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Blue Falls, Texas #2
Having the Cowboy's Baby
A New Plan. Skyler Harrington is a planner. After the tumult of her childhood, she's built a life for herself in Blue Falls, Texas, that's comfortable, predictable, safe. The last thing she needs is to go gaga over a rodeo cowboy. It felt great to let her hair down with sexy Logan Bradshaw, but she'll be happy if their paths never cross again.
A surprise pregnancy is something neither expected. Skyler has no intention of letting her baby grow up the way she did, with an unreliable father. She's willing to raise their child alone, but Logan is determined to prove there's more to him than being a devil-may-care risk taker. He's daddy material!
A surprise pregnancy is something neither expected. Skyler has no intention of letting her baby grow up the way she did, with an unreliable father. She's willing to raise their child alone, but Logan is determined to prove there's more to him than being a devil-may-care risk taker. He's daddy material!
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 2013
About the author
Trish Milburn
118 books259 followersTrish Milburn is the author of more than 60 romance and young adult novels, a huge fan of Asian dramas and K-pop music, prefers Marvel over D.C. (except Wonder Woman is awesome), and loves road trips and visiting national and state parks, enjoys the treasure hunt of thrifting, and of course is an avid reader with a never-ending to-be-read pile.
Learn more about Trish on her website, www.trishmilburn.com -- where you'll also find links to her social media.
Have a question? Be sure to check out the Goodreads option to ask about my books, K-pop, K-dramas, or writing.
Learn more about Trish on her website, www.trishmilburn.com -- where you'll also find links to her social media.
Have a question? Be sure to check out the Goodreads option to ask about my books, K-pop, K-dramas, or writing.
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February 15, 2019
Why did it bother her so much?
Because she wasn't one to give even her body so easily. She'd lost control, and if there was one thing she couldn't bear, it was to not be in control of her own life. pg. 52
Okay, I have a lot to say about this book.
PREMISE
Skyler is very rigid and scheduled. Her "friends" want her to loosen up so they push her together with Logan. Logan is a bull rider who is passing through town with the rodeo. He is a sleaze. They have a one-night stand in which they have safe sex twice. She leaves him alone to wake up in a cold bed. He tries to convince her to keep having sex with him for the week he is in town. She refuses. He leaves. She discovers she is pregnant. She doesn't tell him, but he reappears after a month looking for more good times. She tells him. He is upset.
ANALYSIS
1.) I sympathize with Skyler and even agree with Milburn's main thrust.
Skyler is a sympathetic character to me. She is rigid and controlled, but also lonely. She's always on time, she's always dieting. She scraps off all the toppings on her nachos, eats salad and apple slices for main meals, and skips meals. She constantly worries about being fat and becoming fat.
When she tells her friends that she will allow them to choose anything she wants for her birthday, and ends up unwillingly skydiving with Logan, she tries to have fun and fight her need for control.
She still couldn't believe she'd kissed Logan, someone she'd met only hours ago...
...
For a crazy moment, she'd wished she was the type of carefree person who could indulge her yearnings without thinking it to death. pg. 36
Was she being totally nuts, walking off into the night with a stranger without telling anyone where she was going? But it was as if a part of her that never revealed itself was in charge, telling her to enjoy the moment, the feel of his strong hand wrapped around hers, the high of having a good-looking man showing interest in her. ...
...She had a good life, one she enjoyed, but this type of excitement never made an appearance in her safe, ordered life. She'd never known she yearned for it. Part of her still believed none of this could be real, that she had to be dreaming. pg. 37
When Logan joined her, he sat close enough to put his arm around her. Part of her told her to shift away, but that was the part that was always careful. Though she couldn't explain it, tonight she wanted to pretend she was someone else, someone who wasn't so wrapped up in the "right" way to do everything. pg. 39
For a long moment, she said nothing, just stared at the sidewalk while an argument took place in her head. Her normal, sensible self said her day had been filled with enough excitement already and it was time to return to real life. But an increasingly loud voice told her that it felt good to really live, that it was still her birthday and she should enjoy it to the fullest. pg. 42
The part of her that had led her here, the part that likely wouldn't exist outside this room, whispered that she'd done nothing wrong. That she deserved to enjoy herself. to revel in the feel of a man's body pressed close to hers. pg. 50
Milburn's basic premise is a classic one in romance: a man with a good, hard dick, a kind temperament, and skilled hands 'loosens' up an uptight woman and allows her to have some fun with his magical sexual powers. Like this:
He didn't think he was the world's best catch or anything, but he liked to have a good time. And if anyone was in dire need of a good time, it was uptight Skyler Harrington. It had taken him only one look at the gorgeous redhead to know he wanted to be the man to get her to loosen up a little and enjoy herself. pg. 23
Unfortunately for everyone involved, Logan isn't that good in bed. He's not BAD, but he's not amazing either, and I really believe Skyler deserves some truly stellar fucking. She's not going to find it here. Sad. I really don't have a problem with Milburn's premise - I enjoy the trope of an easygoing, kind man showing up and helping a woman loosen up a little. But Logan was not that man. He's not particularly kind or easygoing and he's not particularly amazing in bed.
