The Cowboy's Pride and Joy

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT SOME MAY CONSIDER SPOILERS.

MAUREEN CHILD

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin, 2014.

How acquired: Bought.

First lines: “When Boston comes to Montana, it’s never a good thing.” Jake Hunter frowned into the distance.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: It’s been quite some time since I read a Maureen Child book but I’ve enjoyed them (I especially recommend SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL), so I looked forward to this one. And it did not disappoint.

Jake Hunter took over running the family ranch when he discharged from service. After having spent vacations at the ranch with his grandfather when he was a child, it and the mountain in Montana are the only home he ever loved, the only place he felt comfortable and at peace. His mother runs the other family business, a media empire started by his father’s family, and she has long been after him to take his rightful place there, but the last place Jake wants to live is Boston. His mother has finally agreed to let him completely off the hook for that business, and sends her assistant to Montana with paperwork for Jake to sign, which will absolve him of all dealings with the business.

This is a Harlequin (Desire), so of course Jake is wildly attracted to Cassie, said assistant, and of course a snowstorm rolls in, closing down roads so that Cassie cannot get back down the mountain to catch her flight back to Boston the next day. You can guess what happens between them, but once the weather clears up, it’s back to real life and they part company, because it was purely physical. No emotions involved. At least, none admitted to.

Fast forward fourteen months. Cassie is now a single mother to five month old Luke. Once she realized she was pregnant, she quit her job to keep Jake’s mother from finding out. Of course she didn’t notify Jake. He’d made it all too clear that he preferred to be alone on his mountain. But her sister has stepped in and taken the decision away from Cassie, going behind her back and telling Jake’s mother, and now Jake’s mother is threatening legal action. So off to Montana Cassie goes with Luke, to enlist Jake’s help in calling off his mother.

I’m always a little leery going into a secret baby story. I need there to be a compelling reason for the heroine to not let the hero know he’s a father. But again, Maureen Child, so I was curious to see how she would handle this. And I’ve gotta say, I totally understood where Cassie was coming from, and could sympathize with her reasoning for not telling Jake. Not saying it was right, but believable. But even more, after being lambasted by her sister and brother for keeping Jake in the dark, Cassie can admit she’s had some guilt over her decision. And after spending some time with Jake again, facing his anger but also seeing the hurt in his eyes, she’s finally able to admit she was wrong. And not admit it just to herself, but to Jake.

That doesn’t mean they’ll become a happy little family though. No, there’s still a lot to sort through and a lot of clashing with each other before they can finally get their HEA. I love a hero who is grouchy and angry and prickly, and the heroine has to get past his defenses, actually gets a little past them without even trying. I loved Jake and Cassie, plus Jake’s grandfather, loved their story, loved this book.

Goodreads Synopsis: All former marine Jake Hunter wants is peace and quiet. But when his business-minded mother sends her assistant Cassidy Moore from Boston to see him about a long-standing family dispute, chaos ensues. Their attraction rages out of control as a snowstorm strands them on his Montana ranch.

Flash-forward fourteen months: Cassie can't bring herself to tell Jake she's had his child. But when his mother interferes again, Cassie rushes back to Jake…just in time for another blizzard—and for the Christmas spirit to open one reclusive cowboy's heart. 

More Than Fiends (Demon Duster, Book 1)

MAUREEN CHILD

Synopsis from back of book: “Today you are thirty-two years old,” the old woman went on, and just how the hell did she know it was my birthday? “Your time has come.” She smiled, but it wasn't a Grandma-type wanna-cookie? smile. Nope, this was more like the grin on the fake shark they built for the movie Jaws. “There is no time to waste,” she said. “The demons are here. And only you can kill them.”

There's great surf in La Sombra, California – along with a huge mental institution, where Cassidy Burke figures this old lady has escaped from. Especially after she claims that Cassie is next in a long line of demon-dusters – Burke women paired with a centuries-old cleaning solution to shine windows and spot demons. Sure, her Clean Sweep maid service is taking off, with a sexy new client promising to have her rolling in dough, not to mention keep her hormones happy. But wiping out supernatural bad guys? Sounds like a job for a size-two cheerleader.

Yet suddenly Cassie has got fighting instincts and fierce new strength, and she's going to need both. For one thing, her teenage daughter, Thea, thinks her dad is dead, but in truth he just never knew about her, and now he's moved back to town. For another, after many dateless years, Cassie finally has men lining up at her door. Unfortunately most of them aren't human...

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Signet Eclipse, published by New American Library, 2007.

How acquired: Bought.

My thoughts: After getting all caught up in the paranormal craze a few years ago, I eventually got a little burned out on vampires and demons and etc., and the last couple of years I've been more interested in contemporary romance novels. But I loved SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL by this same author, so when I saw her name on this book I snatched it up. And I'm glad I did.

There are quite a few characters, and since Cassidy narrates in first person point of view we see the other characters the way she does. Cassidy is a single mom, raising her teenage daughter in the same house where she herself grew up, and running a house cleaning service whose business is starting to pick up. On her 32nd birthday (a random number to say the least), Jasmine, an elderly woman who claims to be a friend of her grandmother, shows up and proceeds to tell Cassidy that there are demons everywhere and she is here to train Cassidy, the newest demon duster, so Cassidy can assume her birth right duties. Cassidy of course thinks the old lady is mental,until she talks to her grandmother on the phone and grandma confirms the story.

