FROM FRIEND TO FATHER

Author: Tracy Wolff ISBN: 9780373715688 6/2009 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HARLEQUIN

Twin boys, a baby girl and Sarah, their gorgeous mother. It's a dream family. Too bad it doesn't belong to Reece Sandler. Correction. Part of it does belong to him. But he's not ready to be a single father and he needs Sarah Martin more than ever. Funny thing, when he and his late wife asked Sarah to be their surrogate, he never imagined he'd raise that child with her. And the situation is complicated by his growing attraction to her. She's vivacious, captivating and the kind of parent he only hopes to be. How can he resist her? Now to convince her to think of him as more than a friend.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Tracy Wolff's FROM FRIEND TO FATHER starts off on a sad note but manages to turn around quite satisfactorily. Well-written and with more than a touch of realism, it shows that a woman can carry more than her share of the load when others don't shoulder responsibility as quickly as one would like.

Sarah is a dynamo. She loses her best friend in a freak auto accident, acts as surrogate, and parents her own twin sons—all with grace. Watching her be everything to everyone is both inspiring and frightening! I laughed out loud when her sons made an action hero walk the plank straight into the toilet bowl, cried when she prayed over her newborn, and felt her uncertainty when she tried to come to terms with her growing feelings for her dead friend's hubby, Reece. Reece also happens to be baby Rose's father, something that scares the pants off the guy.

While there are moments when I'd like to give Reece a kick in the pants, just to make him see what he's missing, I understood his emotional journey and even respected it. Hoping this couple might find a way to parent together kept me turning the pages long after I should have turned off the light and gone to sleep.

FROM FRIEND TO FATHER is a story about taking chances...on life, love and happiness. Well done!

Kay James