Milburn also does a great job of emphasizing Skyler's loneliness.
She imagined him buying an ice-cream cone for a woman in every rodeo town he rolled into. Tears pooled in her eyes, and that made her even angrier. But she wasn't angry at Logan. He hadn't claimed to be anything he wasn't. No, she was angry at herself. She'd let her body trump the orderly, precise thought process that had gotten her through years of upheaval and allowed her to become a successful businesswoman. pg. 52
Except that she was alone. She tried to tell herself that she was perfectly fine on her own, that she preferred it that way. But as a tear finally leaked out and trailed down her pillow, she admitted that she was lonely. Logan wasn't to blame for what happened between them. Her friends weren't either. It was the loneliness that most of the time she could convince herself was a figment of her imagination, the empty feeling that she rarely acknowledged. But as she lay in her bed alone, she let herself feel it. She let herself admit, if only to herself in the privacy of her own mind, that she missed the warmth of a man's body next to her.
As she closed her eyes, she allowed herself to relive every moment, every touch she'd shared with Logan. Moments and touches that had for a short while made her forget that loneliness. pg. 53
Very touching. I was really feeling Skyler.
Twice as sad is the fact that her one night of abandon after such a careful life results in an accidental pregnancy that she neither wanted nor planned for.
Let's discuss our hero.
2.) Our hero is pretty much a sleazoid. I hate to say it, but he is. There's a fine line between being a flirt and being a sleazoid and I'm afraid Logan crosses onto the wrong side of it.
He has a line for everything, which makes him come off as a huge skeezer.
The guy leaned in close and used a faux whisper to say, "Don't worry, beautiful. I promise you're safe with me." pg. 16
"You enjoyed it."
"How do you know that? You couldn't even see my face."
"I can tell when someone is enjoying herself." pg. 21
"What, you don't like cones?" Logan asked.
"No. I like to eat ice cream out of them but don't like the cones themselves. I know, weird quirk."
"We all have them."
"Oh, yeah? What's your quirk?"
..."I like redheads."
She laughed. "And blondes, and brunettes."
He got to his feet and walked towards her. When he stood less than an arm's length away, he reached around her to pitch his napkin. "But redheads who like blueberry ice cream most of all." pg. 40
Finding his way into her body again this morning would have been a great way to start the day. pg. 54
Ew, that is so disgusting.
"Listen, I don't want you to get the wrong idea because of last night. I'm not that kind of woman."
"What kind is that?"
"One who just jumps into bed with a stranger."
"I never said you were. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're the exact opposite of that."
Why did his words sting? Did he think she was as big of a fuddy-duddy as her friends did?
"So I was a challenge for you, then?"
"Yes."
Heat flooded her face. pg. 67
He shook his head at the image. His body might like that idea, but Skyler wasn't that kind of woman. She was classy, professional, not a buckle chaser who would do it anywhere, anytime. For the first time in his life, the fact that he'd had sex with more than one of those women made him uncomfortable. pg. 74
This quote from page 74 is just pure slut-shaming misogynistic trash. How DARE he talk about women who had sex with him this way?!?!!?
Look at him trying to talk her into going to bed with him again:
"Skyler, this doesn't have to be a big deal. We're both adults, ones with needs." pg. 91
Ugh, that is so vomitrocious. It's DISGUSTING when men say shit like this. "We're both adults." He's implying that only a childish person would choose not to sleep with him again. "We have needs." FUCK YOU. What a complete asshole.
3.) THE GOOD SIDE: REALISM
But one thing I have to hand it to Milburn on was her grasp of realism. Unexpected pregnancies are complicated for both the man and the woman and Milburn doesn't shy away from the hard conversations.
Skyler makes the incredibly difficult decision not to let Logan know he's fathered a child. Is that right? Wrong? She doesn't know and she debates it constantly.
"I'm finally getting used to the idea of, you know, doing this alone. Finally believing I can do this. I don't need some drifter mucking that up."
India leaned close. "He's is the father, hon. Don't you think he deserves to know?"
"Why, because I spent one night with him? I doubt the guy even has a permanent address. A child needs stability, not a dad who floats in and out of his life every time the wind blows." pg. 107
A small part of her wanted to tell him, to not have to go through this alone, to give him a chance to prove her fears wrong. But she'd had enough upheaval. She needed to do this her way, without someone else, someone who wasn't' going to be there all the time, having a say in how she raised her child. She was the responsible one. He was married to the road and adrenaline. She wouldn't have the child constantly looking out the window wondering when Daddy was going to come home. pg. 109
Milburn doesn't sugarcoat Logan or what he is. He sleeps around. When he leaves Skyler for a month after the one-night stand, although he thinks about her, he fucks other women.
