Midnight Choices is a surprisingly complex story for a series romance, so much that it has a bit of a single-title feel to it. In fact, the book I read directly after it, a single-title with a similar scenario and several of the same elements, was far more simplistic and less effective than this one.

Army sharpshooter Duncan McClain is recovering at his family home from injuries incurred on his last mission. One night while preparing dinner for himself and his brother, Ben, Gwen Van Allen arrives on his doorstep. There is an immediate spark of attraction between them that neither is prepared for. But it has to be ignored, because she is there to see Ben, the father of her five-year-old son.

Gwen has recently been treated for breast cancer. Fearing what would happen to her son if her condition worsened, she hired a private detective to track down the man with whom she had a brief affair to inform him of his son’s existence. Ben is eager to get to know his son, and Gwen returns with the boy for a two week stay. It soon becomes clear that Ben would like to develop a relationship, perhaps even marry her, to keep her and their son in Colorado. But the man she is attracted to is his brother, a man with issues of his own to overcome related to his injuries and the event that caused them.

It should say something that the “secret child” is one of my least favorite plot devices. I never would have bought this book on my own, despite an appreciation for some of the author’s past works (Night of No Return is a favorite). And yet I enjoyed it a great deal. Wilks does several things right to shake up the formula and make this a story that hasn’t been done a million times before. As a reader who is always skeptical when characters who have a child together, then fall back in love because of it, it was most welcome to see that Gwen doesn’t fall in love with Ben. Their relationship was brief and they were never in love, so it makes sense that they wouldn’t necessarily do so now that they share a son. The explanation for how she became pregnant is plausible and it was great that Gwen tells Ben from the start. By starting the book off with the revelation, Wilks spares the reader the “You kept my child from me!” histrionics, doesn’t leave this huge issue looming over the characters and allows the story to develop more naturally.

That is precisely what it does, all told with a good deal of warmth and empathy. It has a bigger feel to it than many series romances these days. It might be expected that Ben’s perspective would be overlooked, since he is not the romantic lead. That isn’t the case. The author offers enough glimpses into his perspective to see his desire to keep his son in his life and his own interest in Gwen, which naturally complicates matters. The three main characters are all good people, and it’s easy to like all of them and not want anyone to be hurt. Duncan and Gwen’s relationship proceeds in a series of small steps, both tentative, but unable to deny the connection between them. There’s not much in the way of action, but the author does an admirable job showing how compelling a character-driven story can be.

This is a series romance, though, and in a shorter book with so much happening it’s probably expected that something would be given short shrift. In this case, some character elements and key moments feel glossed over. Wilks touches on all the relevant character issues, but it doesn’t feel as though they’re really examined with as much depth as they might have. They’re covered, and then the story moves on. I never really felt Duncan’s pain, and I literally groaned out loud at the forced crisis that popped up late in the book to force one of the characters to face their issues. Perhaps it was necessary for the character, but it was somewhat disappointing to see a book so nicely character driven kick into action mode, however briefly. With everything that is happening, the romance is, quite reasonably, pushed to the background at times. It often feels like the least important part of the story. While it is clear Duncan and Gwen are drawn to each other, this is expressed from their first interactions, and it might have been nice to have more of a sense of them falling in love.

Nonetheless, I don’t hesitate to recommend Midnight Choices, a thoroughly enjoyable read.