The Texas Wildcatter's Baby - Cathy Gillen Thacker (HAR #1489 - Mar 2014)

Series: McCabe Homecoming (Book 4)

Love Isn't Part of the Deal

Ginger Rollins can't believe she gave in to temptation -- again! It's time for her and Rand McCabe to face the consequences. Never mind that the geological engineer and sexy environmental cowboy are on opposite sides when it comes to the Texas land they both love. Now that she's pregnant, they have one option.

Rand isn't used to being proposed to by a woman -- especially one as gorgeous as Ginger -- but he's all for getting married. Too bad the independent wildcatter sees their union as a nonnegotiable deal. Doesn't she know they share more than hot chemistry? How long can he keep his feelings -- and their baby -- a secret? Rand vowed to love and honor Ginger forever. And it's a promise he intends to keep….

Good book.  Ginger and Rand have had some serious chemistry going on for months.  Every time they get near each other they end up in bed, and the odds have finally caught up with them.  Ginger is pregnant and knows she has to tell Rand.  There are plans that have to be made.

Ginger is a female geological engineer, something that's very unusual in the oil business.  She wants to get her business off the ground and if people find out she's pregnant and unmarried it could impact her chances to land an upcoming job.  So she proposes a marriage of convenience to Rand, one that they will treat as a business.  Ginger is very independent and works hard to keep their marriage purely on a business level.  Of course, that out of control attraction makes it very hard to do so.

Rand is surprised by Ginger's proposal.  He hadn't planned on getting married any time soon, but he is strangely pleased by his impending fatherhood.  He also finds the idea of marrying Ginger very appealing.  The more time their marriage goes on, the less he wants it to end on Ginger's timetable.  He's not above using their attraction to try to change her mind.  

Ginger kind of irritated throughout much of the book.  She was so determined to make their marriage a business partnership that she seemed blind to the ways their relationship was changing.  But as I got to know her I could see that this was the way she was protecting herself.  She had seen the way her mother fell apart after her father died and she didn't want that to happen to her.  Mom has turned into an overprotective, interfering pain in the butt which only increases Ginger's desire for independence.  So Ginger keeps trying to push Rand away even though she realizes that she loves him.  

Rand was great.  He has always enjoyed his encounters with Ginger and isn't bothered at all by the idea of them getting married.  He's not thrilled with her idea of making it temporary, but figures he's got time to change her mind.  I really enjoyed the way that he seems to know her so well.  He does a great job of reading her and can tell when she needs him to be close to her and when she needs him to back off.  I loved seeing him take care of her when she was sick and also the way he got both their mothers to leave her alone.  

Though their "postnup" contract plans were a little odd, the subject matter was not unlike what goes on as a couple adjusts to being married/living together.  I loved the conversation she had with the lawyer that opened her eyes to what she had.  There were some humorous times as they tried to work out what would go in the "contract".

I also enjoyed the whole actual business relationship.  It was neat to see the geologist and the environmentalist try to keep their potential business conflict out of their personal life.  I thought they did a marvelous job of it.  There were some other interesting events that were related to this, including dealing with Ginger's ex-husband.  He was a suitably nasty piece of work and I loved what Ginger ended up doing to him.  I also liked seeing the dynamics of both of them dealing with Rand's mom.  I loved the final solution that Rand and Ginger came up with for their business dealings.