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yodamom's review
2.0
2.5 stars- audiobook (excellent narration)
Sports, egos and aging, something I can relate too. The sneaky sperm stealing devious action, made me angry. It was nice to read a book about more mature people dealing with age changes. The characters aren't middle aged, but in that between time from after reaching career success and before middle age, the forgotten time. I would have loved it if Jane hadn't done what she did. I had very mixed feelings about this book.
Cal, is a football quarterback who loves his women young fresh and dewy. He refuses to accept the fact that his quarterback days are dwindling and < gasp > he is aging out of his job. He's used and it pissed me off.
Jane is a super brained scientist who desperately wants a child before her eggs dry up. Her background was traumatized by being too smart so she wants the father to be a mentally dimmed person in good health. She's a self centered, person with only her goal in mind. An encounter with a less that scrupulous person leads her into the bed of Cal, the dim witted footballer. This part of the story had me fuming in anger ! After tricking him into bed, she altered the condom so she could steal his sperm. It didn't take the first time so she set's things up to steal from him a second time. Yes, I'm fuming now, this was an unforgivable action.
She becomes pregnant, he finds out, he moves into action. Jane. she acts like she's the injured one in this party. I couldn't have disliked her more, and never warmed up to her. I enjoyed his family, they held this story together for me and were the reason I finished it. Granny, she is just hilarious and tough.
I found the pregnancy thief so disgusting I couldn't get over that to accept the rest of the story.
Sports, egos and aging, something I can relate too. The sneaky sperm stealing devious action, made me angry. It was nice to read a book about more mature people dealing with age changes. The characters aren't middle aged, but in that between time from after reaching career success and before middle age, the forgotten time. I would have loved it if Jane hadn't done what she did. I had very mixed feelings about this book.
Cal, is a football quarterback who loves his women young fresh and dewy. He refuses to accept the fact that his quarterback days are dwindling and < gasp > he is aging out of his job. He's used and it pissed me off.
Jane is a super brained scientist who desperately wants a child before her eggs dry up. Her background was traumatized by being too smart so she wants the father to be a mentally dimmed person in good health. She's a self centered, person with only her goal in mind. An encounter with a less that scrupulous person leads her into the bed of Cal, the dim witted footballer. This part of the story had me fuming in anger ! After tricking him into bed, she altered the condom so she could steal his sperm. It didn't take the first time so she set's things up to steal from him a second time. Yes, I'm fuming now, this was an unforgivable action.
She becomes pregnant, he finds out, he moves into action. Jane. she acts like she's the injured one in this party. I couldn't have disliked her more, and never warmed up to her. I enjoyed his family, they held this story together for me and were the reason I finished it. Granny, she is just hilarious and tough.
I found the pregnancy thief so disgusting I couldn't get over that to accept the rest of the story.
lmeierhoff's review against another edition
I really tried with this one because Fated Mates podcast raves about it, but as someone who came to romance around 2016, it did not work for me. This book was written in 1997 and it shows.
They’re both horrible to each other. She tampers with a condom to get pregnant without his knowledge. He’s emotionally abusive, making threats and constantly doing stuff like backing her into a corner, she says stop, and he blocks her in more. I don’t need to read this.
They’re both horrible to each other. She tampers with a condom to get pregnant without his knowledge. He’s emotionally abusive, making threats and constantly doing stuff like backing her into a corner, she says stop, and he blocks her in more. I don’t need to read this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
cobaltbookshelf's review
1.0
1.5 stars
For most of this book I found Jane heroine of this book so annoying guy Cal was somewhat better but still they keep having same fights. Anyways this is mess.
For most of this book I found Jane heroine of this book so annoying guy Cal was somewhat better but still they keep having same fights. Anyways this is mess.
meggie82461's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars
I am shocked I liked this book as much as I did. It started out super iffy, but I soldiered through because usually SEP can suck me in. And she did, just not in the way I was thinking it would happen.
The main thing I would like to point out is that this was originally published in 1997... AND YOU CAN DEFINITELY TELL. It is teaming with problematic shit, the chief one being um, hello, baby trapping?! In Jane's defense, she didn't want to actually baby trap him - she had no interest in his money or really him at all- but still, Jesus Christ, that's very uncool. That being said, I was 13 in 1997, so I fully knew what to expect and I was able to look past it for the sake of fiction. (I also recognize that with a prolific author such as Phillips, there might be some weird plotlines solely for the sake of originality, and I respect that enough to ignore what I don't love).
