experience with babies and no family to turn to Sri is feeling overwhelmed.

Lucky for him one of his housemates, Jaime, comes from a large family and happily offers to help him out. From getting the house ready to bring baby Sophie home to feedings, colic and walks in the park the two men slowly find their friendship deepening over time. Things are going great for them until Sri is faced with unwelcome visitors and a threat to his happy family life.

Her Two Dads is a very sweet, uncomplicated story reminiscent of a category romance. The minor bump in the road to Sri and Jaime's HEA is solved quickly and before long there are wedding bells ringing. I liked that it's a slow building relationship, no jumping into bed for these guys, and it's definitely got a sweet ending. No tissues required although it may be too sugary for some.

However at the same time I was a bit disappointed with it. Although I liked the characters I didn't get a sense of great chemistry between them. At times their relationship seemed to be based primarily on Sophie and I found parts of the book dragged. Also, if you need any info on getting ready for a baby and taking care of one, this could be used as a reference tool. Especially during the first part the constant use of brand names felt off putting to me.

Overall this was a nice story by an author who's books I've enjoyed in the past. I did like it but still felt let down in some parts.


This story was reviewed for Rainbow Reviews

[Rossy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the perfect story when in the mood for a very sweet story. It's not perfect, in fact most of the details of the kind of relationship one of the heroes had with his "best friend" i kind of read in between the lines. Yet, it is so good for when you just want to read about a couple who REALLY get to know each other before getting physical.

I loved the way the relationship evolved from friendship to more without the characters even noticing. I could see it, thanks to the author but they were totally unaware and just went on with their friendship. The baby added another fantastic dimension to this plot and though it may not be for everyone, i would recommend it 100%.

[Danielle Desantis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't enjoy this. There were weird inconsistencies (if she's his 'best friend', why doesn't he seem upset about her death, and if she's not, why did he contribute to her pregnancy?) and it read more like a baby-care manual than a novel. It's great that the author knows how to take care of a baby, but there's such a thing as too much information.

Overall, I just didn't really care about the characters. It's nice that some of the money from this is going to charity, so at least it wasn't a TOTAL waste of my time and money.

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, I don't do babies or children in my books but I was so curious about Ariel Tachna's Her Two Dads I gave it a try. I mean I already know there are going to be kids in it so ... go!The beginning was well written and sucked me in right away. We meet Srikkanth a kind of cold, Indian wed designer when he gets a phone call about the birth of Sophie. Jamie his Latin roommate is the catalyst that pushes Sri in the right direction to the baby. Together they swim upstream taking care of and raising the baby. Tachna used a starker, more clinical writing style then with her other works. Time was taken to flush out the story. Sensual interactions were there not used as filler therefore feeling more romantic and real. I love the feeling of wanting to keep watching their day-to-day lives for years to come. First, yahoo at the use on characters that are Men of Color. There isn't enough of that in m/m books today. I did have a question: Why didn't they go to Sophie's Mother's home a get all the stuff she had to have had everything for the baby? Or was there a funeral or what happened if she had no family. It just stuck in my mind. I'm glad I read this one.

[Suong Doan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very much looking forward to reading this story due to the many rave reviews here, unfortunately I turned out to be very disappointed. From the very first page I already found elements that I didn't like, from the way we were abruptly introduced into the story, to the the way situations were explained. I found no real depth in our characters, no real development other than the fact that
they gradually adapted to having an infant.

But I think what I disliked the most was the main character Srikkanth, there were so many times I wish he would just man up. I can understand the situation he was suddenly dealt with but seriously can't be a man about it?

So yeah, I was very dissatisfied.

[IC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Si esperas un hijo, este es tu libro porque es como un manual sobre cómo cuidar a un bebé. Hasta el 50% del libo no pasa nada de nada, solo compran lo que necesita un bebé y te lo relatan, pero ojo, no es que lo hagan por encima, es que son páginas y páginas de productos incluidas las marcas. Desesperante. Y luego lo mismo con una infección de oído y suma y sigue.
La traducción, como en la mayoría de libros M/M, mediocre y con faltas (en este caso no tantas, pero alguna cae) y con redacción forzada.
Esto no es spolier, la propia sinopsis te lo adelanta.
Y la historia inconsistente. La madre de la criatura es una conocida y 4 páginas más tarde era la amiga de la juventud, compañera de piso de la universidad...como una hermana, eso sí, es tan amiga que pasa de acompañarla cuando va a dar a luz y ni se nombra el entierro.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful friends to lovers. Fear makes things hard but when you let go, sometimes amazing things can happen.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally loved this book

[Candice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Once again, I needed something sugary sweet and this did the trick.

