I was in a mood for a baby romance and I found this one in my kindle. I was granted a copy of the book via NetGalley but didn’t get around on reading it until now. It may be a little early for holiday books, but it was a nice change!

Sofie is trying to find her footing as a soon-to-be single mother, all while changing her life to escape her ex-husband’s controlling behavior. Dan never thought that while trying to flee Fly Creek, will stumble against a very pregnant Sofie and help her. From then on, they slowly started getting to know each other a little and becoming friends.

Dan is such a sweet guy and so considerate. Sofie was really frustrating at times with the whole “I want to do everything on my own”. I get that her ex-husband really did a number on her, but Dan and everyone in town was so good to her.

If you are looking for a sweet baby romance with a splash of Christmas spirit to get you in the holiday mood, then this one might be for you!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Entangled Publishing via NetGalley and I also purchased a copy.

I love Dan. He is the quintessential cowboy. He is a fixer and a rescuer. His big strong arms rescue Sophie as he is leaving town just as she is arriving. Sophie is Emily's sister and is running to Fly Creek after divorcing her controlling husband. She is 8 months pregnant and determined to go it alone. Emily has to leave town when her husband is hurt and asks Dan to look after her sister. Well his escape is further delayed so "Dependable Dan" to save the day again.

The road to Dan and Sophie's HEA was full of road-blocks and potholes. There were times when I had an extremely hard time understanding Sophie. Dan is such a wonderful character and I couldn't wait to read his story. This story was written in a dual POV format. Usually this helps me to understand the character a great deal but I still felt a disconnect to Sophie. I feel this maybe because I never have gone through the situation that the character had.

While you don't have to read the prior stories to enjoy this one, I would highly recommend it. It gives a rich history to the characters and Dan's story. I was intrigued by this story and was sad to see it end. I REALLY hope that Levi gets a story (maybe with Becky?) to really complete the Fly Creek series. This town takes care of it's own and these two need it I feel.

This is a charming story that anyone could read. I totally recommend it.

Beautiful story.

Even though this book is the 3rd one in the Fly Creek series, you can rest assured that it stands on its own. In other words, you don't need to read the previous ones to understand and enjoy Sofie and Dan's journey. Or, if you have read the previous ones, in this last installment you will see beloved characters from the series.

Sofie has just divorced a controlling man that took away her choices in life. Pregnant, with a huge belly, she runs to her little sister who is now living in Fly Creek. What she doesn't expect is to find love again so soon after everything that happens. The problem is that she doesn't know how to balance her need to make her own choices and fend for herself, and the needs of the cowboy she's falling for.

Dan is a resident of Fly Creek that's trying to run away before he gets resentful and hurt the people that has done so much for him. He wasn't expecting the pregnant angel that banged on his truck window when he was waiting for a herd of cows to move across the road. He sure as hell wasn't expecting to fall for Sofie but their individual needs clash. Could they make it work?

I really love a good romance with characters that have a story of their own. I especially love when the woman is resentful for something a man did in her past and now she thinks all men are evil or something. In this case, I wish she had a little more sense of maturity or maybe paid attention to the signs a little bit more. It's not all Sofie's fault, Dan could have done with a little more attention to the real verbal information he was given.

The climax of the story was a little silly for me. I won't talk details because I don't want to spoil anyone that hasn't read it but for me, in particular, it wasn't a "lack of communication" problem, like it usually is, it was a lack of a proper "listening to the other person" problem.

The whole book was sweet and funny. I also loved the inclusion of the townspeople and the meddling of Dan's mom and other people in their lives. I would totally recommend this book for those that love a good cowboy romance, pregnant lady falling in love again and a small town when everybody is in each others business.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book provided by Netgalley. The opinions expressed are my own.

I am a huge sucker for babies, Christmas and romance. And this book had all 3 in the best possible way in this story!

I was wondering why a gave such a low rating to the book and then I remembered that I didn't like the heroine at all. She was in a very controlling relationship and now the only thing she sees is people who are trying to control her. Honestly, I couldn't relate to her and I had a huge problem with her. Dan would cut her an apple and she would be like "you are trying to control when and what I eat", which was tiring and frustrating after half of the book had passed. Dan could have done better, but his self-esteem was too low for him to try and do that. He was only trying to do the best for her and the baby and she didn't deserve him, not even a little bit. You have a man who is taking care of you despite not knowing you and doing everything in his power to help you and treat him like dirt? That's a huge no from me and a recommendation to not read this book.

