Nine Month Contract (Mountain Men Matchmaker #1) by Amy Daws

 

Summary (from the publisher): Help Grumpy mountain man seeks baby momma. Job is an incubator position only. Surrogate must be impervious to grunting as the form of communication and nosy 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 in 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.

Review: Wyatt is still grieving the loss of his father and content with his closeknit brothers. He wants nothing more than to be a dad, which is why he decides to have a child on his own through surrogacy. But when he is ultimately rejected by the surrogacy agency, his niece takes it upon herself to put on an ad for a surrogate. Enter Trista. She's had a rough life and has no interest in being a mom herself, but she wants nothing more than to open an animal shelter and needs startup funds to make it happen. So serving as a surrogate is perfect.

Ok guys so this is not how surrogacy works lol. I tried so hard to suspend my disbelief but ultimately this is about two horny people who get off on the fact that she is getting pregnant with his baby. I was so uncomfortable with the insemination scenes. And the fact that they didn't use a donor egg. And the way Trista continually refers to herself as a cow. 

I don't have any personal experiences with surrogacy, but I think if I had, I would have been greatly offended by this book. Heck I'll be honest - I'm still a little offended. One thing in particular that really bothered me is how Trisa was adamant that she didn't want children and had no desire to be a mother. Yet she's gestating her biological child, and I bet you can guess where this plot goes. This just flies in the face of thoughtful surrogates who very intentionally go in knowing they cannot keep the baby. Not to mention all the ick over how turned on Wyatt is by her having his child. Obviously, being turned on by your child's mother is a valid response!! But just an ick (not to mention unethical) when you frame it in the context of the fact that she is supposed to be his surrogate only. 

In short, I think this would have worked better as an accidental pregnancy trope.

I think I also was just a bit put off by how sex focused this book was. They just had the hots for each other from page one, which is their prerogative, but I would have liked to have seen a little bit more intentional relationship building first. 

What I did like: 

- The duet narration was TOP TIER. Truly excellent on audio. This was an easy and entertaining listen. Because it was such an easy and entertaining listen, I'm still giving it 3 stars. Otherwise, it would probably be lower for me. 

- All the animals. Trista is constantly bringing home different animals to foster beyond the pet pig Wyatt originally agreed to let her have. I loved the revolving door of different animals and all their wild names. 

- I love a strong, independent woman and a man who is like, I know you can do it on your own, but you don't have to, let me help you. Trista is almost borderline too resistant to his help, but I love how thoughtful Wyatt, like showing up with breakfast every day for her. 

Stars: 3