And if he happened to cross paths with Skyler and she'd missed him so much that she jumped his bones? Well, that would be okay, too.
He'd thought about her more than once over the past month, and at the oddest times. Most frequently it was when he was about to fall asleep, but she'd been known to enter his head as he was driving down the road or when he was in a bar and a song reminded him of her. On a couple of occasions, he'd even turned down female advances, but he'd explained that away by telling himself he was just tired. He certainly couldn't be hung up on a woman he'd known only a handful of days. pg. 103
Bold choice on the part of Milburn.
When he finds out about her pregnancy, he reacts badly.
"Obviously, [the protection] failed."
Logan stood and took a couple of steps away. He took a deep breath before he turned back toward her. "What about you? Weren't you on the Pill?"
"No."
"Why the hell not?" pg. 118
While completely disgusting, this is a normal response from men. The idea that all sexually active women need to be on the Pill so that 'accidents don't happen' and so that they can be sexually available to men at all times without causing any inconvenience makes me see red. The Pill is serious and it can seriously fuck up your body. It's not for everyone, and it's a really personal and serious decision if a woman decides to get on it or not. It's not her fucking duty to fucking ingest drugs daily for your convenience, you fucking piece of shit. Get a FUCKING vasectomy if you are that serious about not having a child.
But it's realistic.
Milburn also covers another rare thing in romance novels - the fact that pregnancy is a burden on the heroine, WAY more than on the hero, and that the heroine didn't ask to be pregnant. Men act like it's this HUGE burden that you got pregnant with them - when they used protection and practiced safe sex - but can't ever seem to realize that children are WAY more of a burden on the woman, who carries the child, delivers it, and 9 times out of ten takes the sole or majority responsibility of caring for it and raising it up. It fucking sucks.
If he wants to, he can leave, not be part of the child's life, not ever see it, and just make child support payments if he wants to be in good standing with the law and IF she decides to press for it. SHE is going to have to fucking mother the child for the rest of her fucking life.
Don't bring up abortion, no American Romance heroine would ever consider abortion. Readers would be aghast.
Milburn doesn't make Logan suddenly turn into a mensch, either. He feels chained and burdened by Skyler's pregnancy.
Instead, it felt as if chains started wrapping themselves around his legs, tying him down, trapping him in a world not of his choosing. pg. 120
He sticks around for three weeks, giving Skyler hope that perhaps he will commit to being a father, but then leaves suddenly at two a.m. one night.
Skyler knows what he is, and she is afraid to trust him. With his track record, I can't blame her one bit.
"Logan, don't. I'm not the kind of girl you want."
"I don't know about that. I'd say I'm wanting you quite a bit right now."
"You want sex, and our one night together to the contrary, that's not what I'm looking for. I have roots here, a business, stability, and someday I want a husband and brothers and sisters for this baby." She placed her hand lovingly on her stomach. "I'm the exact thing you ran away from. The only reason you keep chasing me is because I keep saying no. If I were suddenly to say yes, it wouldn't take long before you realized I'm your worst nightmare, that I'm boring." pg. 151
Logan doesn't make any sudden or radical change. His slow, slow realization that maybe he can settle down and his eventual commitment to be a father to his child takes a long time. Although this doesn't make him very appealing, it's more realistic and well done on Milburn's end.
4.) I hate Skyler's "friends." They are horrible people who shove her into doing things she doesn't want and hooking her up with people she doesn't want. They matchmake and butt in and the disastrous result of all their meddling is that Skyler ends up pregnant by a man who wants nothing to do with being a father. Very, very sad. They also fat-shame her a lot, while she's pregnant. >.<
Actually, there is a noticeable amount of fat-shaming in this book, so if that bothers you (and it bothers me!), avoid it. It's pretty gross.
HOW'S THE SEX CARMEN?
Sigh. At the beginning of the book, I was looking forward to this trope being enacted. But then Logan turned out to be so sleazy. And then he took her to bed and turned in a (IMO) disappointing performance. I mean, he wasn't BAD in bed - I didn't see him engaging in any horrible activities that made me scold him. It was fine. But this whole set-up only works if the man really puts it down for the woman. The whole "he gets an uptight woman to loosen up and enjoy herself" thing only works if he is stellar in bed. Being just "fine" in bed doesn't cut it in this scenario. If she's going to fuck up her entire life for this guy, I want him to TURN HER OUT.
Seriously, and I'm being serious now, what is with authors making sexually promiscuous (and in historicals: rake) heroes and then NOT having them fuck the heroines' brains out? I mean, what is even THE POINT? There's no point in making a hero a sexually promiscuous character and going on and on about how many women he's slept with if you're not going to make him fuck exquisitely.