Sri gets a phone call that changes his life. His best friend dies while giving birth...to HIS daughter. Oh, he knew he was the father, but he was just supposed to be the sperm donor. Now, that's all fine and dandy, but if it's your best friend, where's the grief? Why didn't you have a funeral for her since she has no family? What happened with her belongings? Couldn't he have just gone to her house to get all of the baby stuff for Sophie? His supposed best friend dies and he's in shock for a bit, but that's it? If my best friend died I would be a hot mess--for who knows how long. I just didn't buy their relationship.

I am not knocking BRU or anything, but I NEVER got that kind of help while I was there. If I asked a question they answered it and then couldn't leave fast enough. I really didn't need TWO shopping trips there and have everything explained.

I could have used less shopping trips and more family problems. I mean, Jaime's family really didn't talk to him much (or vice versa--I am still kind of confused on that part) and Sri's family is in India and they don't seem to have much of a relationship. I would have liked more interaction with them at the end. I would have liked to have more dinners with Jaime's family :) I also would have liked to have eventually found out who called CPS.

To be honest, while reading I kept thinking--2 Stars. But, then I started to think I REALLY liked the relationship between Sri and Jaime. I LOVED how Jaime took things slow. I loved how he just wanted to hold Sri instead of getting into his pants. I liked the intimate moments like that rather than just another romp in the sack. So for that reason, I bumped it up to 3 Stars :)

The Epi was cute :)

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Potentially had fantastic themes. I work with a lot of people from Mumbai who are all avid proponents of arranged marriage and who profess such a different approach to sexuality (I've never been brave enough to ask about GLBT) that I was really excited to find an Indian MC. But none of these issues were explored. And I hated it when Sri's parent were going to miss their marriage because could get a flight from India and then turned up at the last minute second anyway. To me the author is cheating.

Also, I wasn't convinced that a relationship between Sri and Jaime could suddenly blossom in those difficult weeks after the birth of a baby when it hadn't in the years they had been house sharing. In my experience this isn't a romantic time in your life. It wasn't Jaime's baby and I found his reaction a bit hard to believe.

Enjoyable enough but shallow and ultimately disappointing.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio book review, not yet shown as a separate edition on Goodreads. I did not give a written review on my original reading.

Jenny Urban gave a mediocre narration performance. Sometimes her voice sounded almost mechanical with not much emotion. It seemed weird sometimes for a woman to voice a gay sex scene.

I read this book in written form back in 2013. I did not remember the book the way it was actually written. I had remembered more conflict and a harder time of them becoming a couple, yet the reality is things were pretty easy for the men to achieve their family. A very interesting pairing with Indian and Mexican heritage. I wished their had been more engagement with their cultures. A solid story, lots of baby rearing scenes. 4 stars overall.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is full of romance and love and has a beautiful pace where it builds nad builds to the outcome you are so rooting for. The love between the two men, Sri and Jaime, is romantic and the movie kind where you sit and smile. The way they both love Sophie is heartfelt and realistic and when you see her grwon at the end, you kow they've done a good job. But you just knew her two Dads were going to do it right. This book left me with a warm fuzzy feeling that I love.

[Ozlem · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The shopping for the baby part was too long (and they did it twice). I would like to read more about their inner conflicts (like to marry or not, the progress of their relationship etc.). Falling in love with your roommate of 3 years did not seem very realistic or exciting. I'm more of a "love at first sight" person.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 This just brought back how fricking tired I was when my son was an infant. I don't want to read about baby vomit and dirty diapers and, while the writing is good, it couldn't make the story better for me.

[Gigi]

Poor friend reviews.

