Publication date: May 23, 2019
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Format: Audio
Source: Hoopla
4 Stars
*SPOILER ALERT FOR BOOK ONE* The worst day of my life
happened when my boyfriend died. As I grieve my loss, I learn that I’m carrying
his baby. If my world wasn’t already crashing down, now it’s
burning up in flames.
My religious parents will never accept a pregnancy out of wedlock and telling
them means I risk losing them completely.
To avoid disappointing my family, Hunter offers to be my fake husband. The
lines become so blurred that neither of us want to admit we’re no longer
pretending.
The guilt of what we’re doing eats at me as I struggle to deal with my
emotions. Just as I come to terms with our new situation, I learn Hunter’s been
keeping secrets. And I’m left to make the hardest decision of my life—follow my
heart or walk away from him.
Fair warning: This review contains spoilers for the first book in the duet, which has to be read before this one. If you plan to read Baby Mine, come back after that one has wrecked you. :)
Baby Mine ended on quite the cliffhanger so I was more than ready to dive right into Baby Yours. (Thank goodness for Hoopla!) After all that happened in the first book, Hunter and Lennon had formed an incredible bond. While their friends and Sophie’s sisters were supportive, they uniquely understood each other’s pain and loss. That, along with Hunter’s utter devotion to Lennon, created an intimacy between them that was so touching. I loved his selflessness and the way he was committed to being there for anything Sophie needed – partly because of his loyalty for Brandon and partly because of his feelings for Sophie.
Lennon continued to be such a strong character and one that I admired. She had been dealt some hard blows and no one would have blamed her for crawling into bed and refusing to ever come out. But she showed such strength and even when she was deceiving her parents, I could understand her reasoning. It went against her nature to lie, but the thought of being shut out by her parents when they learned of her pregnancy (which seemed like a very real possibility considering their ultra-conservative religious views) had her making decisions that, while not ideal, seemed the best way to keep the peace and avoid yet another loss in her life. Even though I was desperate for she and Hunter to (finally!) be together, I appreciated the way she didn’t jump headfirst into a relationship and proceeded cautiously and respectfully.
The plot line with Hunter’s previous hook-up showing up pregnant with claims he was the father made me all kinds of ragey. Jenna was cruel (and maybe borderline unhinged) and I was so happy to see Lennon lay down the law and give Jenna a heaping dose of reality. I understood Hunter’s reasons for not wanting to share how he knew he wasn’t the father, but it would have resolved the drama a whole lot sooner if he had. (And I wish Lennon had continued to doubt that fact even after he told her the truth.)
Hunter has a place in the Book Boyfriend Hall of Fame. Thoughtful, devoted, affectionate, and so willing to be whatever Lennon needed. My heart hurt for him as he swallowed his true feelings time and time again. He gave Lennon the time and space she needed and even though he was in an impossible situation, his love for her kept him cemented to her side, being whatever she needed. Even his friends and Lennon’s sisters could plainly see he was in love with her, and yet he was patient enough to let Lennon work through things in her own time.
Hunter and Lennon’s story was an emotional journey that
had me swooning, shedding some tears, and then swooning some more. Kennedy Fox put these characters through the
wringer but watching as they discovered they were stronger together than apart…
priceless. And, in typical Kennedy Fox fashion, it ended with another
cliffhanger that had my jaw dropping and scrambling to start the next book.