I mean, it's true - there are men who have lots of sex and never get any better at it, and the women who made the poor decision to sleep with him based on looks or whatever just lie there and wait for it to be over with a bored expression on their face - but this is a romance, goshdarn it. If you are going to put a 'rake' in a romance, please at least make him amazing in bed.
I can't tell you how many times this has disappointed me. It's very common, I'm sorry to say.
This has been a PSA from Carmen. Thanks.
TL;DR A mixed bag. It was disappointing that Logan came off as a sleazer. I didn't enjoy the fat-shaming or Skyler's meddling, pushy 'friends.' Milburn introduced a trope I like and then didn't execute it well.
On the plus side, there were some real and interesting conversations in here. Nothing was easy or fast. Everything was slow and hard, just like real life. I also thought Skyler was a pretty touching character. I really felt for her.
ROMANCE CATEGORIES:
Contemporary Romance
Cowboy/Western Romance
Non-Virgin Heroine - Although I have no idea who this woman had sex with.
He's a Rodeo Bull Rider. At the end of the novel he . She is an Innkeeper.
NAMES IN THIS BOOK
Because she wasn't one to give even her body so easily. She'd lost control, and if there was one thing she couldn't bear, it was to not be in control of her own life. pg. 52
Okay, I have a lot to say about this book.
PREMISE
Skyler is very rigid and scheduled. Her "friends" want her to loosen up so they push her together with Logan. Logan is a bull rider who is passing through town with the rodeo. He is a sleaze. They have a one-night stand in which they have safe sex twice. She leaves him alone to wake up in a cold bed. He tries to convince her to keep having sex with him for the week he is in town. She refuses. He leaves. She discovers she is pregnant. She doesn't tell him, but he reappears after a month looking for more good times. She tells him. He is upset.
ANALYSIS
1.) I sympathize with Skyler and even agree with Milburn's main thrust.
Skyler is a sympathetic character to me. She is rigid and controlled, but also lonely. She's always on time, she's always dieting. She scraps off all the toppings on her nachos, eats salad and apple slices for main meals, and skips meals. She constantly worries about being fat and becoming fat.
When she tells her friends that she will allow them to choose anything she wants for her birthday, and ends up unwillingly skydiving with Logan, she tries to have fun and fight her need for control.
She still couldn't believe she'd kissed Logan, someone she'd met only hours ago...
...
For a crazy moment, she'd wished she was the type of carefree person who could indulge her yearnings without thinking it to death. pg. 36
Was she being totally nuts, walking off into the night with a stranger without telling anyone where she was going? But it was as if a part of her that never revealed itself was in charge, telling her to enjoy the moment, the feel of his strong hand wrapped around hers, the high of having a good-looking man showing interest in her. ...
...She had a good life, one she enjoyed, but this type of excitement never made an appearance in her safe, ordered life. She'd never known she yearned for it. Part of her still believed none of this could be real, that she had to be dreaming. pg. 37
When Logan joined her, he sat close enough to put his arm around her. Part of her told her to shift away, but that was the part that was always careful. Though she couldn't explain it, tonight she wanted to pretend she was someone else, someone who wasn't so wrapped up in the "right" way to do everything. pg. 39
For a long moment, she said nothing, just stared at the sidewalk while an argument took place in her head. Her normal, sensible self said her day had been filled with enough excitement already and it was time to return to real life. But an increasingly loud voice told her that it felt good to really live, that it was still her birthday and she should enjoy it to the fullest. pg. 42
The part of her that had led her here, the part that likely wouldn't exist outside this room, whispered that she'd done nothing wrong. That she deserved to enjoy herself. to revel in the feel of a man's body pressed close to hers. pg. 50
Milburn's basic premise is a classic one in romance: a man with a good, hard dick, a kind temperament, and skilled hands 'loosens' up an uptight woman and allows her to have some fun with his magical sexual powers. Like this:
He didn't think he was the world's best catch or anything, but he liked to have a good time. And if anyone was in dire need of a good time, it was uptight Skyler Harrington. It had taken him only one look at the gorgeous redhead to know he wanted to be the man to get her to loosen up a little and enjoy herself. pg. 23
Unfortunately for everyone involved, Logan isn't that good in bed. He's not BAD, but he's not amazing either, and I really believe Skyler deserves some truly stellar fucking. She's not going to find it here. Sad. I really don't have a problem with Milburn's premise - I enjoy the trope of an easygoing, kind man showing up and helping a woman loosen up a little. But Logan was not that man. He's not particularly kind or easygoing and he's not particularly amazing in bed.
Milburn also does a great job of emphasizing Skyler's loneliness.
