Review: One Small Thing - Piper Vaughn and M.J. O'Shea

"Love is messy.  Sometimes, that's the best part."

Title: One Small Thing

Author: Piper Vaughn and M.J. O'Shea

ISBN: 9781613724972

Publication Date: May 4, 2012

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Source: NetGalley

From Goodreads:

"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.



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This adorable romance between Rue and Erik was the first story of Vaughn's and O'Shea's I ever read, back when I had just discovered the existence of LGBTQIA novels which weren't fanfiction.  And I still love this book to death.

Rue is just the best oops daddy I've read thus far; once you get past the oddness of him forgetting a condom the one time he experimented with a lady, but remembers with the men folk.  Totally necessary for the story to go where it does, but still a bit outside of the man Vaughn and O'Shea present him as throughout the rest of the story.

Watching his daughter, Alice, wrap him around her little finger was full of so many 'awww' moments I got some funny looks from people around me.  Because cooing at a book is generally thought of as weird, I guess.

Then there's Erik, Rue's new neighbor, king of sci-fi geekdom and anxiety.  Outside of Erik's miraculous physique even with his steady diet of junk, he was another very real feeling character.  I loved how he struggled to overcome his social anxiety around Rue, and eventually took control of his anxiety, rather than continuing to allow it to control him.

One Small Thing is such a treat of a read that I've got it on permanent reread status on my e-reader, with a print copy on my wishlist of books.

-Digital ARC provided by Netgalley, in exchange for a review.