Sofie is traveling to Wyoming to surprise her sister. She has legally escaped, eight months pregnant, her controlling, abusive husband. As luck would have it, she ends up stranded. Dan is always Mr. Dependable, always second choice. He has decided to break out of town and start over. He wants to be wanted and not needed just because he can be counted on to do the right thing. In the middle of the night he starts his journey to find a beautiful pregnant angel stranded on the road. There is just something about her that intrigues him. When he finds out that she is the sister of one of his good friends, dependable Dan drives her to her sister. Their attraction is strong. When Sofie's sister has to leave for a few days she has Dan keep watch over her. The more time they spend together the more he finds her intriguing. Once he learns her story, can he listen to his heart and find his own happiness in Wyoming? We should all be so lucky as to find a "Dan" of our own. Great read!

Sofie Pennington had left her controlling ex-husband to drive cross country to Fly Creek, Wyoming for the comfort of her sister, Emily. Sofie was eight months pregnant and trying to start over in a new place to get ready for the birth of her son. Her final progress was stopped by a herd of cows in the middle of the night. On the other side of the cows, was a truck with a cowboy headed in the opposite direction, running away from his life, too.

Dan Rigby is known as Dependable Dan and he is tired of that reference. When Sophie's sister had to leave town unexpectedly, Dan was assigned to be her tour guide. He just wants someone to love him and allow him to take care of them. Sofie is determined to be independent but the more time she spends with Dan, the more she likes him and sees what a wonderful man he is. Is it possible for these two to quit running away long enough to trust one another? Will they each get their happy ever after?

This book was an enjoyable read and I hadn't had the pleasure of reading work by this author before now. The characters were flawed and wonderful. I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my review.

This book is hard for me to review because I don’t know where I stand on the whole thing. So I will write my review and hopefully by the end will have a star or stars for you. The book opens with Sofie Pennington eight months pregnant and driving across country after she divorced her husband. Her plan is to go where her sister lives in Big Sky Wyoming. The problem is she has not told her that she is coming, or that she is divorced, and let’s see oh yeah that she is eight months pregnant, Bow Chicka Bow Bow. So at three o’clock in the morning in the snow she is stuck on the road because of a herd of cattle. Now we are introduced to Dan Rigby who feels like he is dependable Dan and cannot say know to the people around him, nice Dan will do it. So there he is asleep in his truck or trying when the starts to walk away after being frustrated with because he cannot move the beasts when she slips and falls. Now worried for her he takes her to his truck and back to town to the hospital to get checked out. She’s upset with him for doing that and for most of the rest of the story it goes like that. She takes whatever he does for her as it is telling her that she cannot do it herself instead of someone being kind or helpful. Because of her ex she has taken out all of her frustration out on him and when Dan does finally leaves now she does not want him to be gone, but he did it for himself as much for her. He does come back because it is a Christmas story but you will have to read it to see how everything turns out. There is also a nice touch by the owner of the ranch doing something for him that really makes this ending very good and brings everything together. So yes I did like it and would say four stars give it a read.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. I loved that two people met at the most unlikely circumstances and yet both were going to the opposite thing. I was excited to see the relationship form between the two main characters. Also that the baby would be getting a family.

The Cowboy's Christmas Baby was the first book I've read by Jennifer Hoopes. I was given an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. The premise of the book interested me and seemed promising after reading the description. Unfortunately I just couldn't connect with the characters in the story.

After divorcing her controlling and manipulative husband, Sofie Pennington decides to move away from his influence and goes to visit her sister in Fly Creek. However, she doesn't tell her sister she's coming - or that she's eight months pregnant! En route she's stopped by a herd of cattle and rescued by a handsome cowboy, Dan Rigby, who was travelling in the opposite direction. He's secretly endeavouring to leave the community where he was brought up and where everyone knows him to be so reliable that his nickname is Dependable Dan. He wants to be more than dependable but isn't sure he can find himself and what he really wants whilst remaining there. However, he can't abandon Sofie, so gives up on his escape plan and takes her to her sister, wondering as he does so how he can be so attracted to such a very pregnant lady he's only just met!

I have mixed feelings about this one, mainly because of the heroine. Having escaped such an emotionally abusive relationship, Sofie is determined not to be controlled again and takes being independent very seriously, even when it isn't appropriate. She assumes anyone who tries to help her is trying to control her and is actually quite nasty to others - at times I really didn't like her. She seemed determined to tar everyone with the same brush as her ex-husband and not to want to see the good in them. Dan is so patient and caring, totally dependable - and she's horrible to him, too, and he definitely doesn't deserve it - he needs a medal for sticking by her IMHO! It does get resolved nicely and at no stage did I consider not finishing it but it isn't my favourite book by this author though others may well love it, so give it a go and see what you think!

