Holly‘s review of Pride and Pregnancy
You can take the girl out of the trailer park…Which Karleen Almquist had surely tried to do. But the thrice-married—and thrice-divorced!—personal shopper had sworn off men, and their inherent complications…aka babies. Until the most gorgeous widower moved in next door—complete with the two most adorable little boys she’d ever seen.
True, Troy Lindquist had been alone a long time, but the ice cream mogul was looking for a real relationship, and his next-door neighbor was clearly not his type. Still, that didn’t stop him from turning to her one night—which resulted in Karleen being pregnant with Troy’s child.
First came the baby carriage. Then came love. And then…marriage?
Karen Templeton has become a favorite go-to author for strong, emotionally compelling contemporary romances. I recently picked up a handful of some of her older SSE’s and this is the first one I grabbed out of the stack.
I enjoyed the unconventional heroine. The first thing the hero thinks when he meets her is “bimbo”. Karleen’s a bleach blonde who loves shiny objects, has fake nails and fake boobs. She’s also fiercely independent, caring and almost brutally honest. She’s attracted to her new next-door-neighbor Troy right off the bat, but after 3 failed marriages she knows better than anyone that attraction fades. Troy’s expression when he meets her says it all – he might think she’s good to look at, but he doesn’t think she’s good to stick with.
Troy’s been raising his twin sons alone for four years, their mother having died shortly after childbirth. He’s responsible, grounded and thinking it might be time to start looking for a wife. He wants someone quiet and uncomplicated, someone he can build a life with. Someone the exact opposite of his drop-dead gorgeous neighbor.
Sometimes first impressions are wrong, however. It isn’t long before Troy realizes there’s more to Karleen than meets the eye. And after spending one incredible night together (or day, as the case may be), that turns out to be a good thing. Because Karleen is pregnant.
Now the two of them have to work together to do what’s best for their baby. At first Troy wants to marry Karleen simply because she’s pregnant with his child. But the more time he spends with her the less it has to do with the baby and the more it has to do with Karleen herself. If only he could convince her…
While I enjoyed many aspects of this, I’m afraid I didn’t feel the emotional connection to the characters I’ve come to expect from Templeton. Karleen and Troy were both well drawn characters, and I loved Troy’s boys and Karleen’s best friend Joanna. But I didn’t feel like I was emotionally invested in their story. Yes, I was entertained. But it was missing the strong pull I generally feel when reading Templeton.
3.75 out of 5
The series:
This book is available from Silhouette Special Edition. You can buy it here
