The Rancher's Baby Bargain

By: Leslie North, Mary Sue Jackson

Narrated by: Robert Wrenlock

Former class nerd, Lucy Carr, comes home with a tantalizing offer for hometown hottie Aiden Harper: She’s developed a natural pesticide that will kill off the spider mites eating his crops, and she’ll give it to him for free...if he agrees to father a child for her. Time is running out to go the traditional route for finding a man, and Lucy wants her baby to be smart and good in gym class.

Aiden has put everything he has into his fields of hops, and the award-winning beer he brews with them. But one more year of mites eating half his crops and his family’s farm and legacy - as well as his dreams for his brewery - are going to go under. When Lucy shows up looking hot, and being hailed for her scientific achievements, Aiden is more than a little jealous. He remembers how fun science class was the year they’d been lab partners and how much more enticing Lucy had been than the cheerleaders on the football field. He’d never had the guts to admit his crush in high school - after all, jocks and nerds didn’t mix. Now Lucy has everything, and he’s on the verge of losing it all.

But what starts as a trade of necessity to achieve their goals turns into a tangled jumble of emotions when they realize they might have found more than bugs and babies: They may have found the person who completes their lives.

©2019 Relay Publishing (P)2020 Relay Publishing

Recommended

Not quite what I expected. #1, this story was much hotter. #2, the characters were very forthright from the get go; more than I've ever experienced, especially considering the environment. #3, Lucy certainly complained enough about the side effects of pregnancy considering it was her great desire.

Overall the story was entertaining and ended on a high note. I believe the spin the narration had influenced my point of view greatly.

Aiden & Lucy!

Aiden is trying to keep his ranch afloat and his crops thriving. When mites take over the fields, his dreams of a brewery are going under. In walks his old classmate, Lucy. She is the beautiful nerdy girl he remembers from high school, but what she has to offer could save everything! A pesticide to save the crops is his for the taking as long as he father's a baby for her. What a price to pay! There are some books that are just pure enjoyment, and this is one of them for me. It's got a lot happening, but it is not full of angst and it's just all out fun. Lucy is a pistol. She is strong willed, yet vulnerable. I love her not only for her brains, but she knows what she wants and does what she needs to get it. Aiden is the man! Not wanting to father a child from a petry dish, he is willing to take one for the team. But will it lead to more? This is a a little of a friends to lovers, second chance at love kind of story. The kind that fills your heart and puts you in a good mood!

The narration by Robert Wrenlock is perfect for this cowboy story. His twang fits Aiden and he easily flipped to Lucy. It's my first narration by him and I enjoyed his pace and his voices. Everything about this book will lead you to an enjoyable listen.

Ok

The narrator did a good job but the story seemed a little rushed to me. There were parts that I expected to get more details but the story just moved on.

Cute story!

I liked this story. Like everyone, it was cute. There were some parts that were a smidgen unbelievable but nothing to deter me from the story. Likewise, there was no mystery to the story. It was obvious how it was going to play out. I liked the characters, how friendly the majority seemed to each other.

The narrator has an awesome voice. I don’t know what it is, since I typically don’t have “a thing” for country accents, but I liked his. I think he did a good job. Although, there were times when he didn’t pause long enough between sentences and times when he paused way too long between one chapter to the next. There were also times when I felt like he didn’t provide emotion for the characters during specific scenes. Like he’d say the dialogue and then the reader was told that the character was feeling a certain (not content) way within the dialogue tag; yet, I didn’t hear anything in his tone.

I only had one comment regarding the story. There was the part when Lucy was leaving the mediator’s office and wondered if Aidan was checking out her butt in her “business casual pants.” Yet when they got back to her house, she was suddenly wearing a skirt. I swear, it’s mistakes like that which throw me off as to how they hadn’t been caught.


I received a free audiobook version in exchange for an honest review.

Sweet Cowboy Romance

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This was such a sweet and steamy cowboy romance. I loved the characters. I would love to read more about them. The story was interesting and so good! I enjoyed the narrator. I would read more by these authors.