I requested and was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley and this review is my honest opinion after choosing to read it.

This was the third in the series and this time we have two people on opposite journeys. Our gal is coming into the small town to visit her sister and surprise her...as she is 8 months pregnant. Only the roads and weather are not in her favor... and she ends up crossing paths with our guy... who is desperate to leave this small town.

So there you have it... both on different paths, yet they seem to be stuck with each other. It takes a minute... but eventually, things work out.

A sweet, solid, of occasionally frustrating read. The characters were likable enough, but I found myself more than a little frustrated with Sofie in the face of her ingratitude.

The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby is the third story in the Fly Creek series. And although I’ll always suggest trying to read a series in order, in this case there is an unresolved situation in Her Cowboy’s Homecoming Surprise that does affect Dan’s early actions in his story. It’s certainly not a deal breaker, and you will still find a good story, just that somethings might be better understood if you’ve read the previous story… in my opinion.

In a character driven series there are times when the characters themselves decide for me if I’m enjoying their story. That was certainly true for The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby. Both Dan and Sofie had some issues. And you will discover what those are during the course of this story. Yet their actions or reactions changed this story from what I was expecting to simply a good story. I believe that Sofie was over the top rude and dismissive in her need to feel independent and in control of her destiny. Every single time I started to warm up to her, she did or said something so rude or mean spirited that I eventually gave up on loving that character. I “get” where she was coming from. I simply don’t feel she had to be portrayed as such a rude witch to get that point across. Every reader puts their own spin on the words coming out of a character’s mouth… but I could not care for or about Sofie… at all. Unfortunately, my impression of Sofie did have an effect on how much I enjoyed this story.

For me, The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby was a good story and got a 3.5 star rating. I will round that up to a 4 star when posting on other sites since no one has that half star system. Don’t misunderstand, this is a good story at the core of it – one character changed how I felt about the story. It happens sometimes, and all I can do is accept the story as it was written and react accordingly.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

I loved how this book began--Sofie's middle of the night arrival at Fly Creek delayed by slow-moving cows was definitely unique, and made me smile. She's left her disastrous marriage behind her and is determined to do things on her own from now on (though this is kind of undermined by the fact that she's making a surprise move to the small Montana town where her sister now lives, isn't it? If she really didn't want any help from anyone, wouldn't she move somewhere where she knows no one instead? But I digress...) She meets Dan before she even gets into town--he was sneaking out of town, intending to leave for good but also runs into (not literally, thank goodness!) the cattle road block, and ends up deciding to stay. Sofie, of course, ends up playing a pretty big role in that decision...

Their relationship develops fairly quickly--it is a bit insta-love-ish--and most of the obstacles in the way of them really being together are caused by Sofie's "I'm going to do it on my own" 'tude and the hangups she still has from her marriage. I couldn't help but feel that her actions often didn't match up with her words--if she was really determined to do it all herself, then why wasn't getting things ready for her baby's arrival her #1 concern when she got to town? Two weeks before her due date she still didn't have anything at all--for a first time mom who's anticipating the birth happily, this just didn't make sense to me.

So, yeah, Sofie wasn't always my favorite character. Dan was better, though I couldn't help but feel if he had just talked to the people who cared about him a little more often about what he perceived as their treatment of him made him feel, 95% of his hangups would have gone away...in other words, there was a lot of exasperated hmphf-ing going on over here while I read parts of this book. Still, it did keep me turning the pages, waiting for them to figure out how to get to an HEA. The epilogue was very sweet, and I closed the book the same way I started--with a smile.

The Cowboy's Christmas Baby is a feel-good holiday read with a fun start and a sweet ending, even if the middle part is sometimes problematic.

I haven't read any of the previous books in this series, but that didn't effect my enjoyment of this one--it worked just fine as a standalone.

Rating: 3 stars / C+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Hello everyone! It’s review time again! I’m reviewing The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby by Jennifer Hoopes.
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I got this book as an arc from @netgalley and @entangled_publishing so thank you to both of them for providing this arc to me for my honest review.
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Briefly, this book is about Sofie, a woman trying to start a new life in a new town with her unborn son, and Dan, a man who is trying to run away from that town to figure out himself. These two end up stuck on a road because of a herd of cows (is that the right term).
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This book was a really quick and mindless read. With this book being a little less that 200 pages long, it could be read in one sitting. It’s exactly what you would expect and need from a romance.
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The issues that I had with it really started after 75%. I was enjoying the story up to that point. But something changed and I just started hating Sofie. I couldn’t stand her attitude. I tried to reason and tell myself that she was acting that way for a reason, but it just frustrated me.
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Overall, I’d give this book 3-3.5 stars. It is already out so make sure to go check it out! Especially if you’re looking for a nice Christmas-y read!

