Baby Maker was a great book! I loved the interactions with the main characters and the storyline was different from anything else I've read lately. I always enjoy a good opposites-attract book and this really fit the bill.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The blurb of this book sounded very promising, but the execution was sadly lacking. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect to either Stella or Dane. I found Stella to be stuffy, she was too willing to accept all the crap Dane threw at her and Dane was the worst. He is supposed to be intelligent, but he comes across as crass and his attitude turned me right off.
I would not recommend this book, there are better books out there to read.

I love the stories this author puts I. I have not been disappointed yet!. Stella is a successful business woman, Her childhood made her put making money first and living her life second. She has few friends and does very little "fun" things. She is very organized and logical about things. When she hears her biological clock ticking she comes up with a plan to silence it. She needs a donor that will co-parent with her. Someone that will not allow things to get messy. who does she find? DANE WYLDER! When we first meet Dane, he comes off as an immature jerk that takes nothing serious. However, it does not take long for us to find the real Dane and love him. He is a retired NFL player and is trying to settle. He wants a baby without the fuss of a real relationship.
Once the meet, the fun begins. Opposites attract in this fun story and the characters are great as usual.

Stella is a financial manager and wants a baby, but not the man. Dane is a retired American football player and wants children at some point.

I really really wanted to punch this hero in the face... it was really juvenile! why are there so many baby makers books out right now? I do not understand it!

Loved Baby Maker. It was sweet and sassy. Yet left you wanting to smack Stella and Dane just a little over their antics. Yet laughing a bit too. I love the give and pull between them. No one ever said wanting to have a baby was easy. Or that you wouldn't fall for your baby daddy in the process. Take two anti marriage people yet both want a child and you get an amazing read with Baby Maker. Dane is sexy and swoon worthy. He wants a son. Stella is feisty, independent and not wanting to waste anymore time. She too wants a kid. Perfect match?? It was fun to watch the trial and errors along the way. A fun read that you wont want to put down.

ARC - I voluntarily offered to review this book with no obligations and my opinions are hones
Stella wants a baby, but she does not want a relationship
Dane wants a baby, but he also does not want a relationship.
That is how they signed a contract to have a baby together without the hassle of a relationship.
How wrong were they ?
I loved the storytelling + the characters
The storytelling + the character's build were awesome!

Straight-laced, career driven Stella Donovan has daddy issues. She wants a baby, but not a husband and at the ripe old age of thirty-three she’s feeling the need to get things moving.
Retired NFL and soon to be Hall of Famer player Dane Wylder has mommy issues. He wants a baby but not a wife and none of the women in his circle are mother material.
So what do they do? At the introduction of a mutual friend, they go into a baby contract. With the help of IVF they make a baby and agree to raise the child as partners….no love involved; Easy-peasy right? WRONG!!
Dane and Stella both figure the process will be easy, neither feels the other is someone they would be attracted to so there’s no chance of feelings and emotions becoming involved; but the more time they spend getting to know each other the more they find themselves becoming more and more attracted to each other and then, before they know it, that pesky little thing called love makes its way into the equation.
I really liked these two from the very start. I have to admit at first I had a hard time following what was happening during the first few pages but eventually I caught on and never lost touch with the characters or the story line. At first description of Stella, I assumed she would be this nerdy-inexperienced workaholic that would need Dane to educate and lighten her up. Well Stella was far from it. This half Latina, half Irish spit fire gave as good as she got. Dane’s charmed jumped off the pages and his sensitive nature made it extremely easy to like him.
Really quick and fun read.
This appears to be the first book in a series, It Takes Two. There were two other characters that jumped out at me Levi and Noah so I’m hoping it will be one of their stories that will be next. There’s also Stella’s friend Delia, who seems like she’s going to give some guy a run for him money.
Really looking forward to more from this author.

It was an unconventional plot and storyline. I found it hard to get in to the story in the beginning and it took few chapters for it to capture my attention. Though both Stella and Dane develop a good friendship and mutual trust before they fall in love or move onto a sexual relationship but there was still something lacking in it for me, I just couldn’t connect with the characters. It’s still an enjoyable one time read when in need of a light breezy romance but not something I would re read .

