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FIRST COMES BABY by Janice Kay Johnson

March 16, 2007

Rating *** ½ (3.5 Stars)

In FIRST COMES BABY, Laurel Woodall and Caleb Manes have been best friends for years. Friends forever, they said. So when Laurel asks another friend, Matt, to donate his sperm so she can have a baby, Caleb is livid. Laurel felt safer with Matt, to whom she felt no attraction to and he was already married with two kids. Caleb was dangerous, because she DID feel something for him and was worried that he would want a permanent relationship with her if they had a baby together. She knew she was not capable of having an intimate relationship with any man. Because of a brutal rape that almost killed her, Laurel has lived in fear ever since, but she wanted a child so badly that she felt the only way to accomplish that would be by artificial insemination.

When Caleb confronts Laurel and tells her HE should be the father of her child, Laurel says yes, worried but yet relieved that she didn't have to deal with Matt and his possibly jealous wife, although the wife had told Laurel that it was OK. With Caleb being the father of Laurel's baby, things felt "right", although she wasn't sure why.

FIRST COMES BABY is the story of best friends who are now dealing with a planned pregnancy, with no intimacy involved. Laurel fights her feelings all the way, making it known that her independence is very important to her. However, she slowly caves in to Caleb's wish to help her out. The baby is born midway through the book, with Laurel and baby moving in with Caleb, the agreement being that Laurel and baby will move back home once Laurel was ready to return to work. There's a lot tension between the two of them throughout the story, as Caleb and Laurel fight and argue constantly over issues such as father's rights, Laurel's return to work, and whether Caleb would contribute toward child support. And all the while, the two are slowly learning that being a family is what they really want, but both think that the other only wants friendship, not love.

Sharing equal importance in the plot is Laurel's struggle to overcome her brutal rape five years ago, in which she still has nightmares about, and deals regularly with a rape support group, all of whom have gone on to have healthy relationships with other men - all except Laurel. Laurel's difficulty in overcoming this traumatic event has caused her to withdraw into herself, cutting off nearly all her friends from her past life, hanging on only to friends she's met since the rape, those who did not know her from her previous life. The only friend that stuck with her was Caleb, a man she didn't realize had always loved her, a man who had figured the only way to remain in her life without being her lover was to do as she asked, to be the father of her baby. Unfortunately, Caleb realizes that this may be more difficult to deal with emotionally than simply walking away. Caleb's ultimate goal was to become a regular fixture in the baby's life, and hopefully to have Laurel return the feelings he already had for her.

This reviewer is giving FIRST COMES BABY a 3.5 rating. While the story about Laurel and Caleb kept this reader's attention, the second half of the story seemed to drag in parts. The story moved at a good pace for the first half of the book, however, as the reader watched Laurel's pregnancy progress, along with her relationship with Caleb. Once the baby is born, there was way too much emphasis on each of the main characters' "innermost thoughts" as they both spent paragraph after paragraph contemplating on their relationship and their problems, as opposed to allowing more action to take place. For readers who love family centered romances, however, FIRST COMES BABY is recommended and worth reading. - courtesy of Love Romances and More - M. Lofton

Laurel Woodall has not been in a serious relationship since she was brutally raped and left for dead several years ago. But her biological clock is ticking and she wants a baby and asks her married friend Matt to donate sperm. Matt agrees but Laurel's longtime friend Caleb Manes is livid when he finds out and insists on being the father instead. Laurel agrees and quickly becomes pregnant. What she doesn't know is that Caleb is secretly in love with her, has been for years, and is hoping the pregnancy will bring them closer together. It does, but Laurel has put up so many barriers that Caleb has to fight hard to knock them down. Will he be able to prove to Laurel that he loves her and that she loves him, before she walks away from him for good?

For the most part "First Comes Baby" is a well-done romance novel. It gets off to a slow start while setting up Laurel's desire to have a baby and who the father will be, but it picks up steam once she becomes pregnant. Laurel is a well-written, deep, and multi-layered character who is still dealing with her horrific rape, afraid to fall in love, and to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer. Unfortunately, Caleb isn't as multi-layered, as he never once waivers in his devotion to Laurel - a little hesitation would have gone a long way towards developing his character. I also wish author Janice Kay Johnson had included more scenes of Laurel meeting with her rape support group just to show that she was trying to get help and move on. On the most part, however, the book does do a good job of conveying how much the rape affected Laurel as she has shut out most of her close friends and stopped going to law school and how she finally deals with it (Johnson tidily wraps up that plot line). The romance between Laurel and Caleb is charming (even if he is underwritten) and it's fun to watch them grow together as a couple, especially after the baby is born.

"First Comes Baby" is an engaging romance novel.

Good story.enjoyed the conversations and sense of humor characters displayed leading up to more personal relationship.