A
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Theme: Secret Baby/Surprise Pregnancy
Archetype: Cop/Sheriff, Doctor/Nurse/Veterinarian, Single Parent/Guardian
Forever Mine is a contemporary romance that made me squee and made me sigh. It’s a celebration of geek culture, of women who love comics, and of cosplay. Sometimes I read a book and I love it so much that I basically can’t even describe how much I love it – I just shove it into people’s hands and shout “OMG READ IT RIGHT NOW!”
Forever Mine is that book. I love it so much it gives me Confetti Farts.
It’s a wonderful escape, like a vacation for your brain. I say that in a totally non-patronizing way too. I’m not doing the whole “denigrate romance as escapist fluff” thing. Escapism and brain rest are super important, you guys. And while Forever Mine is light-hearted and stress-free, it also has depth. And feels. There are feels.
Our intrepid hero is Doctor Alex Nolan who is a pediatric specialist in genetic conditions, specifically hemophilia. Alex recently found out that he has a ten-year-old daughter, Charli. A big part of the book is Alex trying to learn how to be a dad and connect to Charli – not because he’s inept, but because this is a whole new person he’s never met who is now a huge part of his life. He has a lot of guilt because Charli inherited her hemophilia from him and it inhibits her from doing “normal” things.
Charli is a huge fan of the movie franchise Galactic Renegades (think Power Rangers meets Guardians of the Galaxy) and she wants to do martial arts like her favorite heroine. Unfortunately her increased bleeding risk means any injury could lead to internal bleeding and other bad things, and Charli has to sit by the sidelines.
Then Alex hears about a place called Active Imagination Martial Arts and Fitness Studio, and that’s where he meets Maya Goodwin. Maya’s studio teaches a combination of martial arts and stunt work to kids. They have the kids develop their own superhero, design a costume, and incorporate the cosplaying and fitness activities into self-esteem boosting. Maya herself loves comics and is a cosplayer.
Alex is afraid to let Charli take the class, so instead he asks Maya to teach him so he can teach Charli in a safer setting.
You know where this leads right?
It leads to Alex giving Maya orgasms in his swimming pool is where it leads.
Alex is pretty buttoned up, and Maya is an adult who sometimes dresses like a superhero and who has an unabashed love of geek culture. She reads comics. She watches superhero movies. She makes her own costumes and weapons.
Maya helps Alex loosen up in many charming little ways. For example, he has his assistant research his daughter’s favorite superheroes and give him a synopsis, which Maya promptly stops. Instead, she makes him read the comic books. Without setting out to do so, she helps him become a better father – not that he wasn’t legitimately trying already. This isn’t a book about a dude who can’t dad right. Oh, and did I mention he has a good relationship with Charli’s mom? This is not a mean ex book at all. Co-parenting for the win.
In fact, a lot of the conflict comes from the fact that Alex has just found out he has this really important person in his life (Charli) and he doesn’t want to enter into a relationship with anyone else until he’s figured his relationship with Charli out. It’s important to him to be a good father.
There’s also conflict surrounding the fact that both Alex and Charli have a disorder that impacts their ability to do physical activities safely. Maya has similar hang ups- she was a police officer until an injury put her on desk duty. One of the things I liked was how Forever Mine balanced the message of not letting physical limitations completely inhibit you while at the same time not suggesting GO DO ALL THE THINGS NO MATTER HOW UNSAFE BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. As someone who suffers from a chronic illness, that “just believe and you’ll overcome” anthem annoys the hell outta me.
The best part of Forever Mine was that there’s no real angst. Maya and Alex have to work some stuff out, but the obstacles that keep them apart aren’t dire. And I loved how Maya helped him learn about the characters and worlds his daughter was passionate about in a genuine and enthusiastic way. Add some really hot sex scenes to the mix, and basically I was in heaven.
If you need to just feel really good for awhile, or you really love cosplay or comics or guys who specialize in blood disorders, this book is absolutely your catnip. It’s “read in one sitting good.”
As an aside, Maya and her friends routinely debate who is the superhero they find the hottest. I’m a Captain America girl, myself. You?
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Cosplay geek girl that isn’t YA! Shut up and take my money!
Sold! Love Erin Nicholas. Her books hit all kinds of happy for me. One of her earlier books has a has a heroine with fibromyalgia so it looks like she’s not afraid to use illness in a well meaning and thoughtful way in her books. That and she’s quite funny.
Why no kindle edition, why?!?!
@Pippa When I select the Amazon link I see a Kindle edition. Not sure why you don’t see it. Maybe try the link again?
