THE COWBOY'S PRIDE - Charlene Sands
Billionaires and Babies
Harlequin Desire #2127 
ISBN: 978-0-373-73140-4
December 2011
Series Romance

Arizona - Present Day

Trish Worth is back in Arizona for two reasons: to set up the fundraiser for the charity she and her husband, Clay, started, and to finalize her divorce.  She and Clay were married three years ago, and things were perfect until he suddenly decided they should have a baby right away.  With her business just getting off the ground and keeping her traveling between Arizona and Nashville , Tennessee , Trish wasn't ready for motherhood and wanted to wait.  The constant fighting about this was abruptly ended when Trish came home from a business trip to find Clay cozy on the couch with a neighbor that Trish felt was a little too friendly.  Her walking out was followed a little too quickly with divorce papers from Clay, and as far as Trish is concerned, there's nothing worth saving anymore.

A month before her return to Arizona , Trish's best friend died, leaving Trish the guardian of her infant daughter, Meggie.  Instant motherhood is something Trish is struggling with, and she's hoping to close the book on her past in order to move forward with her new daughter.  Yet, her feelings for Clay aren't completely gone, and seeing him with little Meggie has Trish all too aware of what might have been.  The fact that Clay is still interested in her only confuses Trish more, because it seems to her that the neighbor is still waiting in the wings.  Are Trish and Clay indulging in a little pre-divorce fling, or is this a second chance?

Misunderstandings get in the way of a good marriage, but in THE COWBOY'S PRIDE, Trish and Clay have a chance to clear things up.  Due to her younger brother's battle with cancer, Trish was left to fend for herself as a child, and that neglect has her wary of becoming a mother herself.  She'd always planned to have a family with Clay, but when his father died, it became the most important thing to him, and Trish felt that having a baby at that time meant giving up the career she's worked so hard for and her dreams.  Clay became a country music superstar at eighteen and has had a pretty easy life ever since.  He gave up his music career to take over the Worth family ranch, and when his father died, Clay vowed to fulfill his father's dying wish: create the next generation of Worths.  He doesn't understand Trish's reluctance to have children, just sees it as refusal—something Clay is not accustomed to at all.

With the arrival of Trish and Meggie, Clay also sees what could have been, but is it too late for their marriage to be saved?  An engaging story, THE COWBOY'S PRIDE is sure to please.

Jennifer Bishop