[Gina · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF
Way too much baby stuffs and too little romance. (almost non-exist up until 48% where I've given up)

[Dona DeSy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suoi due padri Ariel Tachna

In lista da un po’ non avevo capito che potesse essere un m/m , non avevo letto la sinossi per motivi di tempo e mi sono accorta della cosa soltanto quando è stata menzionata l’omosessualità del primo protagonista. I suoi due padri è un libro molto dolce e delicato l’autrice a me completamente sconosciuta non ha la stessa bravura della Chambers della Sexton ma si lascia leggere benissimo.
Di questo libro mi sono piaciute due cose essenzialmente innanzitutto la minoranza etnica di entrambi i protagonisti : Srikkanth web designer indiano e Jaime direttore d’azienda messicano, il modo inusuale in cui è nata la loro storia d’amore. Il libro si apre con una telefonata che Sri riceve dall’ospedale che annuncia la morte della sua migliore amica dando alla luce sua figlia e che lui tra i contatti di emergenza della risultava essere registrato come padre della creatura…cosa vera perché aveva acconsentito a essere il donatore per far sì che l’amica potesse diventare madre. Sulle prime Srikkanth pensa di darla in adozione ma una volta tenuta in braccio capisce che non può. Jaime essendo il suo coinquilino si offre di dargli una mano. La storia continua così per un bel po’ facendo vedere le difficoltà di questi due uomini di potersi occupare di un neonato, lo stravolgimento delle loro vite e la creazione di una flebile routine. A un certo punto ho controllato che che fosse davvero un romance, perché per la prima parte sembrava addirittura una narrativa basata sulla paternità più che sulla storia d’amore. Poi ecco che piano piano la bambina creerà la famiglia e la famiglia creerà la coppia. Nella maniera più bella possibile perché i due formeranno un legame lentissimo ma dolcissimo. È una storia senza troppi scossoni senza angst, senza drammi…un po’ alla Ney ma con argomenti più “seri” se vogliamo dirla così . Si affrontano vari tipi di tematiche ,come l’omofobia ,le differenze etniche e culturali e l’omogenitorialità , argomento che mi trova abbastanza sensibile dato che in Italia c’è un fortissimo vuoto legislativo al riguardo. Il tutto è raccontato con la giusta leggerezza ma senza banalizzare nulla. Comunque un libro corposo ma non pesante. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Marika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sinceramente mi aspettavo molto, ma molto di meglio, a mio avviso è un libro troppo superficiale, la bambina viene vista come un giocattolo dal protagonista, qualcosa di cui prendersi sì cura, ma boh, mi ha lasciato stranita.
Innanzitutto la povera ragazza che muore mettendo sua figlia alla luce, un po' di lutto? Un funerale? Non viene raccontato niente di niente e se veramente era la migliore amica del protagonista tutto questo è assai strano.
Seconda cosa, questo amore improvviso che nasce fra i due tutto per merito di una bambina che nella vita vera non avrebbe fatto altro che dividerl.
In questi libri sono tutti alla ricerca dell'anima gemella, anima gemella che conoscono da anni ma non l'avevano mai vista sotto quel pnto di vista e blabla... troppo superficiale per i miei gusti.
Niente viene spiegato è solo una bozza di un romanzo che se affrontato con maggior impegno sarebbe stato assai più piacevole.
Il prendersi cura della bambina, i dubbi e le incertezze, tutto viene presentato ma mai spiegato o approfondito, sembra una lista della spesa.
Per non parlare del finale, scontatissimo, io amo i lieti fine, ma questo è tremendo... tutti accettano l'omosessualità di tutti, tutti accettano che sta figlioletta sia apparsa dal nulla, tutti continuano a dimenticarsi della povera donna morta, espediente assai discutibile per far apaprire la bambina.
Ci sono rimasta veramente male -.-
Come prima lettura dell'autrice direi che non mi invoglia per niente a continuare con le prossime opere.

[Romanticamente Fantasy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dolcissimo… Non avevo ancora letto questo libro, nonostante sia uscito da un po’, e finalmente mi sono decisa a farlo. Mi è sempre piaciuto il modo di scrivere della Tachna, per cui non ho iniziato a leggere con pregiudizi o cose del genere.
I due protagonisti, sono eccezionali, la classica coppia che si completa. Uno il pezzettino mancante dell’altro. Sri, insicuro, combattuto e pieno d’amore, e Jaime, razionale e libertino. Ma quando l’amore chiama, anche il più libertino del mondo non riesce a resistere.
La storia tra i due è un crescendo, e così anche la loro vita di coppia al contrario. Infatti i due si trovano ad essere una famiglia, prima ancora di essersi innamorati.
Il libro scivola via che è una meraviglia… la piccola Sophie è il collante perfetto per unire famiglie distanti. Famiglie che non hanno ben accettato la sessualità dei loro figli, famiglie di origini diverse e usanze ancora più diverse.
Quando finalmente i due si rendono conto di essere innamorati l’uno dell’altro, la tenerezza che emanano ti riempie il cuore e vorresti che questo amore durasse per sempre. Nei momenti di crisi le lacrime, purtroppo, sono scese anche a me. Quando il sentimento è forte è come se il dolore dei protagonisti ti entrasse sotto pelle.
Posso dirvi tranquillamente che intrecciato alla storia d’amore, c’è il messaggio giusto che tutti dovremmo saper leggere…l’essere uguali nonostante le differenze.

