Rookie Cop by Nikki Benjamin, Silhouette Special Edition #1444

I have to admit I hesitated to read Nikki Benjamin's Rookie Cop due to the fact that I've lost a child. But I'm glad I didn't. Like most category romances, it was a light read that I was able to read in one sitting. Megan and Jake Cahill are the estranged, divorced hero and heroine in this story.

Megan Cahill returned to her hometown to escape her ex-husband Jake Cahill and the memories of their failed marriage, the loss of their son, and the loneliness she felt when Jake failed to be there for her during her time of need. She hadn't expected Jake to quit his dangerous, time consuming job that took him away from home frequently to follow her home in an attempt to make ammends. She had successfully kept him at bay and out of her life until a baby is left on her doorstep. She enlists Jake's help to find the baby's mother, knowing that the mother obviously cared for the baby because the baby was left with the basic essentials to take care of the baby and whoever had left the baby waited to leave the area completely until he/she knew that Megan had seen and taken the baby. Caring for the baby, though, brings back memories for Megan of her own son and his illness, which comes to play in the book when Matthew (the infant) becomes ill, too. Megan has to learn to count on Jake, to confront the past and put it behind her before she can make a future for herself.

Jake Cahill is a cop. He doesn't realize until he helps Megan take care of Matthew how alone she must have felt when he was gone all the time, caring for him. He wants another chance with her and where his quitting the job that took him away from her so frequently during their marriage failed in getting that second chance, it seemed that young Matthew might be the key to his getting his wish.

Rookie Cop was a sweet read. The identity of Matthew's mother was predictable, but in this type of book that's to be expected I think. And the reason the baby was abandoned isn't answered until she is confronted. The struggles Megan and Jake experienced as the result of their lack of communication during their marriage, before and after their son's death, were honest and believable, and so was the resolution. It was clear they both had grown and once they finally admitted their feelings to one another they had a future to work toward.

©Susan Matthews and phantomroses.com