Review: Nobody's Baby But Mine by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Jane Darlington is a physics professor. She's single-mindedly focused on her work but when her ex-boyfriend dumped her and announced that he was having a baby with the new girlfriend, the tears kicked her biological clock into high. But Jane has a problem. She is a certifiable genius and she doesn't want her child to have the unhappy, freakish childhood she had so she purposely sets out to have her baby fathered by someone who is dumb as a post. (Obviously understanding genetics and the role it plays in intelligence is not her strong point though.)

Her next door neighbor's ditzy daughter decides to set her up with the quarterback of the local pro team and Jane, seeing him play the rube on tv, agrees. She is to be Cal Bonner's birthday present from his teammates who think that releasing sexual tension might make ole Cal less of a bear to work with on the field. Somehow, despite Cal's aversion for prostitutes, he is willing to have at it with the vamped-up, anonymous, supposed high class call girl Jane. But she doesn't get pregnant. And so all on her own initiative, she accosts him for a repeat performance the following month, at which time she does fall pregnant. Now he's never supposed to know about the baby but finds out, leading him to strong arm her into an unpleasant marriage of convenience, at least until the baby is born. Even worse, they go back to his tiny home town and Jane has to deal with his family, including his wacky, backwoods grandmother, all while maintaining a frigid relationship with a man she's coming to love.

There is much sexual tension, some laughable scenes, and the requisite misunderstandings in this contemporary romance. Cal is not nearly as stupid as Jane had hoped and she is not nearly as savvy as he assumed. There are mini plots galore amongst Cal's family as well. This is a generally likable book that doesn't require deep reading. It will be a hit with most romance fans.