#CBR5 Book 24. "Undeniably Yours" by Shannon Stacey

Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 3 stars

Guy meets girl when breaking her boss' nose. Guy gets girl fired. Guy meets girl again at his brother's wedding. They have a one night stand. A month later, girl shows up and tells guy she's pregnant.

Kevin Kowalski has women throwing bar napkins with lewd propositions and phone numbers at him, but the only woman he really wants is the one doesn't seem to be interested in a relationship at all, despite being pregnant with his child. Beth Hansen gets pregnant after a one night stand (turns out that even using a condom doesn't always keep you safe), and is stunned with Kevin not only doesn't freak out when she tells him the big news, but seems quite excited about becoming a father.

Having grown up an only child with over-protective parents, Beth doesn't like to stay tied down in one place for too long. She's fiercely independent, and extremely worried that taking her developing friendship with Kevin to the next level will blow up in her face somewhere down the line, dooming her child to a miserable life with parents who hate each other. So she insists that they just stay friends. Even when the giant Kowalski clan do their best to envelop her and make her feel welcome and supported, and she moves into a flat over Kevin's bar, right across the hall from him, and even, later in the pregnancy, accepts a job from him. Despite Kevin's best efforts to woo her, she will not be swayed, and there are still all those eligible ladies throwing their numbers at him. Is he really going to wait around forever?

This book was not as fun as Exclusively Yours and Yours to Keep, mainly because Beth kept being so incredibly insecure and stupidly stubborn, long after it was realistic. If Stacey had set up some sort of horrible relationship trauma in her past that made her so wary of committing again, it would have been more plausible, but even after living next to Kevin for eight months with him proving time and time again how totally committed he is to her, their future child and making her safe and happy, all she can do is whine about how she feels smothered because he keeps doing nice things for her and wanting a real relationship with the mother of his unborn child.

While she's right that they barely know each other when they have the night of passion that knocks her up, and he keeps being given bar napkins with random women's phone numbers, it's made quite clear over the course of her pregnancy and the months following it that he has no interest in ever acting on any of those offers, and instead keeps being supremely patient, waiting for her to wake up and smell the amazingly supportive baby daddy.

Still, the supporting cast of the various Kowalskis and the sweet secondary romance of Kevin's bar manager Paulie and her ex-fiancee, as well as some of the banter was enough to keep me interested. I really did want to reach into the book and shake Beth so her teeth rattled a bit though. Also, her constant diet of cheese burgers or chicken wings while pregnant set my own teeth on edge. Not healthy, lady. Not healthy at all.

#CBR5 Book 22. "Exclusively Yours" by Shannon Stacey

Page count: 352 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Keri Daniels, journalist in an LA gossip magazine, wants a promotion and it's almost within reach. Then her ruthless editor discovers that her high school boyfriend was Joseph Kowalski, reclusive bestselling author, and presents her with an ultimatum. Get an interview, or lose her job.

Joe Kowalski has never forgotten the girl who really broke his heart, by leaving him in the dust after graduation and never looking back. Now she desperately wants an interview with him, and while he's not really inclined to share his secrets, few as they are, with the world, by agreeing to answer her questions, he can spend some more time with Keri. If she comes with him on the two week Kowalski family camping trip, she will get to ask him one question for each day she survives. No phone, no computer, no social media of any kind - just Keri Daniels and the entire rambunctious Kowalski clan.

Keri can't really refuse, and the sexual chemistry between her and Joe is as potent as ever. Of course, Keri's former best friend, Joe's twin sister Terri, is not about to see her brother's heart broken again, and will do anything in her power to stop keep Keri and Joe apart.

This is the first of the many contemporary romance novels by Shannon Stacey, chronicling the lives of the many eligible Kowalski men. I've previously read the third in the series (there is really no need to worry about reading these in order), so when this was FREE on Amazon a while back, I jumped at the chance to get it. Stacey writes believable, engaging characters who clearly enjoy spending time in each others' company. She does a brilliant job of introducing a large cast of supporting characters, as well, without it feeling like obvious sequel bait, like some authors seem to.

In this case, Joe's formidable parents, his siblings and their many energetic kids are almost as much fun to read about as the former high school sweethearts finding their way towards their happy ending. Joe's twin Terri (Theresa Kowalski Porter) is probably the most important secondary character, as she's struggling to piece her own failing marriage back together and channels far too much of her anxiety towards Joe and Keri, determined to break them apart. Unsurprisingly, since this is a romance, no one ends up getting divorced, and Joe and Keri discover that while they didn't find their HEA straight after high school, it's never too late to rekindle that old flame. I will absolutely be checking out more of Ms. Stacey's books.

CBR3 Book 58: "Yours to Keep" by Shannon Stacey

Publisher: Carina Press
Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: July 25th, 2011
Date finished: July 26th, 2011

Sean Kowalski has just come home from the army and has no particular plans for the future. He's going to stay above his cousin's bar for a while, until he figures out what he wants to do. When Emma Shaw knocks on his door and asks him to pose as her fiancé, because she already told her grandmother that he not only asked her to marry him, but that she's made up this elaborate story that they live together, he thinks she's insane. Hot, but completely crazy.

Emma Shaw lives alone, and runs a landscape design company. Her grandparents raised her after her parents died, and now her grandmother has moved to Florida and is very happy there. However, her grandmother also worries about Emma, alone in the huge house, running a company by herself, so Emma made up a boyfriend to keep her happy. She used Sean's name, as she'd heard her best friend (married to Sean's cousin) mention him, and his exploits in Afghanistan. As her elaborate lie grew, she even photoshopped pictures and sent to her grandmother, her imaginary boyfriend moved in with her, and finally asked her to marry him. Of course, now grandma is coming to visit for a month, and wants to meet the man she's heard so much about, and who she thinks has been living with Emma for over a year.

After some thinking, having consulted with his cousin and his wife (Emma's best friend, remember), Sean is convinced that Emma is not actually crazy, just very worried about hurting and disappointing her grandmother. As he needs a job, and Emma's offered to pay him to work for her landscaping firm while he lives in her house and pretends to love her, and he starts feeling sympathetic to her plight, he agrees. Now the couple, who have known each other for less than a week, have to convince her grandmother that they're deeply in love and planning a wedding.

Yours to Keep is part of a series about the various Kowalski men. I haven't read any others in the series (which I suspect are about two of Sean's cousins, who both seem to have recently married), but it works fine on its own. While the premise of the book seemed a bit ridiculous, and I didn't really see how it would work, it turned out to be a very entertaining book, in part because the people around Emma and Sean have so much fun playing along with their charade. As the book was so much fun, I may well check out more Kowalski family romances in future.