She imagined him buying an ice-cream cone for a woman in every rodeo town he rolled into. Tears pooled in her eyes, and that made her even angrier. But she wasn't angry at Logan. He hadn't claimed to be anything he wasn't. No, she was angry at herself. She'd let her body trump the orderly, precise thought process that had gotten her through years of upheaval and allowed her to become a successful businesswoman. pg. 52
Except that she was alone. She tried to tell herself that she was perfectly fine on her own, that she preferred it that way. But as a tear finally leaked out and trailed down her pillow, she admitted that she was lonely. Logan wasn't to blame for what happened between them. Her friends weren't either. It was the loneliness that most of the time she could convince herself was a figment of her imagination, the empty feeling that she rarely acknowledged. But as she lay in her bed alone, she let herself feel it. She let herself admit, if only to herself in the privacy of her own mind, that she missed the warmth of a man's body next to her.
As she closed her eyes, she allowed herself to relive every moment, every touch she'd shared with Logan. Moments and touches that had for a short while made her forget that loneliness. pg. 53
Very touching. I was really feeling Skyler.
Twice as sad is the fact that her one night of abandon after such a careful life results in an accidental pregnancy that she neither wanted nor planned for.
Let's discuss our hero.
2.) Our hero is pretty much a sleazoid. I hate to say it, but he is. There's a fine line between being a flirt and being a sleazoid and I'm afraid Logan crosses onto the wrong side of it.
He has a line for everything, which makes him come off as a huge skeezer.
The guy leaned in close and used a faux whisper to say, "Don't worry, beautiful. I promise you're safe with me." pg. 16
"You enjoyed it."
"How do you know that? You couldn't even see my face."
"I can tell when someone is enjoying herself." pg. 21
"What, you don't like cones?" Logan asked.
"No. I like to eat ice cream out of them but don't like the cones themselves. I know, weird quirk."
"We all have them."
"Oh, yeah? What's your quirk?"
..."I like redheads."
She laughed. "And blondes, and brunettes."
He got to his feet and walked towards her. When he stood less than an arm's length away, he reached around her to pitch his napkin. "But redheads who like blueberry ice cream most of all." pg. 40
Finding his way into her body again this morning would have been a great way to start the day. pg. 54
Ew, that is so disgusting.
"Listen, I don't want you to get the wrong idea because of last night. I'm not that kind of woman."
"What kind is that?"
"One who just jumps into bed with a stranger."
"I never said you were. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're the exact opposite of that."
Why did his words sting? Did he think she was as big of a fuddy-duddy as her friends did?
"So I was a challenge for you, then?"
"Yes."
Heat flooded her face. pg. 67
He shook his head at the image. His body might like that idea, but Skyler wasn't that kind of woman. She was classy, professional, not a buckle chaser who would do it anywhere, anytime. For the first time in his life, the fact that he'd had sex with more than one of those women made him uncomfortable. pg. 74
This quote from page 74 is just pure slut-shaming misogynistic trash. How DARE he talk about women who had sex with him this way?!?!!?
Look at him trying to talk her into going to bed with him again:
"Skyler, this doesn't have to be a big deal. We're both adults, ones with needs." pg. 91
Ugh, that is so vomitrocious. It's DISGUSTING when men say shit like this. "We're both adults." He's implying that only a childish person would choose not to sleep with him again. "We have needs." FUCK YOU. What a complete asshole.
3.) THE GOOD SIDE: REALISM
But one thing I have to hand it to Milburn on was her grasp of realism. Unexpected pregnancies are complicated for both the man and the woman and Milburn doesn't shy away from the hard conversations.
Skyler makes the incredibly difficult decision not to let Logan know he's fathered a child. Is that right? Wrong? She doesn't know and she debates it constantly.
"I'm finally getting used to the idea of, you know, doing this alone. Finally believing I can do this. I don't need some drifter mucking that up."
India leaned close. "He's is the father, hon. Don't you think he deserves to know?"
"Why, because I spent one night with him? I doubt the guy even has a permanent address. A child needs stability, not a dad who floats in and out of his life every time the wind blows." pg. 107
A small part of her wanted to tell him, to not have to go through this alone, to give him a chance to prove her fears wrong. But she'd had enough upheaval. She needed to do this her way, without someone else, someone who wasn't' going to be there all the time, having a say in how she raised her child. She was the responsible one. He was married to the road and adrenaline. She wouldn't have the child constantly looking out the window wondering when Daddy was going to come home. pg. 109
Milburn doesn't sugarcoat Logan or what he is. He sleeps around. When he leaves Skyler for a month after the one-night stand, although he thinks about her, he fucks other women.
And if he happened to cross paths with Skyler and she'd missed him so much that she jumped his bones? Well, that would be okay, too.
He'd thought about her more than once over the past month, and at the oddest times. Most frequently it was when he was about to fall asleep, but she'd been known to enter his head as he was driving down the road or when he was in a bar and a song reminded him of her. On a couple of occasions, he'd even turned down female advances, but he'd explained that away by telling himself he was just tired. He certainly couldn't be hung up on a woman he'd known only a handful of days. pg. 103
Bold choice on the part of Milburn.
