Review: One Small Thing by Piper Vaughn and M.J. O’Shea

I bought this book on a whim and read it in one sitting. I wasn’t expecting much, and I certainly wasn’t expecting such a cute story. But cute was exactly what I got.

Rue is a flamboyant cosmetology student that works as a bartender at nights while dreaming of becoming a famous stylist in LA. He’s also very promiscuous. One night when he apparently runs out of men, he decides to make a girl-experiment and has sex with a woman. If you take a look at the cover you can guess what comes next: she gets pregnant. When she tells him that she will give the baby away, he remembers what was like to be an unwanted kid, so he decides to keep the baby. Now he has a newborn baby, school, a job, and no one to take care of it. That’s when he remembers his new neighbor.

Erik is a sci-fi writer with a lot of issues. He suffers from almost crippling anxiety, doesn’t like to be touched, needs everything to be in order, doesn’t know how to be social and has difficulty adapting to new environments. Personally, I felt he had some type of autism like Asperger’s Syndrome, but that’s never properly addressed so it’s pure speculation on my end. But you get the general idea. He lives alone, doesn’t have friends and to seeks refuge in his routine, which includes watching Star Wars over and over. The least he expects is for his neighbor to ask him to take care of his daughter. But that’s exactly what happens.

Your ability to suspend disbelief will be tested, but it’s worth it. Erik agrees to take care of Alice. And little by little he comes out of his shell and develops a relationship with the baby, Rue, and Rue’s friend, Dusty. And what starts as a friendship ends up a romance between two people who couldn’t be more different from each other but fit perfectly. 

The best word to describe this story is adorable. I kept smiling the whole time because Rue and Erik were so likeable that I just wanted to hand them their much deserved happiness. Rue was a bit slutty and he mentions his difficult past, but he never comes across as jaded or damaged. Instead, he was hardworking and positive. His relationship with his friend Dusty was just as great and I really liked that the book takes time to focus on their friendship. At times I felt that Dusty played the role of the sidekick, but I liked him regardless.

Erik was a nerdy virgin struggling to live in a world he had trouble comprehending. But instead of feeling sorry for him, all I felt was sympathy. It was interesting to see him develop some self-confidence, and although at times he behaves in a way I found incongruent to what we knew about him, overall I liked him very much.

There are many tropes in this book: opposites attract, virgin hero falls for slutty hero and friends-to-lovers. The romance takes time developing and you can see the transition from strangers, to friends, to lovers. There isn’t much angst and the conflict is internal and subtle. The story is about two people finding each other and falling in love. That’s it. No complications and no angst. Just a lovely romance.  

Review by Brie

Grade: 4

Sensuality: McSexy
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis:

"Daddy" is not a title Rue Murray wanted, but he never thought he'd have sex with a woman either. Now he's the unwitting father of a newborn named Alice. Between bartending and cosmetology school, Rue doesn't have time for babies, but he can't give her up. What Rue needs is a babysitter, and he's running out of options. He's on the verge of quitting school to watch Alice himself when he remembers his reclusive new neighbor, Erik. Erik Van Nuys is a sci-fi novelist with anxiety issues to spare. He doesn't like people in general, and he likes babies even less. Still, with his royalties dwindling, he could use the extra cash. Reluctantly, he takes on the role of manny-and even more reluctantly, he finds himself falling for Alice and her flamboyant father. Rue and Erik are as different as two people can be, and Alice is the unlikeliest of babies, but Rue has never been happier than when Alice and Erik are by his side. At least, not until he receives an offer that puts all his dreams within reach and he's forced to choose: the future he's always wanted, or the family he thought he never did.

One Small Thing by Piper Vaughn and M.J. O’Shea

Dreamspinner Press. May 4, 2012