[Sophie ARGINTARU · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malgré un début raté (il sonne vraiment faux !), ce livre semi-court exploite parfaitement bien ce sujet récurrent de la romance : le bébé surprise, remis au goût du jour. Cette petite fille déboule dans l’existence de ces trois colocataires masculins, aux habitudes bien établies et confortables, et renverse tout sur son passage, les obligeant à réfléchir sur leurs priorités, leurs objectifs, leurs sentiments. Ariel Tachna possède un vrai rythme, et une jolie manière de raconter une histoire sans tomber dans la guimauve ou la mièvrerie. Alors, c’est vrai que c’est « mignon », mais cela reste gentiment enlevé, le tout parsemé de petites touches d’émotion.

Sri et Jaime sont amis… Si la petite fille va les rapprocher, il faut aussi saluer la très bonne idée d’avoir créé de vraies différences culturelles. Non seulement ils n’ont pas le même caractère, et doivent ajuster leur ressenti en conséquence, mais il faut aussi composer pour chacun d’eux avec la famille de l’autre. Il n’y a ni bons ni méchants ici, mais juste un peu d’incompréhension et de malentendus. C’est très bien fait, l’auteur parvenant avec aisance à exploiter ce format un peu trop court, approfondissant le mieux possible l’évolution des sentiments, en nuançant la personnalité de nos deux héros.

Cela m’a donné envie de lire d’autres romans de cet auteur !

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

My previous assessment held true through pretty much the whole book. The story was decent but it was bogged down by too much teaching /educating information. It's like you get a whole page detailing what's needed to build a baby's nursery when a simple sentence like, "Thankfully, one of the employees at the baby supply store was able to help him find what he absolutely needed like bottles, diapers, formula, etc." would have been far more than sufficient. Again, it was a nice story, just needs condensed. I will note though that this would be a helpful story for a new or soon-to-be parent that doesn't have experience with babies.

[Ottilee B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't have a lot of angst: even the homophobia was relatively mild. And an HEA!

Jill wants a child and gets her friend, Sri, to donate (she'll raise child, he does nada). However Jill dies in childbirth and Sri gets 'her' the baby. 'Her' is named 'Sophie'. Sri keeps Sophie and utilizes his roommates knowledge, limited though it is, to help him raise her and the roommate (Jaime) and he fall in love. When they marry, Sri's family is in India awaiting a visa to visit but Jaime's family is present. At the last moment Sri is united with his family.

[Kobie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but I reacted so viscerally to this scene: MC1 comes home from office to dinner ready and baby cared for. MC2 says " you didn't have to make dinner." MC1 says, "You worked and I didn't." Um, no. Both worked. One just didn't get paid or recognized as working. Also, I struggled with the timeline and the idea of working from home with a newborn.

[Ylva · Rating 4 out of 5]

After three abortive attempts I read this little book in one afternoon.

Fluffy, slice-of-life without much drama or angst. It didn't have much in terms of action, but the quiet plot suited me this time around.

Another book shelved in 2014 finally off the list.

Also, with one Indian and one Hispanic main character the cover really do not match the story. Except that it does focus 100% on the child.

[Tefy Lima · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puntuación final 3.5

Me gustó mucho es un libro muy tierno y romántico los personajes me encantaron y sobre todo me encantó la diversidad cultura y de etnias que los personajes tenían, Sophie me encantó la ame, pero si la sentí un poco sosa aunque es ligero su fácil de leer muy buena para pasar el rato

[Karlo · Rating 5 out of 5]

es ist eine wunderschoene und auch teilweise emotionale Geschichte,
mit ein paar Freudentraenchen in den Augen habe ich dieses Buch beendet,
toll geschrieben,
super beschriebene Protas,
feue mich auf weitere Uebersetzung von Buechern dieser Autorin

[Daniela Tirrito (Tivvys_books_world) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 il mio voto, carino e piacevole ❤️

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. I wanted to read a romance, not a manual on how to care for a baby. Other than that, this was just too bland and sugary for me and I didn't much care for either of the characters.