A BABY BETWEEN FRIENDS – Kathie DeNosky
The Good, the Bad and the Texan , Book 2
Harlequin Desire #2242
ISBN: 978-0-373-73255-5
July 2013
Series Romance

Texas and New Mexico – Present Day

Summer Patterson wants a baby more than anything and decides that before she goes the anonymous donor route she will ask her best friend, Ryder McClain, if he can provide the sperm. He's flabbergasted at what she's considering, and after she informs him she'll just use a sperm center, agrees only if she will do it the old-fashioned way with him—having sex between the sheets. Summer worries that having sex with him will ruin their friendship, but agrees, knowing that she may have some “problems” letting a man touch her. Will the fact that Ryder is someone she trusts make it different?

Ryder has an uncharacteristic reaction to Summer's idea of having a baby using a sperm donor. She's been like a sister to him, yet now he has feelings of jealousy at the idea of her having another man's baby. He figures that he can get the task done, but only if they have sex. Soon it becomes clear that Summer has some explaining to do about why she cringes at the idea of being intimate. When he learns the truth, Ryder will do anything to make their lovemaking tender and satisfying. The more they're around each other, the more he begins to wonder if his feelings are more than that of a friend, but if she knew the truth about his past, she might reconsider his being a father to her child.

It's friends to lovers in A BABY BETWEEN FRIENDS, the latest tale in the The Good, the Bad and the Texan series about a group of men who met in a foster home set on a ranch. Ryder is stunned when Sumner proposes her idea to him. They've known each other on the rodeo circuit for a few years—he's a rider and she's the head of public relations—so they feel comfortable around each other. Instant jealousy over any other man providing her with a baby smacks Ryder in the face. Yet he doesn't want to just “do it” in a cup. His foster brothers' have teased him over his friendship with Summer, so to get involved would just prove them right. He is old-fashioned, and Summer deserves a good man, though he doesn't think his past makes him fit for any woman. But the idea of being a father to Summer's child is just too hard to resist. Summer's issue with intimacy is written with emotion and done well…when they finally make love, it will leave readers smiling, knowing that soon Summer and Ryder will be madly in love with each other. It's getting Ryder over his guilt about the past that will prove to be the final hurdle.

As a fan of friends to lovers' tales, I thoroughly enjoyed A BABY BETWEEN FRIENDS and look forward to catching up with Ryder and Sumner in future books in this series. A book I highly recommend, pick up A BABY BETWEEN FRIENDS for an awesome read.

Patti Fischer