As for some of those other characters:

Devlin Cole is the owner of the hottest spot in a town, a nightclub that's also reputed to be a sex club. He needs a cleaning service for the upstairs rooms at his club, and Cassidy wants the job. It would be her first foray into commercial cleaning and could be just the boost her company needs. Devlin himself is probably the hottest bachelor in town, and from their first meeting the sparks start flying. Cassidy's been in a sexual drought, and Devlin has her panting.

Logan is Cassidy's high school boyfriend, who went off to college, leaving Cassidy to spend her senior year of high school pregnant. Although he never knew that. The day Cassidy planned to tell Logan about Thea, he introduced her to his fiance,and Cassidy went home broken hearted, without ever divulging her secret to him. Now he's a police officer, he's moved back to town,he's divorced, and he wants Cassidy back. And try as she might, Cassidy can't help but still be attracted to him also.

Thea is Cassidy's daughter, who's whip smart (she writes up the bid for the cleaning job, having a much better head for numbers than her mother) and who has always been told that her father died a hero, rescuing some kids from a fire. Or maybe it was a flood. Cassidy can never remember what lie she used.

When Thea meets Logan, she's furious with her mother for lying to her all those years. Logan is pretty angry himself, but he seemed to get over it pretty quick and was pretty forgiving. He got over it faster than Thea did, and I loved the interactions between Cassidy and Thea, with her grumblings and eye rolls and “I'm not talking to you!” and other typical teenage girl behavior.

One of my favorite scenes is at a block party, where Devlin and Logan face off against each other and verbally stake their claims on her, trading barbs regarding which of them belongs there with Cassidy. I liked both guys, but I did lean towards Devlin more than Logan.

Cassidy is shocked to learn about demons, but when she finally starts talking to others she discovers that practically everyone she knows already knew that demons lived within their community. From the outset she assumes all demons are evil, and she's shocked again to learn that some of them just want to live their lives in peace and have no interest in waging war on humans. Jasmine withholds information from her, and both Cassidy and I were put out about that. Doesn't Jasmine realize that by not telling Cassidy upfront that there are good demons and bad demons, Cassidy could have unwittingly killed some good ones? And it seemed pretty far fetched that everyone else in town is already aware of demons (and ghosts) living among them and just accepts it as a matter fact. Except Logan, who thinks Cassidy is making it all up, even after witnessing a dusting.

But despite those issues, I enjoyed Cassidy's humorous narration as she navigated this new world that had been opened up for her, and I'm eager to find the next book in the series.

Some Kind of Wonderful

MAUREEN CHILD

Some Kind of Wonderful is full of interesting characters, people you'd want to be friends with in real life. Carol Baker moved to Christmas, California, two years ago, and has a successful shop selling candles and keepsakes and Christmas themed decorations. She has carved out a happy life for herself in this weird little tourist town.

I say weird because I'm not sure I would want to live there myself. The entire town stays decorated for Christmas all year round. There is a permanent Nativity scene set up in the town square, the local businesses include the Reindeer Cafe, the Ho-Ho-Hotel, Elve's Hardware and Christmas Carol's (the heroine's store), and the streets have names such as North Pole and Jingle Bell Way.

Jack Reilly grew up in Christmas, and is back in town, temporarily, to fill in for the local sheriff who has been ill. Jack used to be an LAPD cop, but left the force, and he took this temporary position very grudgingly. He's anxious for the sheriff to come back to work so he can get back out of town. He's surly and always scowling, with shadows in his eyes.

One night Carol is walking her dog through the town square, and finds a baby lying in the Nativity scene's manger. A real, live baby, only a few hours old. She takes the baby to her friend Phoebe's clinic, and that's when she meets Jack, who is of course called to investigate. Jack's sister, Maggie, is the local county welfare officer, and when Carol volunteers to be the baby's temporary emergency foster mother, Maggie agrees.

Having grown up in the foster care system, Carol has always longed for home and family. She doesn't expect to keep baby Liz forever, she is just determined that the baby not wind up at a group home, where row upon row of babies lie in cribs waiting for someone to pay attention to them.

Carol and Jack are of course attracted to each other, but Jack keeps her at a distance, while moping around and glaring at everyone. Honestly, what is it about a man like Jack that is so appealing? I've not actually known one in real life, but I do love a moody angtsy hero in a romance novel.

I was swept up in this story pretty quickly, and really enjoyed the author's voice. Lots of humor. While the identity of the biological mother of the baby isn't revealed until the last quarter of the book, it was pretty obvious early one who she was, at least to the reader, though not to the other characters. But I think the author intended for us to figure it out, as she slowly fleshed that character out and made us sympathize with her. The ending was predictable and a little sappy, but then I would have been upset if it had ended any differently.

Well, actually, that's not quite accurate. SPOILER ALERT - STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS:

In my mind, I pictured Carol taking both mother and baby under her wing, letting them both live with her and taking care of baby while mom went to college, but not actually adopting the baby as her own child. But then, I kind of forgot about Jack becoming a part of Carol's life also, because my mind left him out of that scenario. So obviously the author knew better than me how to end the story.

This is the first book I've read by Maureen Child, and when I looked at her back list on her website I realized that she has written a lot of books. Many of them are of the Harlequin/Silhouette variety, but I'm more eager to find her other contemporary novels first.

(I purchased this book at a library book sale – based on the cover which caught my eye.)