Holly Jacobs, Be My Baby

Be My Baby

Holly Jacobs

Silhouette, Aug 2004, $4.25, 185 pp.

ISBN: 0373197330

In Erie, Pennsylvania, at the law firm of Wagner, McDuffy, Chambers and Donovan, Office Assistant Amelia Gallagher enjoys teasing attorney big shot hunk Larry Mackenzie unmercifully though she admits to herself he is every woman's fantasy. Almost all the time Mac walks off in a huff. However, Mac has bigger issues than Amelia's taunting as a deceased client named him guardian to her daughter Katie O'Keefe.

The social worker Ms. Lindsay tries to talk Mac out of taking responsibility, but he refuses to heed her advice as he insists he will nurture the child until the state finds a living relative. Once cleared of Ms. Lindsay and the frail elderly foster care mother considered for baby Katie, Mac knows he needs help. Biting his tongue, he turns to Amelia, who is stunned that the egotistical womanizer is caring for an infant. As Katie the tiny matchmaker brings Mia and Mac together, the adults fall in love with one another and with his charge even as the hunt for the perfect family for the baby continues.

Having a commitment-phobe bachelor be stuck with a baby is as old a storyline as a reader will find, through her two prime adult protagonists Holly Jacobs makes it seem like a fresh original concept never heard of before. The lead duo moves forward the tale as Mac more and more wants the two females in his life forever, but at the same time believes Katie would be better off with someone else as her dad. Contemporary romance fans will relish this fine "Perry Square" relationship drama

Harriet Klausner