Review: Rules are good in theory but not in practice. :)
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 12, 2014
Oh, gosh. This book.I really liked Married for Christmas. That said, I thought that A Baby for Easter, while just as sweet and smartly written (and not only for keeping in line with the Easter theme in a lot of ways), wasn't quite as enjoyable as the first in the series. Not to mention Alice's set of rules seemed to me like a convenient excuse to ignore the obvious signs of interest and put off the inevitable confrontation. I spent most of the book frustrated with her "determination" to stick to it. I was satisfied with the emotional intimacy between her and Micah (even if there's no sex, a fact that admittedly did disappoint me) and was convinced of the depth of their emotional connection, but felt that Micah's struggles with himself would be more fully realised and appreciated if we got a little first-hand glimpse of his thinking process (but good gosh, was he adorable at the beginning of the book, when he could hardly talk with Alice). Lucky for us, though, Daniel served as his sounding board and Jessica's reactions as gauge for his emotions.Alice and Micah had a little something-but-not-quite-anything back in their teens. Micah went away for college and…changed. I cheered when we were told of his reason: "There's no good reason for it. Nothing happened. Nothing provoked it. I just wasn't around people I knew, people who knew me. So I could be anyone I wanted."Huzzah! We didn't get an overblown, "deep" and angsty excuse for something that really just does happen. My sigh of relief must have been heard everywhere. Micah had to learn to make peace with his old self, of course, especially since got five-month old Cara for it. I thought it would have been an interesting journey to read in detail. And for all my complaints about Alice's rules, I did understand her need for certainty, something definite to hold on to, in order to protect her heart. In the end, I was glad how they both got to their HEA after much (mostly spiritual) reflection and self-reconciliation.A fair warning: this treads a little closer to the inspirational line than the first book, but it's still a true—not to mention great—contemporary romance.