My Book Reviews

Series: Coltons of Oklahoma (Book 2)

Cowboy Brett Colton has reformed his bad-boy ways. And he has ambitious plans to transform the Lucky C ranch. Then he discovers that his one passion-filled night with gorgeous accountant Hannah Grayson resulted in pregnancy -- an unexpected hiccup.

Though excited by the prospect of fatherhood, Brett puts the brakes on romance. He is determined to bring Hannah and his unborn child into the family. But he doesn't anticipate the strong feelings he has for Hannah…or that he is putting her in danger. Because a vengeful phantom is targeting the Coltons. All that matters is keeping his new family safe…and perhaps fighting for love in the end.

Good book. Brett is the youngest of the Colton sons and has always felt like a disappointment to his parents. When he was younger, he expressed those feelings by living down to those expectations. After a car accident a few months ago woke him up, he has vowed to make changes in his life. He's now paying attention to his responsibilities on the ranch and has plans to expand the horse breeding side of the ranch. To that end, he's trying to hire an accountant who can help him with the business plan he'll need to convince the rest of the family.

Brett is surprised to discover that the accountant he's about to interview is the woman he had a one night stand with a few months earlier - and she's pregnant. Hannah is equally surprised by her potential employer. She's been waiting to contact him until she got her life back together. When her religious fanatic parents discovered she was pregnant they fired her from her job in their store and disowned her. Without a job, she lost her apartment and has been staying with a friend. This wasn't the way she wanted to tell Brett about his impending fatherhood.

Brett and Hannah really impressed me. There was no drama linked to the reveal. Brett doesn't accuse her of hiding the baby or trying to trap him into marriage, nor does Hannah accuse him of carelessness or anything like that. They talk about it calmly, as adults. I really liked the way that Brett is determined to take care of Hannah and the baby, and asks her to move to the ranch as well as take the job of accountant. Neither of them want to marry because "it's the right thing", as both have witnessed marriages that are not based on love and don't want that for themselves. Brett showed a great deal of protectiveness toward Hannah from the very beginning. I loved the way that he faced down his family the day that he told them about her. 

The attraction between them is still hot. Hannah has accepted it, and really wouldn't mind acting on it again. As a matter of fact, she really wants to. But Brett is resisting just as hard as he can. He seems to look at giving in as continuing his previously irresponsible ways. He's also afraid that if they give in to the passion, if something goes wrong she'd leave the ranch and he wouldn't see his child. Having had his own absentee parent,he wasn't going to risk that happening. I really enjoyed seeing them grow closer through their desire to be good parents, and how eventually they realized their feelings for each other. The last chapter of the book was really sweet.

The suspense of the story was good. One part is the continuation from the first book. Brett's mother is still in the hospital from an attack that left her in a coma. They still don't know why she was attacked. There have been several attacks on the ranch, including a fire where photos from albums that were stolen from the house were found. There are also no clues about the identity of the baby bones that were found at the family cemetery. Some of the people are a little spooked because there has been a ghostlike woman spotted at various places around the ranch. Hannah has her own mystery that she's working on. While trying to bring order to the ranch books, she has noticed some irregularities that have her puzzled and concerned. She also has someone leaving her hateful messages. Brett is really worried about her safety. While the culprits for her issues were not a surprise, there were some really intense moments at the end. That resolution was pretty satisfying, at the same time the earlier issues are still unresolved. Looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book.