I suppose that I have been complaining too much about books being too short to properly develop their story. So of course the universe sends me the book that never seems to end. I love a good slow burn romance but when I am ready for things to wrap up and realize that at I am only at the 36% mark, there is a problem.
I was really drawn to the premise of this book. The idea of a small town rallying behind a single guy who is suddenly taking care of an infant sounds adorable. Sadly this book did not work for me.
It does not read like the start of a series. I was never completely lost but it became quickly apparent that this book was related to another set of books and we were expected to know all of the supporting characters and their back stories. This could have worked out by making me intrigued enough to search out those other books but instead only mildly irritated me.
I did not especially love either of the characters. Molly seemed somehow both really immature and too good to be true to me. Who lives their lives by a timeline they created when they were a child? Brant never seemed real to me. He was written more as a type- the long suffering, family caregiver.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Must Love Babies, by Lynnette Austin is an enjoyable contemporary romance, which is focused on family interactions, small town lifestyles, and romantic relationships.
Brant Wylder and his two brothers own a vintage car repair shop, and they are considering relocating their business to the small town of Misty Bottoms, Georgia. While visiting the small town, Brant attends a friend's wedding and flirts with Molly Stiles. Even though she's attracted to Brant, Molly is hesitant to proceed, since she's seriously focused on her bridal boutique and life plan.

When Brant finds out that his younger sister has been in an accident, he rushes to the hospital. Now, he's the caretaker of his seven-month-old nephew, which drastically changes his life. Even though she doesn't have babysitting experience, Molly is helping alongside Brant, as well as falling in love with the baby and Brant.

Both Brant and Molly have to deal with family situations and circumstances, while balancing their businesses and new relationship. The secondary characters, which consist of family members, friends, and townspeople, are vital to the story. Brant's brothers and his sweet nephew are highly entertaining throughout this emotional story.

It's the first book in the series that's also titled as Must Love Babies. I'm looking forward to reading future books in this series, particularly if the books focus on Brant's siblings.

Must Love Babies is recommended and geared towards those who enjoy reading clean modern romance stories.


Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Wanting to jump on the bandwagon of a new series by an author I had not read yet, I picked up Must Love Babies and thought I would fall in love. Nope, I fell mostly in confusion by page 1. We just right into Brant's mind while he is at a wedding for characters I didn't know. It felt like I should have known who Brant and Molly were from the get go. Figuring I just wasn't getting it, I plowed on thinking things would clear up. Once again I was wrong and found myself trying to continue because I fell in love with Brant.

Around 40-50% into the book, I started to pull in some of the people, who they were, but once again, it felt like I had lost some of the story. On top of that, the plot wasn't moving past kisses, a life plan list and a baby being stuck with the hero who steps in all situations needed.

Brant Wylder is a bad boy with a wonderful smile, easy personality and a heart so big for his family it knows no bounds. He is paired up with Molly at a wedding for his fraternity friend (who's wedding and which friend, I could not tell you). When Brant gets a call from his father that his younger sister has been in a car accident, he rushes out to take care of her son (he wasn't in the accident) before he is turned over to foster care. His sister a recovering alcoholic needs to go back into rehab after a relapse and now Brant is taking on a 7-month old with no experience.

Molly Stiles owns a bridal shop in Misty Falls, GA. One of many ladies in this town that have grown to be friends as they have set up the bakery for cakes, floral shop and a venue. It is the wedding destination! Unfortunately, at 60% I figured out this was a off-shoot series that would have explained how all this came together and how Brant and Molly met.

Strike 1 - a new series where you really had to read a previous series.

Brant and Molly flirt a lot. Kiss a lot. But it never seems to move on. In fact the story felt like it was dragging. It's at this 60% mark I am thinking of DNF....when suddenly they are kissing and moving it to the next level...and it ends with a one sentence bang. Seriously, no sex scene. Just one sentence about him taking her on the stairs.

Strike 2 - Clean romance - the story was way to long without some hanky panky reading.

At this point I am ready to skim the rest of the book. I vested this much time into it, I just wanted to see where it goes, but not read it word for word.

Strike 3 - Molly's list

Molly has a list from her childhood of what she wanted to accomplish by what age. And she is sticking to it after a bad childhood and even worse relationship with a cheater. She is building the business till age 30. That's it. No man is going to derail her plan. She pushes Brant away time after time to the point I wanted him to run away....FAST. She has daddy issues that just bugged me after a while.

