Cole Bradford needed a new start for him and his unborn child. After leaving his ex, he goes to the two people who could center him: his parents. Promising himself that he would solely focus on raising his child, he’s completely blindsided by his sudden attraction for his parents’ boss, Kane Cartwright.Kane Cartwright’s only focus is the successful management of his dude ranch, the Black Meadow. … Black Meadow. He’s satisfied with his life as a bachelor and does not want the responsibility of a lover or children. Until the smart-mouthed New Yorker showed up on his ranch looking for his dads. And suddenly, Kane found himself attracted and wanting a man who’s pregnant with another man’s baby.
This story is an Omegaverse and Non-shifter.
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The Cowboy’s Baby is a Mpreg first of the series novel featuring a pregnant omega Cole Bradford who flees from his baby’s abusive father to get a new start with his parents at the Black Meadow Ranch. He decides he’ll handle his own problems and plans to move on to some other place safe from his ex when his fathers discover they will be grandparents. He agrees readily and takes time to find work in preparation for building a new life with his baby. He approached Kane Cartwriter, his parents’ boss and manager for the Black Meadow ranch, for a job running a new cafe that will feature his baked goods.
Cole and Kane dislike each other initially but cannot deny their initial attraction to one another. Kane is a bit of a player but finds himself totally thrown off guard by the slick New Yorker. When Cole confesses he is pregnant, Kane finds he isn’t put off by the pregnancy and is instead looking to provide protection for Cole who was left for dead with his old boyfriend beat on him. What’s even more surprising to Kane is his forward to being a daddy for Cole’s baby and sharing a life with him as a marital partner.
When things couldn’t be better in his life, the FBI shows up to tell Cole that his ex is wanted for murdering a man and is on the run. Cole encounters the ex who tracks him down through internet advertising for his baked goods. It seemed that the ex owns a man lots of money and agreed to give Cole’s baby to him as payment for the debt. Fortunate for Cole, new husband Kane (with some help) ended that!
I found Giovanna’s Mpreg refreshingly different from what I have experienced in the past. I love that omegas are a norm in her universe and therefore the characters are just folks getting on with their lives. It leaves the reader free to focus on the meat of the narrative, which is how the protagonists grow to love and build a life together, overcome adversity, and find acceptance in their world. The world-building is wonderful and the conflict is credible and resolved in a plausible manner. I’m REALLY loving this author’s writing style!
I liked this but didn’t love it! Had a few edit errors/typos. I am going to continue to read the series because it was ok,.just hoping the editing is slightly better.
The drama with the ex did make this a little less fluffy and a bit more angsty.
I started reading this because a) it was the first Mpreg romance I came across and I had LOTS of questions, and b) it wasn’t a shifter or menage Mpreg (I thought that would just be way too far out for my first Mpreg read. This one seemed more benign) For the first few pages, I was literally reading through my fingers, much like I watch a horror film where the bad guy jumps out at his victims. (I HATE jump scares—and so does everyone around me, because my first instinct when I’m startled is to start swinging. But I digress…)
I’m happy to say that by the 50% mark, I was able to put my hand down and read like a normal person. I wasn’t scarred for life by anything I read in this book. But that’s not to say it was all that GOOD either…
Here’s what didn’t work for me…
Stereotypical hero, Kane:
Kane, the Alpha in the story, was very cookie cutter. I could have plucked him out of this book and placed him in any cowboy romance on the market today and he would’ve fit right in. There was nothing terribly interesting about him. He was a big, strong, nearly monosyllabic cowboy. Yawn.
Cole, the Omega:
Cole was so effeminate in his mannerisms and speech and actions that it would have taken little more than a name and pronoun change for the author to turn him into a woman in the story. If Cole was a woman, this would’ve been a super typical M/F cowboy romance. I probably would’ve liked Cole more if he didn’t reinforce the stereotypical question that old bigots always ask gay couples (i.e.: “Which one of you is the man in the relationship, and which is the woman?”). I hate that crap!
Explanations, please?:
The book assumed that I knew everything about the “Omegaverse”, even though this was book 1 in the series. I understand that most Mpreg fans will probably understand the terminology, but I think authors should assume that every reader coming into their books doesn’t understand anything about the author’s “world.” It should all be explained to me as if I’m completely new to the genre/author/subcategory/series. This book made a lot of assumptions about what I know. (And it apparently assumed I was WAY more knowledge about the subject matter than I really am.)
Stilted dialogue:
Lots of the dialogue read like nothing real people would ever say to each other. It was pretty awkward.
Editing:
Y’all know I’m not a grammar Nazi, but there’s no way this was professionally edited. There are LOTS of errors. And I’m not talking about minor stuff. For example, there was one scene where the “most sexist man in the world” walked into the room. It took me a minute to realize the author meant “sexiest”. Then it took me another minute to get past how crazy-wrong the phrase “most sexiest man” is. (*shudders*)
Instalove:
Kane and Cole didn’t spend much time together at all before they were “in love”. I let some of that slide since the concept of “fated mates” seems to be big in most Mpreg AUs, but I’m still not a fan of it.
Cartoony bad guy:
Cole’s ex was so cartoonishly awful that it was laughable. There was absolutely no depth to his character at all. And what’s worse was that he didn’t show up until the 90% mark of the story. I assume his only purpose there at all was to force a climax into the story. That’s just lazy writing as far as I’m concerned.
So, long-story-short, this wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever read, but it was far, far, far from the best.
And for more rants, raves, and other fun romance-y stuff, don’t forget to check out the Romance Rehab blog: http://www.romancerehab.com/