Along Came Love by Traceyt Livesay
Publication Date: October 25, 2016
Contemporary Romance
Avon Impulse

Reviewed by Kini

When a silly, impulsive decision lands free-spirited India Shaw behind bars in San Francisco, she has no choice but to call the only person she knows in the unfamiliar city—the very man she abandoned after a steamy two-day fling. The fact that she’s pregnant with his child is something she’d rather not divulge.
Tech executive Michael Black never thought he’d hear from the quirky beauty after she left his bed four months ago, much less be called upon to post bail. He’s got his hands full with a corporate merger that could make or break his career, but his honorable nature—and an overwhelming need to see her again—means he can’t just leave her in jail. And when India reveals the truth about her pregnancy, Mike insists she stay with him until the baby is born.
India doesn’t want to depend on him for anything, but their constant proximity stirs up feelings she can’t ignore. She’s never desired a family before and she knows a future with Mike isn’t possible . . . but then along came love to shake up all her plans.

I recently saw this author at Baltimore Book Festival and she seemed great and her books sounded interesting to me. This is second in a series, read pretty well as a stand alone. The hero in book 1 has Asperger’s syndrome and it is mentioned in this book, in case that appeals to anyone. She also writes about mixed race couples, which is something I enjoy reading. Anyway, this book appealed to me because I kind of love the unplanned/secret baby trope so I was willing to give this new to me author a shot.

Indi (this is her nickname) grew up in the foster care system, has no biological family and never planted roots anywhere. She leaves Seattle after she finds out she is pregnant and goes to San Francisco to be with the only family she has, her foster sister Chloe. But Chloe is away on a honeymoon so Indi breaks into her apartment to get something and is arrested. She is forced to call Mike for help. Of course Mike comes to get her and because of bail issues the story becomes a forced proximity trope. (Thank you to the twitterverse for teaching me that trope name this week).

Mike is a successful tech genius and has a girlfriend of convenience. She is not someone he loves so much as she is in the same circles as him and driven business wise and they make a smart match. Mike and Indi engaged in some medium level, no P in V, action while he was still technically with Skyler. So if that is not your thing, beware of this book. It made me a little unhappy. I prefer my couples to be only attached to each other. It also felt rushed and that perhaps a slow burn/tension while he ended one relationship would have worked better for me.

Indi tells Mike about the baby pretty early on, which was a good thing. But Indi is considering giving the baby up for adoption. She didn’t have strong parental influences so she is afraid she won’t be able to give her baby anything. While I understood her fear, it also annoyed me. It took a really long time for her to give Mike an explanation for her fears.

There were some funny exchanges in this book and that kind of balanced out the things that I didn’t like quite as much. And some dirty ones too. Here’s a dirty, dirty quote that I will wrap in a spoiler tag as to keep it classy.

[spoiler]
She wanted to touch him everywhere. She couldn’t be close enough, wanted to take all of him, to consume him and be consumed by him.
“I’ve missed this pussy. It’s mine…”
Ooh dirty talk. Yes…
“Aah, this pussy missed you… fingers and vibrator not cutting it…” [/spoiler]

Overall the book was just okay. I would have preferred a slow burn physically relationship between Mike and Indi. I didn’t feel completely invested in their relationship, there was some flashbacks to their previous time together, but I didn’t really connect with them. I liked the writing style of this author, just not this couple so much. I will definitely read more of her books.

Grade: C-

Author Site l Goodreads
Amazon l Nook