This sounds awesome! 100% here for geek culture and responsible parenting. (And Thor is my superhero of choice.)
Yes! I was worried that there just weren’t any new good contemporaries coming out anymore. This is just what I needed.
THIS IS THE BEST REVIEW I HAVE EVER READ. I will be buying this book immediately, though I hope no confetti farts because I don’t want vacuum that shit up.
Oooh. I’ll have to add this to the list. Sometimes, a good non-angsty read is exactly what you need. There are days that you love a read that has the couple work hard to get their happy ending. Then, there are days that you need an easily attainable happy ending.
my god I could watch that Cap gif allllll day…. mmmmmmm…..
I see a couple of confusing things in this review – our hero has a great relationship with his ex, yet he just found out he has a 10-year old child with said ex? There’s either more to the story than this, or the man is a saint. Also, the guilt because his daughter inherited her hemophilia from him? That’s not exactly how that works. (Biology teacher here.) True, he contributed a recessive allele on his X chromosome to his daughter, but for her to have hemophilia, she would have had to also inherit a recessive allele on the X chromosome she received from her mother, making mom a carrier. If he’s living with hemophilia, surely he would have thought through the process of possibly passing the condition to any future children. If this was a planned pregnancy (which it sounds like it wasn’t, given he found out 10 years after the fact), you’d think he would’ve mentioned this fact to the mother (or she would’ve known that he had hemophilia and known of a family history of it in her own family).
I’m probably overthinking it, but these sound like issues that would take me out of the story. And it’s possible that these things are all explained in the story.
Hi Kim- The daughter is a result of a one-night stand, so his ex is not an ex-wife. And a man may not discuss a medical condition with a one-night stand when he’s using a condom. But I’m writing to let you know that the hemophilia issue is explained in the story. His daughter is a carrier of hemophilia but doesn’t have the disease because – you are quite right – her mother doesn’t also have the recessive gene. But a carrier can sometimes exhibit symptoms, which his daughter does. Just fyi, the author has a short forward to the book that explains her research on hemophilia. Thanks for checking.
I’m a sucker for Bruce Affleck’s Batman…
I’m crazy for Thor…with the long hair, not this new short cut. And I, too, could watch Cap rip open a log with his bare hands ALL.DAY.LONG. Damn, those are some fine arms. Thank you for that lift in my day.
Another book in this series, Completely Yours, also has a cosplaying heroine (who appears to have at least social anxiety) and is on sale for $1.99.
I cannot believe that I found a book that I actually clicked on. Keep up the good reviews even though due to finances I cannot purchase.
You haven’t steered my wrong yet Elyse. I picked this one up.
For me it would be Thor. Definitely Thor. I admire the size of his… hammer. I mean really, size matters and he know how to use it too. Heh heh. But I wouldn’t say no to a little Loki on the side. 😉
This sounds awesome and will be purchased when my book budget circles around again on Saturday.
My favorite superhero? I do love Chris Evans, but I’m totally an Iron Man girl.
I one-clicked this book and the first in the series. Love me some geek romance.
I enjoyed The Gamer and the Geek by Sidney Bristol, which had a cosplaying heroine and a board game developing hero. The heroine’s family (she’s the daughter of the Secretary of State, and African American) was fun.
Favourite superhero and hottest and two different answers. Jason Momoa as Aquaman is giving me pantsfeels, but it’s rough being a DC fan when it comes to movies.
Well, dammit. That’s…3+5…carry the pi…ALL MY CATNIP. A heroine that does martial arts and cosplay? Wave that out of the back door of a white panel van and I’d end up on a MISSING poster.
It’s not like I haven’t bought three books this week already.
All right, no more until April!
OMG GET ON MY KINDLE NOW
Hmm, hot superheroes … Cap and Iron Man are duking it out. At least until Anthony Mackie gets an above-the-title Falcon movie of his own. Rowr.
Not allowed to buy this right now but it definitely went straight to my wishlist.
Thank you for the response to my concern, Erin’s editor! Now I might have to put this on my TBR list, since the author took pains to present a scientific issue correctly!
Just noticed. In the Captain America gif, the tailoring on his shirt looks like it is meant to create that special has-a-six-pack effect.I can’t quite convince myself that that is cheating, though.
Also, I want to go to that camp!
Just noticed. In the Captain America gif, the tailoring on his shirt looks like it is meant to create that special has-a-six-pack effect.I can’t quite convince myself that that is cheating, though.
Also, I want to go to that studio!