Help Wanted: Grumpy Mountain Man seeks baby momma. Job is an incubator position only. Surrogate must be impervious to grunting in the form of communication and nosey brotherly neighbors. Rustic mountain range housing available upon request.
I wanted to pummel my irritating brothers when they posted their own version of a wanted ad to help me with my life.
But I can’t fault the results once the right woman lands on my lap.
Becoming a single father is not a decision I made lightly. In fact, it’s the biggest decision of my entire life.
Which is why when I interview Trista, I know she’s perfect.
She’s wild, she’s opinionated, she wears cowboy boots. Even my pet goat loves her…
She’s the exact type of person I was holding out for.
And to my great horror, I realize on our first night of attempting this baby making dance…when the lights are low, the cheap wine is flowing, and the home insemination supplies are laid out on the kitchen counter…
I want to do a lot more than just make her my surrogate.
I want to make her mine.
| Title: | Nine Month Contract |
| Author: | Amy Daws |
| Series: | Fletcher Mountain (Book 1) |
| Pages: | 358 |
| Genre(s): | Contemporary Romantic Comedy |
| Trope(s): | Small Town Romance Mountain Man Opposites Attract |
| Point of View: | First person, present tense, dual viewpoint (H & h) |
| Location: | Outside Boulder, Colorado, US |
| HEA: | ✔️ |
| Release Date: | 11th April, 2024 |
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I really wanted to love it
It’s been a hot minute since I read an Amy Daws book but I couldn’t resist the lure of a lonely, grumpy mountain man who falls in love with the surrogate he hires to have his baby. Only after I’ve finished the book have I realised that this is the first book in a spin-off series from a previous Daws book, Last on the List. That book is eldest brother, Max’s, story and while Max and Cosy do appear in this story, each book stands completely alone. This book is second oldest, Wyatt’s story.
The first few chapters are us getting to know both Wyatt and his niece, Everly. Everly is the mastermind behind the plan to find a surrogate for her uncle. And unbeknownst to Wyatt, Everly is also planning to find Wyatt the love of his life. This is all fine but I’m not sure why we needed chapters from Everly’s viewpoint.
Our heroine, Trista, has had a tough upbringing which makes her more drawn to animals than people. In order to secure her dream of an animal sanctuary, she needs money. But despite the surrogacy agency deeming her “too fat”, she finds herself agreeing to be the oven for Wyatt’s bun as well as living on his farm on his family mountain.
“I wished I’d loved this book so much more than I did.”
Trista was a likeable enough heroine but she bordered on a wee bit too quirky for me. She definitely had a rough childhood and I could understand her reasoning and ultimate reluctance for having a family and a relationship. But just because I understood her doesn’t mean I agreed with her and at times her protestations irritated me. I guess much of that might come down to my own circumstances but I still had a few issues with her as a whole.
Wyatt, it seemed, would be my preferred character of our pairing. He’s grumpy, loyal and determined to be a dad. But then he said that he wasn’t a dog – or any animal – person and it turned me off. He changed his mind but it was too late for me to fall in love with him, I’m afraid. With my slight lack of connection, it didn’t bother me as it might some, Wyatt’s slightly controlling, jealous behaviour. It’s explained away later but it’s still worrisome.
Wyatt and Trista made a good pairing and I was rooting for them to get together and work things out. There were a few too many bumps in the path to their happily ever after but they got there in the end which is all that matters. I did find it really hard to get into the book at the beginning but by the end, I was so happy to see Wyatt, Trista, their baby and their little menagerie of silly animals, all get everything they’d ever wanted. I wished I’d loved this book so much more than I did. But I didn’t – so it’s just 3 stars from me.
* I received this book in exchange for my honest review.
Amy Daws is an Amazon Top 25 bestselling author of sexy, contemporary romance novels. She enjoys writing love stories that take place in America, as well as across the pond in England. When Amy is not writing in a tire shop waiting room, she’s watching Gilmore Girls, or singing karaoke in the living room with her daughter while Daddy smiles awkwardly from a distance.
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