When he finds out about her pregnancy, he reacts badly.
"Obviously, [the protection] failed."
Logan stood and took a couple of steps away. He took a deep breath before he turned back toward her. "What about you? Weren't you on the Pill?"
"No."
"Why the hell not?" pg. 118
While completely disgusting, this is a normal response from men. The idea that all sexually active women need to be on the Pill so that 'accidents don't happen' and so that they can be sexually available to men at all times without causing any inconvenience makes me see red. The Pill is serious and it can seriously fuck up your body. It's not for everyone, and it's a really personal and serious decision if a woman decides to get on it or not. It's not her fucking duty to fucking ingest drugs daily for your convenience, you fucking piece of shit. Get a FUCKING vasectomy if you are that serious about not having a child.
But it's realistic.
Milburn also covers another rare thing in romance novels - the fact that pregnancy is a burden on the heroine, WAY more than on the hero, and that the heroine didn't ask to be pregnant. Men act like it's this HUGE burden that you got pregnant with them - when they used protection and practiced safe sex - but can't ever seem to realize that children are WAY more of a burden on the woman, who carries the child, delivers it, and 9 times out of ten takes the sole or majority responsibility of caring for it and raising it up. It fucking sucks.
If he wants to, he can leave, not be part of the child's life, not ever see it, and just make child support payments if he wants to be in good standing with the law and IF she decides to press for it. SHE is going to have to fucking mother the child for the rest of her fucking life.
Don't bring up abortion, no American Romance heroine would ever consider abortion. Readers would be aghast.
Milburn doesn't make Logan suddenly turn into a mensch, either. He feels chained and burdened by Skyler's pregnancy.
Instead, it felt as if chains started wrapping themselves around his legs, tying him down, trapping him in a world not of his choosing. pg. 120
He sticks around for three weeks, giving Skyler hope that perhaps he will commit to being a father, but then leaves suddenly at two a.m. one night.
Skyler knows what he is, and she is afraid to trust him. With his track record, I can't blame her one bit.
"Logan, don't. I'm not the kind of girl you want."
"I don't know about that. I'd say I'm wanting you quite a bit right now."
"You want sex, and our one night together to the contrary, that's not what I'm looking for. I have roots here, a business, stability, and someday I want a husband and brothers and sisters for this baby." She placed her hand lovingly on her stomach. "I'm the exact thing you ran away from. The only reason you keep chasing me is because I keep saying no. If I were suddenly to say yes, it wouldn't take long before you realized I'm your worst nightmare, that I'm boring." pg. 151
Logan doesn't make any sudden or radical change. His slow, slow realization that maybe he can settle down and his eventual commitment to be a father to his child takes a long time. Although this doesn't make him very appealing, it's more realistic and well done on Milburn's end.
4.) I hate Skyler's "friends." They are horrible people who shove her into doing things she doesn't want and hooking her up with people she doesn't want. They matchmake and butt in and the disastrous result of all their meddling is that Skyler ends up pregnant by a man who wants nothing to do with being a father. Very, very sad. They also fat-shame her a lot, while she's pregnant. >.<
Actually, there is a noticeable amount of fat-shaming in this book, so if that bothers you (and it bothers me!), avoid it. It's pretty gross.
HOW'S THE SEX CARMEN?
Sigh. At the beginning of the book, I was looking forward to this trope being enacted. But then Logan turned out to be so sleazy. And then he took her to bed and turned in a (IMO) disappointing performance. I mean, he wasn't BAD in bed - I didn't see him engaging in any horrible activities that made me scold him. It was fine. But this whole set-up only works if the man really puts it down for the woman. The whole "he gets an uptight woman to loosen up and enjoy herself" thing only works if he is stellar in bed. Being just "fine" in bed doesn't cut it in this scenario. If she's going to fuck up her entire life for this guy, I want him to TURN HER OUT.
Seriously, and I'm being serious now, what is with authors making sexually promiscuous (and in historicals: rake) heroes and then NOT having them fuck the heroines' brains out? I mean, what is even THE POINT? There's no point in making a hero a sexually promiscuous character and going on and on about how many women he's slept with if you're not going to make him fuck exquisitely.
I mean, it's true - there are men who have lots of sex and never get any better at it, and the women who made the poor decision to sleep with him based on looks or whatever just lie there and wait for it to be over with a bored expression on their face - but this is a romance, goshdarn it. If you are going to put a 'rake' in a romance, please at least make him amazing in bed.
I can't tell you how many times this has disappointed me. It's very common, I'm sorry to say.
This has been a PSA from Carmen. Thanks.
TL;DR A mixed bag. It was disappointing that Logan came off as a sleazer. I didn't enjoy the fat-shaming or Skyler's meddling, pushy 'friends.' Milburn introduced a trope I like and then didn't execute it well.