After a trying week at work, I was looking for something light and funny to ease my stress levels. Baby Maker popped up on Netgalley, and though I originally thought it was NA (a romance category I try to avoid because I has such a hard time relating to the protagonists), I requested it anyway. The recently retired football player had me hooked, and after finishing Shot on Gold, I dove right into this story. I’m a sucker for athlete heroes.

I had mixed success with this one. I thought Dane was a complete jerk, from the first introduction to almost the final page. He is everything that I don’t find attractive in a guy; he’s immature, hung up on himself, and a commitment phobe. He has huge mommy issues because his mother constantly bounced in and out of his life when he was growing up, and because his father never got over her betrayals. I honestly didn’t think he could make Stella happy, and his jealous rages had me tearing my hair out. More frustrating was when Stella just shrugged, looked at Dane’s cut abs, and just let everything go. Ugh.

Stella is a self made success story. After watching her mother pine for her cheating father for years, she was determined to never give a man that much power over her. Growing up with hardly any money, she also decided that she or her mother would never want for anything again. Working her way through college, she was lucky to land a job on Wall Street, and even luckier to find a mentor who helped her climb her way to the top. Now she’s financially independent, and she’s fearful that her biological clock will run out before she has a baby. And while she wants a child, she doesn’t want a husband, so she determines that co-parenting is just the ticket. Now to find a suitable father.

I liked the beginning of the book the best. Stella is a list-maker. She needs a plan for everything. So she makes a list of qualities she wants in the father of her child and commences the search. Only she gets shot down at every attempt she makes to find an agreeable sperm carrier and co-parent. Her last, desperate chance is Dane, a friend of a friend. When she first meets him, he is every nightmare she’s ever had of the worst guy ever. And Dane is so full of himself, he can’t comprehend when Stella tells him no, it ain’t happening, he is the last man on earth she would choose for her baby’s father.

The romance was slow to build, which I liked, and I even found that kind of novel. The characters didn’t jump right into bed, and I appreciated Stella’s willpower to resist Dane’s physical charms. All he had to do was open his mouth and he was more likely than not to steel her reservations. There were a few too many inconvenient interruptions by the time the fireworks finally blazed, though, and I kept wondering how bad one couple’s timing could be.

Though I had a tough time warming up to Dane, this was a quick, fun read. It’s my first book by the author, but I doubt it will be my last.

Grade: 3 stars

P. Dangelico is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. After discovering Wrecking Ball and Sledgehammer this year, Baby Maker was one of my most anticipated reads!!!

The promise of this book is a little different, unorthodox some may say. Stella Donovan wants to be a mother. But she wants to do it without being a wife or really being in a relationship at all. She needs more than just a sperm donor.
Enter Ex NFL football player Dane “omg he is so hot I want to lick him” Wylder. He isn’t interested in a relationship either. But ready to be a father without being committed to one woman.
This is where “Communal parenting” come in to play. It’s a thing people.
Omg as soon as these two meet SPARKS FLY!!
At first Stella is a HELL NO, she is not too keen on Mr. Smirky Charm-the-Panties-off-all-females-within-a-one-mile-radius. Dane is a player for sure and has never heard the word no. Stella’s initial hesitation really just means that Dane needs to try harder. They are total opposites in every sense of the word. Stella is a Financial Manager, a planner and a workaholic. Dane is carefree, cocky and charming. A male Adonis. But as they slowly start to communicate and open up about their past and upbringing, we learn so much about them. The walls they built are slowly coming down and it’s GLORIOUS to experience. I loved their banter and their comebacks. It’s witty and fun. His innuendos are non stop and let’s face it Stella didn’t have a chance.
“This is a kiss for the sake of a kiss. It feels as if everything has been leading up to this moment, this terrifying, beautiful, imperfect moment.”
What I really love about P. Dangelico’s stories are the slow burn. She is an expert when it comes to building up these INCREDIBLE CONNECTIONS. You will literally chew your nails off waiting for that first kiss, the first real touch. Don’t even get me started when it’s finally sexy time. You’ll need a cigarette after the deed is done.
These two have so much baggage they collected growing up, they need time to learn about each other but most importantly to learn about themselves.
I FLOVED all the characters from previous books popping up. Truly I can’t get enough. I want to climb into these books and become part of their adventures. P. Dangelico pretty please?!?!?!?!
If you looking for the perfect romance THIS IS IT. It’s funny, witty, slow and sexy. Just enough angst to keep you wanting to turn the pages till the very end.