SEP can certainly weave a plot around a beautiful setting, that's for sure. I always feel like I am in a different, independent world when I read her stories and they usually hit the spot for that reason. Still, though, neither Jane nor Cal were all that likeable. Jane had this single-minded focus on having a baby that I simply can't relate to, and her ends-justify-the-means attitude grated. But at the same time, Cal refused to take responsibility for his part either. Then you add his attraction to barely legal women and, well, I just didn't feel all that bad for him. Sure, I was glad they eventually fell in love, but mostly I was interested in everyone around them, mainly Cal's family. Man, I cried like a baby over Cal's parents. I'm not entirely sure why, either, but I was a mess. And if a book makes me that emotional, it's at the very least a 4-star book.
I'll definitely continue with this series as they come up available at the library because while they aren't lifechanging, they all have been comfort reads that just hit the spot.
I am shocked I liked this book as much as I did. It started out super iffy, but I soldiered through because usually SEP can suck me in. And she did, just not in the way I was thinking it would happen.
The main thing I would like to point out is that this was originally published in 1997... AND YOU CAN DEFINITELY TELL. It is teaming with problematic shit, the chief one being um, hello, baby trapping?! In Jane's defense, she didn't want to actually baby trap him - she had no interest in his money or really him at all- but still, Jesus Christ, that's very uncool. That being said, I was 13 in 1997, so I fully knew what to expect and I was able to look past it for the sake of fiction. (I also recognize that with a prolific author such as Phillips, there might be some weird plotlines solely for the sake of originality, and I respect that enough to ignore what I don't love).
SEP can certainly weave a plot around a beautiful setting, that's for sure. I always feel like I am in a different, independent world when I read her stories and they usually hit the spot for that reason. Still, though, neither Jane nor Cal were all that likeable. Jane had this single-minded focus on having a baby that I simply can't relate to, and her ends-justify-the-means attitude grated. But at the same time, Cal refused to take responsibility for his part either. Then you add his attraction to barely legal women and, well, I just didn't feel all that bad for him. Sure, I was glad they eventually fell in love, but mostly I was interested in everyone around them, mainly Cal's family. Man, I cried like a baby over Cal's parents. I'm not entirely sure why, either, but I was a mess. And if a book makes me that emotional, it's at the very least a 4-star book.
I'll definitely continue with this series as they come up available at the library because while they aren't lifechanging, they all have been comfort reads that just hit the spot.
bookdevouringmisfit's review against another edition
2.0
Only the funny moments are the mere reason I'm even rating this two stars. Without them, I would've just settled for one star.
linnaboobooks's review
2.0
The only good part of this book was the ending, otherwise I mainly read this for shits and giggles.
mara_sevilla's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
briesespieces's review
Everything about this book was so f*cking stupid. Stupid Plot. Stupid and unlikeable characters. Just plain stupid. The woman belongs in jail and the man needs to get injured and off the damn team and in jail right along with her. Her, for basically forcefully getting his child and him for his obsession with younger girls. I had to stop 25% into it because i was left out of fucks to give. The end.
heyitsife's review
DNF
The synopsis does not give a good description of the plot. His friends are annoyed that he hasn’t been sleeping with people so they buy him a hooker and get him drunk. Meanwhile she’s not actually a hooker and is just lying in order for him to impregnate her because she thinks he’s stupid and she wants a dumb father for her child. The basis of their relationship would be sexual assault because she freaking tampered with the condom and then you’re gonna try to convince me they fall in love?!? WHAT KIND OF PLOT IS THAT?!?
The synopsis does not give a good description of the plot. His friends are annoyed that he hasn’t been sleeping with people so they buy him a hooker and get him drunk. Meanwhile she’s not actually a hooker and is just lying in order for him to impregnate her because she thinks he’s stupid and she wants a dumb father for her child. The basis of their relationship would be sexual assault because she freaking tampered with the condom and then you’re gonna try to convince me they fall in love?!? WHAT KIND OF PLOT IS THAT?!?
celtic_oracle's review against another edition
2.0
It ended up being better than I thought it would be at the beginning, but this book really didn't do it for me. Maybe the Big Bang Theory ruined me for stories about physicists, but there didn't seem to be much interesting about Jane. There were a few laugh out loud moments though.