Strike 4 - Brant's family uses him.

To be fair, Brant's father is taking care of his mother after she had a stroke. They don't use Brant in this sense. Brant's siblings just don't scream, I have your back. Brant's sister relapses and takes a drink again, which forces Brant to take on her son Jax. Brant learns a lot, but never once does he give up on Jax. He mans up and takes on a baby with no experience, but learns fast. His two brother's are off getting a car to remodel. They come and go, but every time they leave Brant to take care of Jax. Never do they stay long enough to take over.

Strike 5 - Why didn't I DNF?

At the end of the day, I should have put this book down and walked away. To be fair, the writing is not bad, it just needed a lot of background story, some intimacies, and a slap upside the heroine's head.  If you like you romances clean (not me) and small towns, do your self a favor and read the series before this one so you aren't lost as you navigate the characters in Misty Falls.

*****Review Posts on http://delightedreader.com on June 3, 2018.

This was a very sweet book. The hero, Brant Wylder, runs a successful business with his two brothers to repair vintage cars. He’s cool and their business has been featured on cable TV. He’s in this small Georgia town to attend a wedding of his friend and scope out a location for the brothers to move their business to. He’s attracted to one of the bridesmaids, Molly Stiles, who runs a wedding dress boutique in town.

Suddenly, he receives a phone call that his younger sister has been in a car accident and he must take care of her baby son. That’s when the book becomes so much fun. What could be more attractive than this hunky car aficionado who suddenly, for the first time in his life, is responsible for a baby. He starts out having no idea of what to do. But with the help of some helpful townspeople and Molly, he starts to figure it out. He is crazy about his navy and develops into a loving and caring uncle who can handle an infant. He realizes that he loves the idea of a family and is serious about Molly.

Molly has her own problems with the idea of romance. She has this stupid list with her life play and the list says that marriage will come when she’s 30. She’s not ready to jump three years ahead and get serious with Brant even though she’s very attracted to him and he’s a sincerely good guy. I found her reservations pretty tiresome. I realize that there has to be some difficulty that needs to be overcome in a romance novel, but her reasons were pretty irritating.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

I love stories of small towns and when a group of friends like the ones mentioned here were able to thrive. I found myself thinking repeatedly that I must have missed some previous books, why you may ask? Because we are constantly talking about how this group of friends started their business and how they found love, and so on and so on..But, nope this is actually the first in this series, but I regrettably am getting off of this train. While I liked Brant and commended him on how he dropped everything to assist his sister, how he took care of baby Jax, that is what I liked about the book. I did not like the heroine, her list was ridiculous and her resisting due to daddy issue ridiculous..

This is a new to me author and the beginning of a new series, however i feel it would have been better to read the Magnolia Brides series first as there are so many mentions of the three ladies from that series and starts at the wedding of one of them.

This is a Very clean book, a few heated kisses and sex is all but glossed over, but mostly its all tension and one man trying his best to woo a strong minded woman who does not trust easily with her heart.

Although it was a sweet book, i'm not sure that i will be following this series or this author, the style was not really me, and there were bits that i thought were over explained or missing which just let it down for me.

I thought this was pretty poorly written. I thought there were plot elements that were poorly addressed, and found the characters thoughts and dialogue to sound very fake.

I am putting this down at 26%.

This reads like a minute by minute diary describing the mind vomit of a man who doesn't have the faintest idea how to take care of a baby.

There were two kisses up until 26%, neither of which were described except "they kissed."

Everything is told to the reader in this. Nothing is left to the imagination and there is no life in the writing. The characters are wooden and I don't care enough about them to continue reading.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this from Netgalley, but this is not the book for me.

Where Molly is concerned Brant is so thoughtful, “burger. Medium well and loaded. I’ll need a grilled cheese on white, too. Both to go. I’m having lunch with Molly so she doesn’t have to eat alone. She’s a little rattled today.” Molly keeps her man in line, “the necking comes later. A motorcycle ride and dinner are the first items on tonight’s agenda.” I liked this book, I fell in love with Brant.