ARC received for review

Loved it. Great chemistry, but it was a slow burn. There was no insta-anything, except maybe insta-dislike. The secondary characters were just as great. Beautiful epilogue that was my favorite kind.

This was a fun one! This was my first book by this author and I was totally entertained from start to finish. I really liked Stella, she’s such a badass and Dane was just killing me! First his ego was pretty out there, but that man was cracking me up. Stella is a saint for putting up with that man. Those two had some wicked banter and great chemistry together. It really is a great story and I will definitely check out other books by this author!

I liked this one a lot overall! Stella and Dane were great main characters. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy in exchange for a honest review. I’m giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

The plot of this one was really interesting, especially since I haven’t read any stories like this before, I don’t think. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I wish I would have noticed this was a spin off of another series before reading, but thankfully there wasn’t that much spoilery stuff on the old couples. We only saw them a couple times.

I also liked a lot of the secondary characters: Dane’s dad Bill, Stella’s mom Mercedes, Delia, etc. The dialogue was pretty realistic, and I found myself laughing quite a bit while reading. This is an ARC, so hopefully a lot of the typos I saw are gone in the finished copy. That took me a little out of the happy place I was in while reading, because it trips my brain up, and I have to try not to focus on them.

This one is definitely a slower burn romance, so I think a lot of people will appreciate that. There’s a bigger focus on those two getting to know each other, and becoming friends. I can’t wait to read something else by this author!

Unfortunately the book was not for me, no review was publicly posted on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads or Twitter etc, so no ratings were affected in relation to it.

I struggled to connect with the H/h and it just took too long to get going.

4.5 Men Want Them Too Stars
* * * *1/2 Spoiler Free
It is a common thread... and realistic one of Women's Biological Clock ticking Away. Women have all the working parts but unfortunately... if we wait too long... we may not be able to bear a child. Now men don't have that physical problem...at least it doesn't seem as limiting... those little sperm are able to make things happen...as long as they are able to get next to their target.

But Men's desire to have children of their own hasn't been put on the forefront when these types of discussions take place. It is usually the woman who will go to any length to become a mom. In P. Dangelico's Baby Maker, we are introduced to two people who have the burning need to be bio parents. Each wants it just as much as the other... and the best...

Neither want to be married and traditional. The woman has been soured on marriage by seeing what it did to her mom. The guy was burned first by his mom and how she treated his wonderful dad and then by an ex. Yet both want to parent... and not singularly... as joint parents with equal time and responsibilities to the child... just not the chains of a spouse.

Stella Donovan was raised with a mother's love but in poverty. Her mother worked multiple jobs and did what ever she could to keep her kids feed and safe. The father was someone who would disappear on the road and then just finally did not come home. Stella's mother was a straight talker and when Stella asked her why they didn't have a house like the people on TV... she told Stella they were educated people and if she wanted a home like that... she needed to be educated too.

Stella heard her... and decided then and there she was going to become educated and to become a person who would be able to have whatever she wanted. Stella worked hard in school, college and when graduated, Goldman Sachs snapped her up. She was a hard worker, showed all who were watching how she was able to "keep up" with the big boys and her career was launched as a hedge fund manager. This was her means to the end she wanted. She was talented and was the best at her job.... and it paid the big bucks.

At 34 she was on track to have it all. But then something happen which caused her to re-evaluate. Time was fleeting and her clock was set off and ticking louder every day.

Dane Wylder is a man who had it all and now on the brink of figuring out what is next. He is a future Hall of Famer... as one of the best Tight Ends in the NFL. He has the looks, moves and more charm then should be legal. His Rep is that he has been with way too many women...and he hasn't stopped anyone from thinking that. He has No Desire for the women who see him as a marriage target.

What he has had a desire for though, is a child.
Someone to have the same type of experiences he had with his dad... They have a ranch and while as a kid, his father would take him around and talk with him. Those memories to this day bring Dane warm feelings every time. He wants to be able to do all of that with a son or daughter of his own.... He just does not want to deal with a marriage to a woman who will leave him like his dad.

These two end up crossing paths through a shared dear friend. Both of them shared with this friend how they wanted children, parenting but no marriage. A meeting is arranged and what a meeting they have...

