Review: The Best Man's Baby, by Victoria James

Title: The Best Man's Baby

Author: Victoria James

Florist Claire Holbrook has always played by the rules her entire life, but breaks them to spend one night with sexy lone wolf Jake Manning, a man she's adored since she was a teenager. Six weeks later things get complicated when she discovers they created a bond that will last a lifetime...Jake has never played by the rules. Getting Minister Holbrook's daughter pregnant wasn't part of any life plan, but he won't run from his responsibilities. He'll step up and be the best man he can, even if he doesn't have a clue where to begin. The more time he spends with Claire, though, the more he wants her, and the harder it is to get close because that would mean sharing the one thing he hasn't with anyone--the truth and his heart.

Victoria James is another unknown author in Portugal. She lives near Toronto, in Canada and writes for Entangled, Indulgence. I feel sad when I read such great books as “The Best Man’s Baby” and realize that are so many good authors out there waiting for the opportunity to be discovered by Portuguese publishers.

About this book, I totally fell in love with it. It’s a sweet and romantic story, with amazing humour scenes, which made me enjoy the book very much. I didn’t read the first instalment in Victoria James’ Red River series, but I hope to do it soon. She is a very talent author that makes us forget all of our problems and just enjoy the reading moment. The characters are perfect, too. Clair, although being the reverend’s daughter, is a very independent woman, with her own beliefs and fights every day to fulfil her dreams. The scene where she stabbed the positive pregnancy test through Jake’s hamburger while he was with another woman in their friend barbecue party was hilarious, but it showed how tough Clair is in very difficult circumstances. Jake Manning is the opposite – at least on the outside. He is the spoiled playboy, always having the perfect women besides him. It may be true, but his story is a little more complicated than that, He isn’t as perfect as people thing he is and he keeps a terrible secret from his siblings that can tear his family apart. But when he knows he’s going to be a father he decides to be a grown up man and take responsibility for what he did – at least he wants to. I loved the book very much and thinking in everything that happened I don’t seem to find any failures in the plot. It is not only a romance story; it’s a story of family, friendship and human values. Now I’m very curious about Evan Manning’s story. The sneak peek at the end of the book is so great that the idea of waiting for the winter to read it makes me very sad. Keep going, Victoria, we are waiting for it.