The set up was a stretch. I found it odd that a brilliant woman would refuse to use a sperm bank and take a risk with a promiscuous celebrity, but hey...it's fiction, so I'll let you lead me there. I enjoyed the witty dialogue that is a SEP's trademark. When Jane confiscates the marshmallows out of the Lucky Charms, I laughed out loud.

Once you get past the ridiculous premise of this book, it's actually quite entertaining. The idea that the heroine wants and average child is a pretty thin plot device. I didn't view the heroine's logic as anything a rational person would come up with as a solution to their "problem" (I'll sleep with a dumb jock, thereby increasing the odds that I will have an average or stupid child). The heroine didn't like being treated like a freak as a child because she was so smart? So, be an attentive parent that makes sure the child has "normal" activities as well as intellectually challenging ones as they grow up - problem solved.

Anyway, all that aside, most of the book, despite the silly original plot, is very funny and quite entertaining. The banter between characters is very good. The characters are also wonderfully unique so they donot come across as typical women's fiction cardboard cutouts, which was great. Like others have mentioned, the "Lucky Charms" scenes were laugh out loud funny - at least for me they were.

This was the first SEP book I read, and I enjoyed it enough that I have sought out her other titles. If you, as a reader, are willing to suspend belief, you will enjoy this book very much.

Ok, genius physicist Jane Darlington wants a baby. But doesn't want a freak child like she felt she was ... but a child of normal intelligence. So she chooses a "dumb" jock and after a couple of encounters (rather distasteful encounters!) she finds herself pregnant. The jock is a well known quarterback, Cal Bonner, and when he finds out about the baby, he is outraged! A quick marriage and close quarters lead to funny situations. Jane has this whole "don't see me naked" thing and the sexual tension is great as Cal tries to persuade her to let him see her as she really is! Jane also finds out Cal isn't dumb at all - he is well educated and his father is a doctor. So much for toning down the intelligence factor!

The storyline was interesting ... but this is why this book is no keeper for me. First, as smart as Jane was, she should know finding a "dumb" partner may not have helped in her case. After all, geniuses are born to average intelligence parents - so an average child could be born to her despite the IQs of each of the parents. That's just one little thing that bothered me. The other was Cal himself. He was plotting revenge against Jane from the beginning. Even though feelings changed, how would destroying her life have made the situation better? Oh, here's your mom kid - she's forced to live in a cardboard box??? I thought he was rather cruel through most of the book.

Now, Cal's grandmother Annie was the best secondary character I ever met! Loved her! The other storyline about Cal's parents and their marriage turmoil was ok, but rather sad to me. Everything worked out in the end. I liked the style of writing and I understand this is part of a series. I may check out the others... this one just didn't leave me with a warm fuzzy when I was done. Bossy, ego-maniacal men don't change overnight and so far all the Bonner men in this book - except maybe Ethan did not impress me. I read other reviews here and I must be in the minority ... but that is what I feel.

I will never look at a box of Lucky Charms the same way again! This book is hilarity and emotion at their optimum. Jane Darlington wants a baby... a NORMAL baby. Because she's a genius and lived through a childhood of being called FREAK, she thinks that the way to get a normal baby is to breed with a stupid man. But she doesn't find out until too late that the stupid man she chose is nearly as smart as she is. A marriage of convenience is anything but in this wonderfully, character-driven story. Pick it up, and Susan Elizabeth Phillips will become one of your must read authors forever.

This book is another part of the Chicago Star series. Dr. Jane Darlington is a physicist with an IQ off the charts. She baffled her father, she was rushed through school, she grows into an adult who feels out of place and lonely, and she wants nothing more than a baby. She doesn't want her baby growing up an outsider as she did, so she goes with the law of averages and decides the father needs to be rather, well, dumb.

Cal Bonner is not only not stupid, he's bright enough to figure out she isn't a groupie and that she's tricked him into impregnating her. He's determined to give the baby his name as well has make Jane pay. It's a joy watching them come to know each other and fall in love.

Cal's parents marriage is on the rocks, that becomes the subplot. We also meet Cal's brothers who appeaThis book is another part of the Chicago Star series. Dr. Jane Darlington is a physicist with an IQ off the charts. She baffled her father, she was rushed through school, she grows into an adult who feels out of place and lonely, and she wants nothing more than a baby. She doesn't want her baby growing up an outsider as she did, so she goes with the law of averages and decides the father needs to be rather, well, dumb.

Cal Bonner is not only not stupid, he's bright enough to figure out she isn't a groupie and that she's tricked him into impregnating her. He's determined to give the baby his name as well has make Jane pay. It's a joy watching them come to know each other and fall in love.

Cal's parents marriage is on the rocks, that becomes the subplot. We also meet Cal's brothers who appear in Dream a Little Dream