Rating: 4 stars
Buy Links: 
 Amazon | All Romance
Length: Short Story


Countdown to Daddies opens as Matteo and Gabe get a call that their babies are about to be born.  As the guys muddle through their panic and head to the hospital, we then flash back to many weeks before when Gabe’s twin sister Mira offers to be a surrogate for the men.  The story then continues through a series of flashbacks as we see highlights from Mira’s pregnancy and ultimately the delivery of the couple’s new babies.

This is a sweet story of two guys who really want to have children and we get to watch both their terror and delight when it finally happens.  Even in this short format Klein gives us a nice sense of both men and we get to see the differences in their personalities as they face this major life change.  I also enjoyed seeing the loving (and bickering) relationship between Gabe and Mira, as well as the overall closeness between the two couples.  It is clear that there is a lot of love among them all which made for a very sweet story with just enough playfulness to keep it from being sappy.

I did find myself a bit frustrated at times with Gabe’s complete panic and freak outs in so many spots along the way. I get that it is intense to not only go through impending childbirth, but also watch your sister carrying your children, especially because Mira and Gabe are in their early 40s and she is carrying twins.  But it seemed so extreme that just about everything terrified him and he seemed to need such constant tending by Matteo to keep from losing it completely. Even things Gabe would have had plenty of time to prepare for or expect, like going into the delivery room, seemed to shock and terrify him. So I got a bit frustrated with Gabe at times, but Matteo is very sweet and doting with him and helps his partner through it.

This is a nice sweet story about some loving men getting their family.  There isn’t a lot of conflict or major plot developments, but I enjoyed getting to know these guys and watching them as their babies are born.  I am looking forward to the sequel, Countdown to Santa, which I will be reviewing later this week.

P.S. K-Lee stopped by the blog last week to do an interview and talk a bit more about this series so be sure to check it out.

Cover: So cute! I love Gabe’s squishy kissy face!