Love this author's work. Perfect holiday read and highly suggest it to anyone who loves small town romance.

I thought that this was a pretty good book. I liked the characters and how the story played out. I just wished that there was more to this book to make it different from the many contemporary romances out there with a similar situation. I liked Dan's character he was such a sweetheart, he tried to do what he could for her and was so well meaning but that Sofie had dealt with in her last relationship she just wasn't ready she kept pushing him away at certain points when he was really just well meaning. This was a okay maybe even good book I don't think it was for me.

3 out of 5 stars

This story is good, but I think it is a little too formulaic - girl gets hurt then hurts guy because she’ll never trust another guy then realizes her mistake and begs forgiveness. Dan was a super nice guy and I couldn’t understand why Sofie wouldn’t just go with it. It drove me crazy the WHOLE book that she was so hesitant to just accept that he was a good guy, but she nearly broke me when she broke him.

This is the first book for me by this author and the first one I’ve read in the series. I didn’t have any trouble with the storyline having not read anything else, but it would have probably aided in places had I known all the histories. I have a soft spot for books about babies and pregnant women so I couldn’t wait to read this one...since it’s also a holiday book! It wasn’t a total disappoint, but not my favorite.



*** I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ***

The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby is the third and final book in Jennifer Hoopes’s Fly Creek series. I love this series. However, when it comes to this story, my feelings are all over the place. One of my issues is that I didn’t realize The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby and The Cowboy’s Homecoming Surprise overlapped at certain times. I kept expecting one important conversation between two characters to take place, but it never did. More on that to come.

Dan Rigby has lived in Fly Creek, Wyoming his entire life. When he was younger and found himself in a tough situation, it was Shelby and Mitchum Marks who took him in. They welcomed him into their home at Sky Lake Dude Ranch and treated him like a son. But unbeknownst to everyone, Dan never felt like he belonged. Things came to a head for Dan when Ryder Marks, Shelby and Mitchum’s biological son returned in The Cowboy’s Homecoming Surprise, after a ten year absence. At that point, Dan pretty much felt as if he was just simply “Dependable Dan”. He was “the tagalong son and friend, the man good enough for now, but never enough.” Thus, Dan felt the only solution to his problems was to leave Fly Creek. And so in the middle of the night, Dan makes his escape, only to run into a herd of cows and an intriguing, very pregnant woman.

Sofie Pennington is mad and determined. She’s mad at herself for marrying an up and coming politician who thought image was everything. She’s mad at herself for allowing her now ex-husband to take away her control and make decisions for her. Now eight months pregnant, Sofie has decided to take back control of her life. She’s determined to make her own choices and raise her son on her own, the way she sees fit. Thus, Sofie now finds herself driving cross-country to Fly Creek to surprise her younger sister Emily and start a new life. What she doesn’t expect, is to find the only road leading to Fly Creek blocked by a herd of cows.

To say Sofie and Dan’s first meeting was memorable would be an understatement. Who can forget a woman banging on your truck window, demanding you do something to move cows from the road? And that right there is where I started to have issues with the story. Sofie immediately comes off as being rude and demanding. Throughout the story, just when I was starting to like her, something would set her off and she would return to her rude and ungrateful self. While I completely understand why Sofie wants to make her own choices and do things herself, I just feel there was a better way for her to express herself. Dan is why I continued to read the story. From past books, I know him to be a man with a good heart. I really wanted to see him get his own happy ending. I just wish he didn’t have to be on the receiving end of Sofie’s verbal attacks.

Despite having a difficult to like at times heroine, I enjoyed The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby. Jennifer has written some tender moments. She’s even added in some laughs. I love that she’s left the door open for a possible fourth book, with a hero I would love to read more about. I just wish that there was more of Ryder Marks in this story. As I said before, I didn’t realize The Cowboy’s Homecoming Surprise and this story overlapped. I truly believe that if Ryder and Dan had had their much needed conversation about the past, that Dan would have been in a better place.

The Cowboy’s Christmas Baby is a standalone read. If you can get past Sofie standing in her own way of finding happiness and contentment, you will be treated to a very nice story of a family coming together.