Stella is button-downed and serious; she has had to be in the financial world she lives in...As she waits for Dane who is late, by the way...she sees a commotion of women, moving toward a man coming towards the location. There is almost a frenzy happening with women and then men wanting to touch and talk with this guy. He is laughing and chatting and not looking like he has any place to be...

Well, Stella starts to get her things from the table to leave as she is not playing ... she was here for something real and this guy doesn't seem to understand this. Dane looks her way and comes and sits down. Right away he smiles his perfect smile and does his southern charm thing to smooth things over... and Stella wasn't having it. If fact, it is turning her off to Dane, which normally doesn't happen.

After a legitimate time, Stella gets up and says thank you but no thank you. Dane is not having it. He is not getting why she would turn him down. He has great genes... has his own money and is a great guy... what's not to like.

Well, fine...he will just have to show her he is the perfect candidate and when Dane decides to put his mind to something... he got it done.

This tale had it all. These two were the perfect push/pull together. What I LOVED was how all of it came about, the process and how these two had to listen and work through all of the barriers they had. When they were finally in the right place to be together... wow weeeeeeeee

Dane, you were the man... and Stella ... I am so happy you figured it all out. This Baby Maker was just the best and I want more stories from P. Dangelico...because she knows how to take an idea and make it sing.

A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

I absolutely fell in love with Stella and Dane. I loved their honesty, their communication and their friendship. This is not a book of insta-love and although there is an instant and oh so yummy attraction between them right from the start, this isn’t insta-lust either. Which is why I think I had such an awesome time reading their love story.

This had humor and emotion that kept me engaged and revealed layers for both Stella and Dane that made me love them all the more. The side characters only enhanced their chemistry and built on their strong foundation. I think the part I enjoyed the most was that their journey from (unconventional) business partners to friends to lovers to family was real and there was no drama for the sake of drama. I loved the plot, I loved the slow build romance and when things get hot, it’s combustible!

What I loved about it:
The fact that these two don’t immediately jump into bed together. They get to know each other and develop honesty, respect and friendship between them. I mean they stick to IVF to make their baby and I loved how happy/excited they were about the whole process! There is no hanky panky to muddy the waters and I found that refreshing. They both fought their physcial cravings and valued their friendship and their child enough to tread with ultimate caution when it came to their attraction.

You don’t see that very much (if at all) in romance and it fit both Dane and Stella’s characters to a tee. They were both people that had lived through rough situations in their childhood that formed them in similar ways. It was that emotional backdrop that made them a perfect fit for each other.

Things aren’t smooth sailing by any means for them. It does take a bit of work on both sides for Stella and Dane to let their guard down and for that epic friendship/love to grow but even their knee jerk reactions and fears flesh them out and emphasizes their emotional growth throughout their story.

**My thanks to NetGalley and the author, for providing me with a free copy for an honest review**

I really liked this book. It has plenty of LOL moments and you could just tell that this was going to a bit of a rough ride to a happy ever after couple.

Stella is a very strong woman who knows what she wants, what she likes and is very independent. After her mother struggling to raise enough money to raise her and her twin brother with an absentee father, she knows she will never get married and has a thing about spending little and earning well. However she wants a child.

Dane is a retired NFL player and after having a absentee mother has decided that he will play the field and harbours no illusions about getting married. However he wants a child.

After meeting through a mutual friend our couple have quite a few hurdles to get over, along with outside forces pushing them together, along with annoying feelings that seem to get in the way.

The chemistry between the two is great, it is a slow burn and you can't help but be happy when they FINALLY get together and go for gold.

I may well look for more books by this author.

Normally I'm a fan of this authors work, but this time this book was a total miss for me. I found it boring, no real anything, to keep my interest, and found myself skipping chapters at a time to try to get into it. Will still continue to read her books, but this one wasn't for me

This book was pure perfection. The slow burn and tension between Stella and Dane is through the roof. I loved them together from their first meeting and the chemistry gets better and better until it reaches a boiling point. The character progression was perfect and logical. I could totally see this happening in real life. The dialogue was witty and flowed well. I seriously could not put this book down. To me this book read like a movie and I couldn't get enough from beginning to end. Such a satisfying read!!

ARC provided by NetGalley.