Must Love Babies by Lynnette Austin is a wonderful light hearted story of an attraction between two people who don't want to be attracted to anyone at this stage in their lives. Molly has a strict timetable for the direction she wants her life to go, focusing on her business and nothing else. Brant is a diehard bachelor who has absolutely no interest in a relationship. When Brant's sister has a serious accident and is not available to take care of her seven month old son, the job falls to Brant who has no idea how to care for an infant. Molly comes to the rescue and is a God send, helping with little Jax's care and providing advise. There is a lot of sexual tension and angst as they both fight the draw they feel. There is no cussing or vulgarity in this book, which is so unusual these days. It's just a sweet little love story that I very much enjoyed. I highly recommend this book.

This baby daddy and baby mama story is not what you might be expecting, at all. Brant’s sister is in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. First of all, she doesn’t die, and the person at fault is not who you might expect. There are three brothers and one sister in the family and Brant is the one who has to step up and take charge because their sister Lainey needs to recover and she has a 7 month old baby. They have living parents but there is no one else who can do what needs to be done.
Baby Jax is an adorable baby and steals the show often enough, but there is a lot of reality here, including how exhausting it is to care for an infant, especially for a bachelor who has no idea what to do and no apparatus for a baby. No car seat, no bottles, no food, no crib, and so on. Getting by on no sleep is only the first sacrifice.
Brant and his brothers Tucker and Gaven are vintage car restorers. They’ve even appeared on TV. Right now their business is outgrowing the facilities they currently occupy so they are looking for a new shop they can expand into. They stumble into the small Georgia town of Misty Bottoms, not really expecting to move there but sometimes fate steps in.
Misty Bottoms was a failing small town until four women formed an alliance, with one of them restoring an old antebellum home as a wedding venue, one opens a florist shop, one is a baker, and one, the heroine of this story, Molly, has opened a bridal boutique. The town begins to shine again, slowly but surely, and not the Brant and his brothers are poised to open a vintage vehicle restoration facility that will bring wealthy car and motorcycle owners seeking their services.
Molly has a list of her life plans, down to at what age she expects to accomplish what. Her father left her and her mother, which left a scar on Molly’s heart and soul, but she doesn’t know the story behind that. Another man cheated on her and left her, so strike two. Needless to say, trust is in short supply for Molly. Brant has to fight for every opening into Molly’s tightly sealed box of distrust, and sometimes even he thinks it’s time to give up.
There are several romances and love stories going on at the same time. In addition the whole town steps in to help Brant and Molly as needed. It’s a very sweet story and it ends with several HFNs. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

This one was a total miss for me. I am not sure of it was the writing or my mood, but I felt like something was off and choppy. The story didn't add up to me. I skimmed most of the end because I wanted to see what eventually happened.

I wanted more from the blurb that was presented, but it didn’t happen sadly

Brant and Molly's romance. Small town Georgia, and Brant is in town to attend a wedding and look for a property for him and his brothers' car restoration business. Molly runs the bridal shop in town, and sparks flew at the wedding. Brant gets called away when he finds out his sister had been in a car accident and as a single mother needs someone to take care of her seven month old son. Brant, with little to no experience, steps in and it is learn as you go. A little slow to start, trying to keep track of who is who, but as the story progressed it was hard to put down. Would give it 4.5 stars. Highly recommend this book and author, and since there are three brothers and a sister, expect there will be a possibility for more books in a series.

Brant’s life changes dramatically when his sister is in a car accident and he has to step up and take care of his seven month old nephew, Jax. As one of the Wylder brothers who are well known for their auto/bike restoration Brant is trying to find a new location for the shop he and his brothers run. Misty Bottoms, a small town, has a lot to offer and opens its hearts and doors to Brant and Jax. Molly is one of Misty Bottoms’ members who steps up to help Brant. Although she doesn’t want a serious relationship, her heart doesn’t seem to get the memo. I loved the various characters in this story from Brant and Molly’s families to the townspeople in Misty Bottoms. I want to go back and read some of the previous stories about the townspeople who have found each other and I can’t wait to see the next stories Lynnette Austin come up with for the Wylder brothers.

I'm going to be very honest... I couldn't get into this story after reading the first 2 chapters... I skipped ahead and read another chapter and still couldn't get into it. I really feel I gave it my best shot. I officially gave up on it today. It could be a great book, but just not for me.
The cover is beautiful and is what drew me to want to read this story.