But he loves his sister and she’s in the hospital with a broken neck, widowed from the car accident that immobilized her . . . and she has those two kids. Rich knows he’s in trouble even while he accepts the responsibility. On the other hand, the private detective he’d hired, Jennifer Bishop, helped him out by finding his sister. Somehow he hopes she can help him out with lots more. Helping with the kids would be a nice start.

Jennifer knows about guys like Rich. She was married to one. They’re big and tough and macho but lousy with marriage. They live for thrills and eventually run away with other women. That’s too bad, since Rich is awfully good looking. On the other hand someone has to help those poor kids, even though Jennifer doesn’t know much about childcare herself. Ready or not, Jennifer finds herself volunteering to become part of a temporary family.

The two of them stumble through diaper changes, teething, small child illness and romance. Rich is as wary of commitment as Jennifer thought he would be, though not for the reasons her ex-husband had. He figures he’s inherited his father’s bad genes and would make a mess of family relationships. Jennifer sees how he learns to deal with his newfound family and starts to wonder how bad it would be to get serious about Rich.

The plot to Uncle Sarge is nothing new, though the characters here are likable and realistic. Rich learns to juggle a demanding family and equally demanding job; Jennifer learns to rethink some of her prejudices after her divorce and remember what she liked about military life. There aren’t any huge problems here besides the two characters’ misconceptions about themselves and each other.

Some of that seems a little unbelievable. Rich takes to family life - which includes an invalid sister - with amazing ease (if you don’t count all the sleep deprivation from combining romance and restless children.) In fact, he handles it all better than most folks who had long-term stable family relationships would.

But this isn’t a story that’s meant to have big problems to solve. You feel confident Rich’s sister will recover well despite her multiple tragedies, the children don’t seem to undergo any huge trauma, and you are confident there’s a HEA in store. This is a feel-good quick read, which may be just what you’d like to take with you on vacation. Enjoy.

--Irene Williams