On the plus side, there were some real and interesting conversations in here. Nothing was easy or fast. Everything was slow and hard, just like real life. I also thought Skyler was a pretty touching character. I really felt for her.
ROMANCE CATEGORIES:
Contemporary Romance
Cowboy/Western Romance
Non-Virgin Heroine - Although I have no idea who this woman had sex with.
He's a Rodeo Bull Rider. At the end of the novel he . She is an Innkeeper.
NAMES IN THIS BOOK
September 4, 2013
Good book. Skyler's friends think that her life is a little too boring, so for her thirtieth birthday they get her a session of skydiving. Filling in for his sick cousin, Logan is the one to take her up. The rodeo bull rider has a great time pushing her buttons and they end up spending one really hot night together. When Skyler ends up pregnant she's ready to be a single mother, not expecting footloose Logan to want any part of being a father. But Logan finds that his wanderlust has faded, if only he can convince Skyler.
Skyler keeps tight control over her life these days. When she was a kid her dad never seemed to be able to stick around for long, leaving her and her mother always wondering when he'd be back. When her friends push her into skydiving, the cowboy who takes her up is an accomplished flirt. She's attracted to him but intends to resist the temptation. When he shows up at her birthday celebration later those intentions go up in smoke after a superhot kiss. Deciding to take one night to live it up she gives in to the heat between them, but makes it clear that's the end of it. When she discovers she's pregnant she isn't sure at first whether to even tell him, figuring no father is better than an unreliable one. When she tells him he is stunned and not sure what to do. I liked the fact that Skyler didn't hide the news from Logan. I wasn't so happy with the way that she kept telling Logan she was sure that he wouldn't stay involved. Her experience with her father kept her with that negative attitude. As Logan stayed around she let herself dream a little but still kept that negative expectation in the back of her mind. She needed to separate her past from her future and give Logan a chance.
Logan was a footloose rodeo cowboy and liked it that way. He had grown up on an isolated ranch in North Dakota and couldn't wait to get away. When he met Skyler he was attracted to her right away. After their night together she stayed on his mind, even after he left Blue Falls. When he went back a few weeks later he was stunned to discover she was pregnant. His first reaction was to run, but he stayed around to get to know Skyler better. As he did he began to contemplate the idea of settling down, but it still didn't seem like something he could do. But the longer he stayed around and the closer he got to Skyler the more possible it seemed. I loved the work he did on her property to help her sell it. I really liked the emotional growth I saw in him especially when he went to see his parents. I really enjoyed his surprise for Skyler at the end and the decision he made about his future.
Skyler keeps tight control over her life these days. When she was a kid her dad never seemed to be able to stick around for long, leaving her and her mother always wondering when he'd be back. When her friends push her into skydiving, the cowboy who takes her up is an accomplished flirt. She's attracted to him but intends to resist the temptation. When he shows up at her birthday celebration later those intentions go up in smoke after a superhot kiss. Deciding to take one night to live it up she gives in to the heat between them, but makes it clear that's the end of it. When she discovers she's pregnant she isn't sure at first whether to even tell him, figuring no father is better than an unreliable one. When she tells him he is stunned and not sure what to do. I liked the fact that Skyler didn't hide the news from Logan. I wasn't so happy with the way that she kept telling Logan she was sure that he wouldn't stay involved. Her experience with her father kept her with that negative attitude. As Logan stayed around she let herself dream a little but still kept that negative expectation in the back of her mind. She needed to separate her past from her future and give Logan a chance.
Logan was a footloose rodeo cowboy and liked it that way. He had grown up on an isolated ranch in North Dakota and couldn't wait to get away. When he met Skyler he was attracted to her right away. After their night together she stayed on his mind, even after he left Blue Falls. When he went back a few weeks later he was stunned to discover she was pregnant. His first reaction was to run, but he stayed around to get to know Skyler better. As he did he began to contemplate the idea of settling down, but it still didn't seem like something he could do. But the longer he stayed around and the closer he got to Skyler the more possible it seemed. I loved the work he did on her property to help her sell it. I really liked the emotional growth I saw in him especially when he went to see his parents. I really enjoyed his surprise for Skyler at the end and the decision he made about his future.
January 29, 2024
I needed something happy and this delivered. Skyler and her reservations seemed very realistic and I did like that Logan left for a bit before having a change of heart.
December 17, 2014
After an unstable childhood, Skyler Harrington feels compelled to plan all aspects of her life down to the last detail. When her thirtieth birthday arrives, her friends all but trick her into a skydiving session as a surprise gift. Skydiving does not fit into her idea of an orderly, controlled life, and though at first she refuses, Skyler relents and agrees to participate.
Logan Bradshaw grew up on a ranch in rural North Dakota. The predictable pattern of his childhood drove him to leave and seek adventure by spending his life traveling and working the rodeo circuit. While the allure of being on the road is beginning to fade, the thought of settling in one place is not something he has contemplated.
