Snowbound with the Boss - Maureen Child (HD #2433 - Mar 2016)

Series: Pregnant by the Boss (Book 3)

Baby on the way? Blame it on the blizzard!

Being stuck in a snowstorm with his disagreeable contractor is hardly gaming tycoon Sean Ryan's idea of a good time. So why does he find himself keeping Kate Wells warm -- and really, really liking it? Luckily, when the snow melts, Sean can return to his California headquarters, leaving their fling behind.

But Kate's left facing a dilemma -- she's pregnant. How can she break her baby news to her unbearable boss? Soon there's an emotional storm brewing that makes the blizzard that stranded them look like child's play!

Very good book and conclusion to the trilogy. This time around it is Sean's turn to be in charge of turning a hotel into a theme location matching one of their video games. This hotel is located in the wilds of Wyoming, bad enough for the California surfer boy, but his initial visit to meet with the contractor is in the dead of winter. Sean is definitely not a cold weather fan, and the hard-headed contractor isn't making his visit any more pleasant. Things go from bad to worse when they are trapped together for several days by a blizzard.

I loved the initial scenes of the book, as Sean complains to his brother Mike about the weather and the contrary Kate. What he doesn't confess is how attracted to her he is. Kate is just as frustrated with Sean, who argues with her over every objection she has to his plans, when she's the one who knows what is physically possible to do. Being trapped with him is the last thing she wants, as he is stirring desires in her she thought had died with her husband. When the sparks between them burst into flames, the heat could melt all the snow in the state. They have several days together before Sean can go back to California and leave the fling behind.

But it turns out not to be so easy to do. Sean finds himself unable to stop thinking about her. Previously known as quite the player, suddenly he has lost interest in the brainless women he used to date, and lives for their video chats about the hotel and its progress. Finally he decides it's time for another on-site visit and a chance to see Kate again, but he's in for quite a shock. Kate is pregnant, and hadn't bothered to tell him.

Kate has been widowed for two years and hasn't really recovered from the loss of her husband. She has closed herself off from getting involved with another man, never wanting to go through that pain again. Her biggest regret was the loss of her dreams of home and family, and finding herself pregnant is like a dream come true. As she believed that Sean has no interest in marriage or family, she assumed he wouldn't want to know about her pregnancy. When he arrives unexpectedly, she learns just how wrong she was.

Sean had avoided entanglements because of something that had happened in his past. His actions when he was a young man and his girlfriend became pregnant and subsequently lost the baby, were quite selfish. He has lived with those memories for ten years and has avoided any thought of love ever since. Kate's pregnancy brings those memories back, along with a determination to do it right this time.

I enjoyed seeing the development of their relationship. Both of them are very stubborn and determined to have their own way. Kate sees herself as a contractor on the low side of the social scale, rooted in Wyoming. She feels that Sean, multi-millionaire playboy and California native is way out of her league. She realizes she was wrong not to tell him about the baby, but that doesn't mean she's going to let him tell her what to do now. Sean is stunned, but determined to do the right thing. He just has to convince Kate that they can have a life together and to sell her on the idea. Both are resistant to believing that their feelings are involved. When Sean manages to get Kate to come to California "for business", he also tries to show her the life they could have together. I loved seeing how easily she became part of his life, and how hard he had to work to pretend that his feelings were not involved. Kate came to realize her feelings more quickly, but can't face a relationship with someone who doesn't feel the same.

Stubbornness on both sides separates them once again, each returning to their own lives. But nothing is the same and I loved seeing them both, especially Sean, wallow in their misery. It was especially fun to see Mike (A Baby for the Boss) and Brady (Having Her Boss's Baby) give him such a hard time over his blindness. It  was so satisfying to see him finally see the truth and what he did about it. His big moment at the end was really pretty sweet and romantic. The epilogue was hilarious, especially Sean's panic.

A Baby for the Boss - Maureen Child (HD #2421 - Jan 2016)

Series: Pregnant by the Boss (Book 2)

Is it a baby trap or will the boss become a dad?

When Jenny Marshall meets gaming tycoon Mike Ryan, she thinks she's met The One. But when he realizes she's his competitor's niece he believes she's spying on him! Jenny thinks she's done with Mike…until she gets a new job -- and he's her boss!

His angelic-looking employee is more temptation than Mike can resist -- even if he still can't trust her. Now, she's pregnant with his baby. Is she playing the most elaborate game of all…or could mother and child be his if only he opens his guarded heart?

Mike and Jenny made their first appearances in the first book in the series Having Her Boss's Baby. Mike and his two partners own a video game company and have decided to branch out by developing three hotels based on their best-selling games. In this book, Mike is in charge of the Nevada hotel, and Jenny is the artist in charge of doing the themed murals. But there is an undercurrent of tension between them that makes working together difficult.

More than a year earlier, Jenny and Mike had met at a convention and been immediately attracted to each other. But the next morning Mike discovered that Jenny is a rival's niece and accuses her of using him. They part angrily and don't see each other again until Mike's brother hires her as one of the artists for their company. Mike is furious and still doesn't trust her, but won't tell his brother why. 

There were so many times I wanted to grab Mike by the ears and just shake him. He has huge trust issues that really have nothing to do with Jenny and everything to do with his parents. Something that happened when he was thirteen has had a profound impact on the way he looks at other people, and Jenny gets caught in that. His judgmental attitude and leaping to conclusions would have been funny if it wasn't so infuriating. He's so sure that he's right that he doesn't listen to anything she has to say. What makes it worse for him is that he is still incredibly attracted to her. When he visits her at her house to try to convince her to back out of her work on the hotel, he continues to accuse her of using him. Then the passion of anger turns to passion of another kind and they end up in bed again. And he's a jerk yet again the next morning, and still can't get her to quit.

I really liked Jenny. She knows what she wants and she's very good at what she does. From the very beginning, I loved the way she stood up to Mike and refused to accept his attitude. She could have made trouble for him with his partners, but she didn't, though they could see that there was something going on between them. It was great to see how she could put their differences aside when it came to work, even though the attraction was a big distraction. She has some relationship issues of her own, thanks to being pretty much abandoned by her parents who dumped her on her uncle to raise. She always felt as though she had been an obligation when all she wants is someone who will love her for who she is. 

As they worked together on the Nevada hotel, both there and after they got back, it felt as though they were growing closer. I liked seeing them able to coordinate their efforts so well, and that Mike seemed to be developing some level of trust. Unfortunately, Jenny's pregnancy sends him right back to his paranoid jerkiness. Conversations with his brother and his parents start the realization of his stupidity, but even then he hasn't fully accepted the truth. Jenny has some decisions of her own to make when Mike comes to see her. I loved seeing her stand up for her own needs and those of the baby. The final scene with her Uncle Hank was great, causing Mike to have to work harder to win Jenny's heart.

The epilogue was fantastic, and continued the build up to book three. Seeing California surfer dude Sean having to deal with winter in Wyoming will be wonderful. Add in a strong willed female contractor, and I expect the sparks will really be flying.