Surprise--You're a Daddy!: 4 Tots for 4 Texans

If you are a fan of "baby" romances (romances including babies and pregnancies), Judy Christenberry seems to deliver, judging by the one book I read and the plot summaries offered of several other books. While I am not fond of this particular plot type, I tried Christenberry wondering how someone who wrote Regencies would deal with contemporary American life. The jury is still out on that.This particular book is Book 2 in 4 Tots for 4 Texans. It begins with the wedding of Cal and Jessica (from the first book), and hints at the futures of the other two friends. The hero is a Texan cattle rancher, who like his friends, has no real need to work, since he has oil wealth. [In romance-world, all Texan ranchers seem to have oil money!]. The heroine Melanie is a young woman, an employee of Jessica's restaurant (who works a second job at the pharmacy). At the beginning, she is mourning Cal's wedding since she saw him as the ideal husband for her. Why? Because he is a lawman, lawmen are supposed to be steady and responsible, and she has this thing about responsibility in future husbands. Her mother (who never appears in the novel but seems thoroughly self-centered) has drummed into Melanie's head that it was Melanie's fault that her parents' marriage collapsed. Thus, when Melanie becomes pregnant, she is adamantly opposed to marriage just for the sake of the baby, fearing that Spence will walk out on her as her own father left her mother. Melanie is now struggling to remain independent, to a point that is almost ridiculous (she will not accept money from Spence, even though he is the child's father). Part of the problem in her relationship with Spence is that they completely fail to communicate. She does not share her fears from her childhood, and she does not tell him the truth at critical times. Spence believes in showing a woman he loves her by, well, showing her (through his actions). But Melanie wants the words, and even then, she feels insecure.To add to her problems, she is trying to buy a store, and the owners will sell only to a married woman. And there is the well-meaning interference of Spence's mom Edith, who misunderstands something her son told her. Fortunately for Spence and Melanie, they have good friends and the problem with Spence's mom is sorted out fairly quickly. One of the charms of this book (apart from the fact that it was a quick read) was the interactions between Melanie and Edith, and Melanie and Jessica, as well as the interactions between several secondary characters. They were not as well-fleshed out as I would have liked (probably owing to the word limits), but I felt that Spence and Melanie were living in a real town with real people. Unfortunately, the hero and heroine did not seem quite as real to me as the secondary characters did. I could not understand what the attraction between Spence and Melanie was, lust and the pregnancy aside. Melanie felt a bit unreal to me, and I had insufficient history fo

Highly reverred romance author Judy Christenberry is an absolute master at short, pithy contemporary romances, and her new series "4 Tots For 4 Texans" should prove to be one of her best. Cactus, Texas is home to four handsome, very eligible cowboys, who have four fiesty,very determined mothers who are longing for grandchildren. The ladies make a bet with each other on whose son will become a father first, and the race is on. "Surprise, You're A Daddy" follows Cowboy #2 Spence Hauk's journey towards fatherhood. When one night of passion with Miss Melanie Rule results in a baby on the way, Spence couldn't be happier. Now he just has to convince Melanie that he'd make a darn'd good daddy! If only his momma and her friends would quit interferring! Judy Christenberry leaves her readers hanging as to who will win the contest to become the first Grandma of Cactus. Should make for a fun summer of reading!