Maybe Baby

Dana Wiley owns a vineyard. Unfortunately, it's currently closed because of sick grapes, so she's working at a nursing home. Events like weddings are supposed to raise the morale of the Alzheimer's patients, and since Dana has her own wedding gown, she gets to play the bride. But one day she slips and calls her fake groom "Nick." Turns out it's the 6th anniversary of what would have been her wedding to Nick Maybe, if she hadn't bolted from the church in a panic. And Dana realizes that was the biggest mistake of her life. Nick Maybe manages a bar in Manhattan, where he's lived ever since Dana left him at the altar. But now he's decided it's time to move on, and has accepted a job in California with Dana's nemesis, Melanie Biggs, in exchange for her promise to leave Dana's winery alone. But Babs, for whom Nick occasionally does "favors," has just one more favor to ask: steal a pet bird and make it look like a robbery. Babs, besides being a Character with a capital C, is also Dana's mother. And the romp is on. Nick and Dana get thrown back together, and in between the zany antics of everyone trying to get the bird, they have to deal with their continued feelings for each other, Dana's fear of marriage, and Nick's feelings of betrayal. It's nonstop action and laughs with a lovely underpinning of real emotion. And a great introduction to Babs and Finn who show up later in The Comeback Kiss. Which I'm really tempted to re-read.

Even though I am admittedly a voracious reader I can be rather picky about what I read. A book has to grab me in the first few pages or it's getting tossed into the pile for the next garage sale and I move on to the next one in my TBR (To Be Read) stack. "Maybe Baby" was the first book I read by Lani, a fellow Cherry (how do I describe the Cherries?) and an all-around funny gal. She has a funny, sharp sense of humor and her delivery is fast and cutting-edge. I found myself pulled into this book by the first couple of pages and didn't put it down until I had devoured the last page! The story centers around a chick named Dana, who discovers, rather belatedly, that she made a HUGE mistake when she left the love of her life at the alter six years ago. Her life has gone to hell- in-a-handbasket and she is reduced to playing the bride at a make-believe wedding every week in an old folk's home for "entertainment" so that she can earn the money she needs to put the family vineyard/winery back on it's feet. Her mother is a social butterfly with a devious bent to her, and then there's the ex-finace, Nick, who just happens to show up her mother's penthouse the same day Dana finally gets up the nerve to ask her mother, Babs, for some financial help. All bets are off when Dana discovers that not only has her mother remained good friends with Nick, she apparently also hires him to do "favors" for her and her rich friends "for charity". Everything is just fine until Nick has to steal an incredibly smelly but very rare bird and the people decide that they need it back. The only problem is that a REAL bird thief beats him to it and the people take Babs hostage until he can return the bird. Dana and Nick must figure out who stole the bird, where it is, and how to get it back in time to save Dana's mother and while they are at it maybe they can figure out how they went wrong in the first place and get their relationship back. This is a fast-paced and witty read. I actually laughed 'til I cried in several parts--Lani is just so damn funny! The book is a riot, especially the character named Finn who is, despite being a bird thief, still a pretty likable sort of guy. The couple who kidnap Babs reminds me of the couple from that Bette Midler movie--"Desperate People" ? --where they kidnap the wife and the husband (Danny DiVito) doesn't care!! They are bumbling and incompetent and just slightly dangerous because of it! All of her characters are wonderfully quirky and slightly bent and they aren't your typical "romance" types. I find this much more appealing than the Fabio/Farrah look-alikes that most romance novelists think we the readers want to see. I want to read about people that are more like me--not perfect, not drop-dead gorgeous--more like a real person! If you are a Crusie fan (Bet Me, Welcome to Temptation, Faking It, etc) you will love Lani Diane Rich. I absolutely give this book a five star rating and I am telling you--BUY.THIS.BO

Lani Diane Rich has written another winner. Once again, her characters are great, her dialog snappy and witty and the book zooms along at light speed. Definitely another finish-it-in-one-sitting type book, which is a rare, rare thing for me these days. I loved Dana and how she works so hard to avoid having to deal with what needs to be dealt with, but finally realizes a wake up call when it thumps her on the head. And Nick is a great hero, not perfect, but real and caring and always heroic in the ways that really count. The author does a great job of showing how they've never really gotten over each other, and I found myself totally believing in these characters and the issues that kept them apart. MAYBE BABY is full of great secondary characters, too. Finn, as the good hearted two bit thief, and Dana's mother Babs is a hoot! Delightfully ditzy, but with a deep core of true humanity and understanding that makes her multi-dimensional. The bird caper is a delightfully quirky plot vehicle for the wake up call that thrusts Nick and Dana back into each other's lives so they're forced to come to terms, but it never overshadows the emotion of the story or the characters. I can't recommend this book or this author highly enough. Thank God she writes fast!!

MAYBE BABY is a delightful and fun read. A fast paced tale of a resurrected relationship and repeated bird-napping. Nick Maybe and Dana Wiley draw you into their dilemmas, the secondary characters like Babs, Finn, and Mr Sanders (aka Horshack) keep things stirred up. Jill

Six years ago when minor accidents frequently occurred just before her wedding to Nick James, Dana Wiley saw them as an omen; she jilted Nick thinking maybe she should not marry at this time. Dana goes to explain to her former fiancé her feelings, but instead catches him with half naked Melanie Biggs, her nemesis since high school. She flees to her Upstate New York winery. When the grapes become diseased, Dana is forced to shut down the winery.. She takes a job as a secretary at the Rosemont Home of Central New York in Syracuse. There she wonders if she made a mistake when she dropped Nick who she still loves and wonders if maybe she should reconsider. With the grapes okay, but needing money to reopen, Dana journeys to Manhattan to ask her dizzy mom Babs for the capital. There she sees Nick who is assisting Babs with a charity event by stealing a valuable bird a kakapo for her. Upon seeing Dana, Nick, who quit his bartending job at Murphy's to head to California has no maybes, he still loves her and decides to make one last try to win her trust. Though Babs can drive the Ancient Mariner and readers to drink, fans will appreciate this fine contemporary romance starring a commitment phobic female and the dude who still loves her though he has struck out twice with her. The amusing story line contains a serious element involving failure to communicate, but that is overwhelmed by the antics of the cast. Fans of offbeat romantic romps will enjoy MAYBE BABY, but wonder in an age of communication why the lead couple failed to talk to one another. Harriet Klausner