“Daddy” is not a title Rue Murray wanted, but he never thought he’d have sex with a woman either. Now he’s the unwitting father of a newborn named Alice. Between bartending and cosmetology school, Rue doesn’t have time for babies, but he can’t give her up. What Rue needs is a babysitter, and he’s running out of options. He’s on the verge of quitting school to watch Alice himself when he remembers his reclusive new neighbor, Erik.
Erik Van Nuys is a sci-fi novelist with anxiety issues to spare. He doesn’t like people in general, and he likes babies even less. Still, with his royalties dwindling, he could use the extra cash. Reluctantly, he takes on the role of manny—and even more reluctantly, he finds himself falling for Alice and her flamboyant father.
Rue and Erik are as different as two people can be, and Alice is the unlikeliest of babies, but Rue has never been happier than when Alice and Erik are by his side. At least, not until he receives an offer that puts all his dreams within reach and he’s forced to choose: the future he’s always wanted, or the family he thought he never did.
Apparently Rue got so drunk one night that he decided that he was going to “test” his gayness and sleep with a woman. I’m not sure if they didn’t use a condom or if it ripped or what but a few months after that night the woman came to Rue and let him know that he was going to be a father and she doesn’t want to keep it after giving birth. Growing up without a steady home the last thing that Rue wanted was his child to be put up for adoption and not have a clue as to level of care the baby would receive. He immediately tells the woman that he will take the baby.
We then jump to Rue bringing the baby, Alice, home and the insanity of that. He did have a week off but basically had to go back to school and work almost immediately. He was desperate for a sitter and went to check out the local day cares. He was met with facilities that made him shudder with their lack of cleanliness to places that stuck their nose up at the fact that he was gay to places that would welcome him…when they had an opening in about 6 months. He is getting closer and closer to having to return to normal life and is completely frustrated. His best friend Dusty will watch Alice at night but he had no one for the day. He ends up asking his neighbor for help and is turned down flat. Rue then starts putting fliers around the apartment complex and slowly raising the amount he’d pay.
Let’s talk about the neighbor. Erik is a bit well, high strung. Ok, he’s more than that. Anxiety thy name is Erik. The guy had had to move out of his house of six years and that basically sent him in to a tailspin. He had never been good in crowds, had to have his groceries delivered so he wouldn’t have to go to the grocery store and watched the original Star War trilogy to calm himself down. The thought of having to take care of another person, especially one so small, made him practically have a panic attack. But, here’s the thing. He still had to pay the bills. Erick is an author of sci-fi novels and the royalty checks were getting smaller. He had submitted more work but it wasn’t getting picked up. In order to pay the bills he does some research on babies and decides that taking care of Alice in his own home would be better than having to face the world and get a job. *Shudder*
Erik starts to take care of Alice and Erik, Alice, Rue and Dusty all fall into a routine of sorts. They become friends and Erik slowly starts coming out of his shell. They all find common ground with Alice and eventually with each other. Erik, who’s never been attracted to anyone starts to have thoughts of him and Rue together and eventually falls in love with the other man. Rue’s not sure what’s happening with Erik but he’s afraid to make a move on him because he’s afraid of frightening him off. The pair finally come together and it’s awesome. The problem is that now that Rue is out of cosmetology school his friend in California (they’re in Delaware) has an awesome job for him but of course he would have to move to California. How can he even ask Erik to move with him when he knows how hard it is for Erik to accept change?
I’m not sure what I expected with this story but it definitely went above and beyond anything I might have imagined. Rue was an awesome character. He was thoughtful, kind, generous, loving and just an all around great guy. He was the fishnet & nail polish wearing kind of guy and I imagined him as one adorable twink who’d been around the block. As the story went on I admired Rue more and more. It started when he said he’d take Alice before she was even born without having to give it a second thought and it grew as the story went on and he took such care with her and his friends. He worked hard to provide for his little family and he did it well. He grew a lot in the book and I loved seeing that.
Erik was a mess. lol I loved him but he took a bit getting used to. I guess I’ve never spent a lot of time with someone who was that anxiety ridden so I was on the same mental level as he was at first. But then he became friends with Rue and Dusty and he came out of his shell. Talk about personal growth! He went from a medication taking hermit to a friend and a lover, a caretaker and a protector. He was amazing and I loved reading about him.
The story is very sweet and pretty angst free. It does have its moments but they were worked so well into the overall story that they never felt convoluted just to extend the page count. I felt that the book ended exactly where it should have but I have to say I would love (are you listening authors?) a short or a novella to tell a little about how Erik, Rue and Dusty are doing now. This one was definitely worth the read.
Rating: 4 out of 5
I believe there is a follow-up book about another character in the works – hopefully it checks back with these guys, too. 🙂
I would assume, and hope, that that story is about Dusty – Rue's best friend. If that's the case I'm sure we'd get to check in wit Rue and Erik. Oh thank you – that's really good news. 🙂
Yup, Dusty. I think the book is out in the fall.
Great review and spot on… I really enjoyed the characters and the story development. It didn't seem too bizarre and I've had moments with day care just like Rue. The worst feeling is needing child care and not knowing who or how it can be done. Some of those day cares really are so absolutely disgusting.