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A review by jstilts
The Cowboy SEAL's Jingle Bell Baby by Laura Marie Altom
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Okay, not my usual read at all - my first time reading a light romance (in that it isn't deeply serious nor an out-and-out comedy) and it's an actual Mills & Boon imprint to boot.
I was surprised to find this was quite funny, especially early on, and while the constant swapping of opinions of the couple should have been annoying, it was kind of amusingly absurd. The tale is basically one of an in-lust rather than in-love couple agonising over whether they should adopt off their unexpected pregnancy or marry, and much is made of their failure to communicate their true feelings to each other and to themselves - although it all dragged on a bit two-thirds in.
Kudos however that it doesn't quite end when you'd expect, there's a perfectly happy ending a few chapters from the end when a dose of real life seems to intrude to keep you guessing.
As a bonus, the out-there Southern cliche characters reminded me of Blanche Devereaux from The Golden Girls (a patriarch is even called 'Big Daddy' for goodness sake) which helped give richly over-the-top voices to many.
Now why 3 stars? I've never bothered to explain my rating system but this book being out of the usual for me, I feel I should justify it:
- 1 star is outright offensive or written so poorly as to be unreadable.
- 2 stars is when it fails to deliver on what it sets out to do, or fails take me along for the ride.
- 3 stars is passably good, enjoyable enough - but I wouldn't actually recommend it to people (I'm a librarian, so this is an important line to draw).
- 4 stars is well written and compelling, would definitely recommend.
- 5 stars is life-changing, exceptional, faultless.
This is a 3, not a 3.25 or higher - but a solid 3 that gave me some chuckles. I will have to poke about more in the Mills & Boon arena!
I was surprised to find this was quite funny, especially early on, and while the constant swapping of opinions of the couple should have been annoying, it was kind of amusingly absurd. The tale is basically one of an in-lust rather than in-love couple agonising over whether they should adopt off their unexpected pregnancy or marry, and much is made of their failure to communicate their true feelings to each other and to themselves - although it all dragged on a bit two-thirds in.
Kudos however that it doesn't quite end when you'd expect, there's a perfectly happy ending a few chapters from the end when a dose of real life seems to intrude to keep you guessing.
As a bonus, the out-there Southern cliche characters reminded me of Blanche Devereaux from The Golden Girls (a patriarch is even called 'Big Daddy' for goodness sake) which helped give richly over-the-top voices to many.
Now why 3 stars? I've never bothered to explain my rating system but this book being out of the usual for me, I feel I should justify it:
- 1 star is outright offensive or written so poorly as to be unreadable.
- 2 stars is when it fails to deliver on what it sets out to do, or fails take me along for the ride.
- 3 stars is passably good, enjoyable enough - but I wouldn't actually recommend it to people (I'm a librarian, so this is an important line to draw).
- 4 stars is well written and compelling, would definitely recommend.
- 5 stars is life-changing, exceptional, faultless.
This is a 3, not a 3.25 or higher - but a solid 3 that gave me some chuckles. I will have to poke about more in the Mills & Boon arena!