Ryan Wilde saw Evangeline "Eve" Holly across the room at that wine bar, holding court, opening bottles and was sunk. He thought their one night stand was pretty memorable. She, however, has called it a disaster and can't hustle him out the door fast enough. It's been a few weeks and he's trying to figure out a way to see her again without looking like a creeper when lo and behold, who should come to the Bennington Hotel (which he's part owner of) to apply for their sommelier job? None other than Eve.
Evangeline isn't a sommelier...yet. She still needs to take the test. But she needs the job and as horrified as she is to realize that her one night stand is going to be her new boss, when he and his cousin offer her the job - well, she can't really say no. High end restaurants want official sommeliers - not a girl from upstate New York who grew up at the family winery before Mom took off and Dad lost the vineyard.
Word on the street is that Michelin is in town, visiting restaurants and handing out (hopefully) coveted Michelin stars. Ryan and cousin Jeremy know that getting awarded a star (or stars) is going to put the Bennington 8 restaurant on the map. And for that they need a sommelier, but who they get is Evangeline Holly with her looming one night stand and the eventual discovered consequences.
The Bachelor Baby's Baby Surprise is the second Special Edition I've read in as many weeks and I don't know who is making back cover copy decisions over there but...yeah. The baby on the cover, the reveal of Evangeline's pregnancy on the back cover copy - none of that plays out in the book until we're at 50%. Fifty. Percent. Look, I get that the definition of spoiler is fluid but FIFTY. PERCENT. Newsflash: that's a spoiler. Sigh. Anyway.
The writing and story itself is rather delightful. Even as someone who is typically not a fan of One Night Of Passion And Oopsie-Doodle Heroine Is Preggo. Wilson has a very romantic comedy style to her writing. Her voice practically screams Something Meg Ryan Would Star In the Movie Version Of. Teri Wilson has been writing (and writing and writing and writing...if her backlist is any indication) and I've never read her before and what the heck have I been doing? Obviously making poor life choices.
But is this perfect? Well, no. It's one of those books where the heroine jumps to conclusions about the hero even though if she stopped to logically think through things she'd realize she was wrong. She assumes he's a playboy because of the Most Eligible Bachelor "thing" and a bunch of would-be groupies hanging out in the hotel lobby. Whereas everything about Ryan's actions and personality suggest anything but. But she's been burned recently so it's somewhat understandable. Ryan, of course, was "done wrong" by a former girlfriend who tried to pass off somebody else's baby as his. There's also the small matter that while he was raised by a loving aunt and uncle, he's still got some baggage leftover from his parents, who essentially abandoned him to their care. Sometimes their respective baggage had them making snap judgments that drove me a little nutty.
As part of a series, this stands alone very well even though Wilde as a surname needs to be outlawed in Romancelandia. This book is light, charming, fun and there's even two adorable Cavalier King Charles Spaniels (both elderly: one blind, one deaf) to add to the whole Rom/Com feel to this. It's not the kind of book that had me clutching it to my breast, sighing and swooning romantically - but it's delightful from start to finish and I wanted these two crazy kids to get their happy ending.
Final Grade = B+
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