A Baby in His Stocking

The Buckhorn Ranch #4

by Laura Marie Altom

Wyatt Buckhorn is only a pal. If sharing scorching kisses that leave a woman feeble-brained means they're pals! But that's all the oilman-slash-rancher can be to Natalie Lewis. Five months pregnant and recently jilted, Natalie refuses to trust any man, least of all a man who is the definition of playboy.Throw in that every run-in turns into a fiery encounter, and "just friends" gets complicated. Which is a shame, because Natalie's life is messy enough.Besides, she knows Wyatt's secret—he's sterile, and so enforces a strict kid-free rule. But when circumstances have them caring for a whole clan of Buckhorn youngsters over the holidays, Natalie sees a side of Wyatt that's definitely kid-friendly. Weakening defenses, and even weaker knees, have Natalie determined to destroy Wyatt's anti-family policy…before he leaves town for good.

Genres: Romance, Harlequin, Christmas

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 29, 2011

About the author

After college, Laura Marie Altom did a brief stint as an interior designer before becoming a stay-at- home mom to boy/girl twins. Always an avid romance reader, when she found herself replotting the afternoon soaps, she knew it was time to try her hand at writing.

Reviews

[Silverana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Natalie and Wyatt have known each other since they were kids. Natalie is friends with Wyatt's sister-in-law and is always included in Wyatt's family events. Now, having to take care of Wyatt's nieces and nephew together, their feelings for each other increase. It was nice to read about their banter and how they begin to deeply care for each other. Natalie is pregnant with another man's child and Wyatt can never have kids. This is one reason that keeps them arguing throughout the book. I liked that it was only about them and Wyatt's family, not about a third person that comes between them which tends to happen often in the romantic genre. Specifically, the real father of Natalie's child doesn't come back and disrupt the love that's growing between the two (though it might seem a little bad to think that way, but I hate it when that happens in books).

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good conclusion to the series. Wyatt was so obnoxiously anti-kid at the beginning, that it was hard to see him coming around. Because of his problem, he had no intention of ever settling down. Nat had been burned by the father of her baby and also had no intention of getting married and putting herself at risk again. When she and Wyatt end up caring for four girls, Wyatt starts to realize that maybe he can put himself in that position after all. Both he and Nat have a lot of issues to overcome before they can reach their happy ending.

[Helen]

Made little to no sense. Low levels of chemistry

[Patricia Solla · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting tale of a man who finds he can't father a child and his best friend who is pregnant and the 'father' has left her high and dry. There's a lot of the man's feelings about his own family involved and he is actually leaving town to pursue an adventure that would take him away for quite sometime. An accident occurs that has the man staying to help out family with the help of his pregnant friend and there's small children and Christmas involved too.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: The Buckhorn Ranch

[Amy Summers · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. The story was slow, confusing, had a few holes, then...slam...finished.

[Cody · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, easy read with lots of likeable characters.

[Debra Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

was a great way to end series.