Few things can shake a tough, bull-ridin' cowboy quite like finding an abandoned pregnancy test, and Harley Garrett is definitely shakin' in his saddle. Someone's knocked up at Rustler's Ridge ranch, but who? Little does Harley know that Amelia Wade—his longtime, sexy friend with benefits—has kind of a secret she needs to tell him…
Amelia has always had a thing for Harley—and wanted more. He's a delicious combination of strong, silent cowboy and Viking sex god, so how could she resist? Only now Amelia might be pregnant, and their "uncomplicated" relationship just landed in the "complicated as all heck" zone. But when Harley decides to cowboy up, almost anything can—and will—happen…
Super short (50 pages) side story in the Lone Star Ridge series. It opens with Harley in a panic, trying to figure out who at the ranch might be pregnant. His sister? His mom? A random guest? Then his friend-with-benefits, Amelia, arrives looking for her mother. Her parents are fighting over her mom's indiscretion (i.e., one-night-stand) with a guest at the ranch, and Amelia wants to get to the bottom of it. She also needs to talk to Harley.
There are all kinds of shenanigans going on. Amelia's mother, Nadine, wants Harley to leave Amelia alone and isn't above trying to involve Harley's mom. Nadine has also been hanging out with ranch guest Marty Jameson, a country music star with a reputation for not keeping his zipper zipped. In the midst of Amelia's conversation with her mother, her dad arrives to join the fray. I had to laugh at the sight of the two men taking swings at each other, then have to deal with the sheriff. I loved Leyton and his ability to bring calm out of chaos.
Then there were Amelia and Harley. Harley is stunned when Amelia tells him she might be pregnant. He may not have had plans to marry, but there's no way he'll walk away. Harley and Amelia have had a satisfactory arrangement for years, and he has no idea that Amelia wanted more. I liked watching Harley's thought processes as he comes to grips with the idea of being a father and husband. It doesn't take him long to realize that the concept doesn't scare him. Amelia doesn't want him out of obligation, and it takes some work for him to convince her that his feelings are real. There's an unexpected twist at the end, but Harley sticks to his guns.
I would have liked the story to be a little longer and more depth given to the characters.
No comments:
Post a Comment