Logan meets Skyler when he agrees to stand in for a sick cousin who was scheduled to take her out as a surprise. Though there is an undeniable attraction between the two, Skyler doesn’t expect she’ll be seeing the handsome cowboy again until he shows up that evening for her birthday party. Aware that Luke will be leaving with the rodeo which would preclude any romantic complications, Skyler decides to abandon her usual caution and spends an amorous night with Luke. The night of passion only serves to strengthen the attraction between the pair and afterward, neither can seem to forget the other.
Skyler ends up with more than just memories of her night with Logan when she discovers she is pregnant. Aware that Logan possesses the same wandering soul as her father, Skyler struggles with the decision of whether she should enlighten Logan of her condition. She doesn’t want him to stay and resent her and the baby, nor does she want her baby to have an absentee father like the one she had during her childhood.
When Skyler informs Logan she is pregnant, Logan is torn between his desire to settle down with Skyler, the woman who has captured his heart, and his insatiable need to keep moving. Skyler has to decide whether she can believe in Logan enough to trust him and give him an opportunity to prove her wrong. Both must decide whether that trust, if given, is misplaced.
This is the second of a series of books set in Blue Falls, Texas, by Ms. Milburn. It was a fast and easy read, as this particular Harlequin imprint generally is. I liked the characters and felt the emotions were well developed. I noted that some of the other reviewers didn’t buy the deviation in Skyler’s character (careful planner to one night stand). From personal observation, I have on occasion seen a few “control freaks” go wild when they chose to let their hair down. So the plot and characterization worked fine for me, though I can understand the skepticism.
Logan Bradshaw grew up on a ranch in rural North Dakota. The predictable pattern of his childhood drove him to leave and seek adventure by spending his life traveling and working the rodeo circuit. While the allure of being on the road is beginning to fade, the thought of settling in one place is not something he has contemplated.
Logan meets Skyler when he agrees to stand in for a sick cousin who was scheduled to take her out as a surprise. Though there is an undeniable attraction between the two, Skyler doesn’t expect she’ll be seeing the handsome cowboy again until he shows up that evening for her birthday party. Aware that Luke will be leaving with the rodeo which would preclude any romantic complications, Skyler decides to abandon her usual caution and spends an amorous night with Luke. The night of passion only serves to strengthen the attraction between the pair and afterward, neither can seem to forget the other.
Skyler ends up with more than just memories of her night with Logan when she discovers she is pregnant. Aware that Logan possesses the same wandering soul as her father, Skyler struggles with the decision of whether she should enlighten Logan of her condition. She doesn’t want him to stay and resent her and the baby, nor does she want her baby to have an absentee father like the one she had during her childhood.
When Skyler informs Logan she is pregnant, Logan is torn between his desire to settle down with Skyler, the woman who has captured his heart, and his insatiable need to keep moving. Skyler has to decide whether she can believe in Logan enough to trust him and give him an opportunity to prove her wrong. Both must decide whether that trust, if given, is misplaced.
This is the second of a series of books set in Blue Falls, Texas, by Ms. Milburn. It was a fast and easy read, as this particular Harlequin imprint generally is. I liked the characters and felt the emotions were well developed. I noted that some of the other reviewers didn’t buy the deviation in Skyler’s character (careful planner to one night stand). From personal observation, I have on occasion seen a few “control freaks” go wild when they chose to let their hair down. So the plot and characterization worked fine for me, though I can understand the skepticism.
October 21, 2013
In Having the Cowboy’s Baby by Trish Milburn, Skyler Harrington is a planner, she plans up to the last detail in her life in minute detail from one minute to the next, which is the only way that she is comfortable. After the tumult of her childhood she needs predictable and safe, it is only understandable, but she takes things to an extreme. But when her friends decide to plan something special and different for her 30th birthday, she knows that things will not be either safe or predictable.
Logan Bradshaw likes living life on the edge. He likes the rush and adrenaline that riding a bull and jumping off a plane give him. So when he is asked to jump off a plane with a newbie in place of his cousin, he doesn’t mind. What he doesn’t expect is the redhead with an air of distrust, uncertainty and disapproval. A challenge he cannot wait to meet by making her enjoy the jump no matter how much she says that she will not. Read More...
Logan Bradshaw likes living life on the edge. He likes the rush and adrenaline that riding a bull and jumping off a plane give him. So when he is asked to jump off a plane with a newbie in place of his cousin, he doesn’t mind. What he doesn’t expect is the redhead with an air of distrust, uncertainty and disapproval. A challenge he cannot wait to meet by making her enjoy the jump no matter how much she says that she will not. Read More...
April 1, 2016
I read a fair amount of these short harlequin romance books, not because they are the most amazing writing and plots ever, but because they are fun fast reads. And that's what this book is, so it did not disappoint.
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June 30, 2016Miniseries: Blue Falls, Texas
Category: Home and Family
Category: Home and Family
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