“I love you,” he whispered. “You’ll have the words every day for the rest of our lives.”
After finishing The Sweet Gum Tree, I fell so in love with Ms. Allred’s writing that I just had to try another of her books and LOVED this one too!
It has refreshingly smart and functional characters (both individually and as a couple), funny witty dialogue, a steamy romance, some misty eyed moments (but no crying), some moments that made me laugh out loud, a writing style that just sucks you right into the story and allows you to vividly picture everything that is happening, as well as a very sweet happy ending 🙂
In a small town, six weeks after having a drunken one night stand with Tate, a guy she has secretly loved for a long time, Abby finds out she is pregnant. Problem is, Tate has a finacee and she is the dirt-poor daughter of the town whore. Tate’s financee is the spoiled, bratty daughter of the richest man in town and is constantly cheating on Tate and breaking up with him- which is what led to the fight right before the night he got drunk. But Tate can’t stop thinking about Abby and the moment she discovers he is pregnant with his child, he refuses to let her go through it alone and, desperately wanting to do the right thing, he takes her home to his ranch and gets her to agree to marrying him. Abby isn’t sure at first and doesn’t trust that he won’t just leave her the moment the child is born – especially since she can’t tell if he is over his fiancee or not. It isn’t easy at first, but despite barely knowing each other, they are both intensely drawn to each other and their attraction to each other can’t be ignored and as they begin to follow their hearts, they also fall begin to fall in love.
“You don’t have to be scared anymore, Abby. We’ll figure something out, I promise. We’re in this together… I told you, thats my baby, my blood. I wasn’t raised to ignore my responsibilities whether they were caused by accident or not…. I’m not going to ignore any baby of mine. So what if my life isn’t turning out exactly the way I’d planned? It’s not ruined, it’ll just be different.”
Finally!!! A guy who doesn’t utterly freaked out over a pregnancy! What a welcome change!
I totally fell in love with Tate. He was just such an all-round, down-to-earth, good guy. He was always trying to see the best in people, always trying to do the responsible, right thing. And of course was totally protective and possessive. I just loved seeing the way he handled the pregnancy. He tried so hard to be as understanding as possible. It wasn’t what he expected, it didn’t at all fit into his life plan, but he never tried to hide it, wasn’t ashamed and didn’t reject her but rather he totally embraced both the situation, Abby, and his unborn child in a very heart warming, swoony way. He never pushed her into anything she wasn’t ready for. But he had to figure out for himself where his heart truly lay – with the fiance he’d convinced him self he loved, or with the woman carrying his child that he found himself undeniably drawn to.
Abby too was a wonderfully refreshing, smart heroine with a lot of inner strength. All her actions were totally understandable and she didn’t make any rash or stupid decisions. I loved how she didn’t just give in to Tate – she made him prove himself to her before she completely gave over her heart. She wanted to make sure that he wasn’t with her out of a sense of obligation but because it was what he genuinely wanted.
“Tate, I can’t promise anything, but I’ll give it a chance. If it looks like it might work, I’ll stay.”
As a couple, Tate and Abby were also delightful to read about – they were just so functional!!! I loved it!! Sure, they had problems, they made mistakes, but they worked through all of them in a rational, totally believable, non-stupid way.
And seeing them go through all the baby prep together was totally adorable and funny.
“You know that Lamaze thing you signed me up for today? Well… you signed youself up, too… You have to be my coach.”…
“This doesn’t sound too bad… Although I’m not sure how you can teach someone to breathe. Seems it would be a case of either you can or you can’t.”
As with The Sweet Gum Tree, the writing style of this book was just beautiful. The slow build of their romance was heart warming, adorable, steamy and very believable. Nothing felt rushed or out of place – they took things one step at a time…. but like I said, it was much steamier! The pacing was perfect. And it was the kind of story that had me constantly thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it – when I had to stop for the night, I just couldn’t wait to get back to it!
I would highly recommend it for when you are looking for a feel-good book with some depth to it.
My only complaint was that, even though it had a resolved, HEA ending, I still wanted more – A few more chapters before the end and I would have loved it to have an epilogue. Does that make me greedy? lol. Maybe. But still… a little more.
PS. Don’t worry about the book cover – there is no death, dying or cheating despite what the graveyard and the two women hint at… I promise! The graves are his parents’ and the 2 women represent the choice he has between his finacee and Abby…. but the book isn’t all about the love triangle issue. Its clear who will end up together 🙂
Rating: 4.5 stars. Standalone romance.
Here are the 2 standalones by this author.
I loved them both and highly recommend them.
The stories are not related though.
Click the covers to purchase either book.
Mariann with Belle's Book Bag says
Great review!!! I will have to add this to my TBR pile. I love the pics you chose for the characters!! Oh and thanks for telling about the cover!! 🙂
Aestas says
Thank you!! lol, I remember before I started this I was asking around everywhere about the cover cuz it kinda had me worried but there is nothing to worry about! I hope you enjoy the book 🙂
Nancy Burgess says
Excellant review I have to read this.It sounds like a really good book.
Michele H says
This is one of my top five favorite books. An annual re-read for me!