A Novel with Thoughts and Ponderings

UNDENIABLY YOURS

Author: Shannon Stacey ISBN: 9780373776856 2/2012 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: HARLEQUIN

Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey
One-night stand + two percent condom failure rate = happily ever after?

Bar owner Kevin Kowalski is used to women throwing their phone numbers at him, but lately he's more interested in finding a woman to settle down with. A woman like Beth Hansen. If only their first meeting hadn't gone so badly...

Beth's tending bar at a wedding when she comes face-to-face with a tuxedo-clad man she never thought she'd see again. She tries to keep her distance from Kevin but, by last call, she can't say no to his too-blue eyes or the invitation back to his room. Then she slips out before breakfast without leaving a note and, despite their precautions, pregnant.

Kevin quickly warms to the idea of being a dad and to seeing where things go with Beth. After all, he's not the player she thinks he is. But she's not ready for a relationship and, given his reputation, it's going to take a lot to convince her to go on a second date with the father of her child...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

After discovering Shannon Stacey through one of her romantic suspense novels, I decided to give her contemporaries a chance.  I read EXCLUSIVELY YOURS and loved it.  Then I read the third book about cousin Sean, YOURS TO KEEP... and loved it.  While it wasn’t quite as great as the other two, UNDENIABLY YOURS is a good read, also.

The second book of the Kowalski trilogy features Kevin, who we learn in Joe’s story is a divorced ex-cop turned bar owner and quite a playboy.  Kevin meets Beth during an altercation at his bar and is instantly interested, but with no means to contact her, figures it is a lost cause.  He encounters her again at Joe’s wedding.  This time he doesn’t let her get away so easily, and they spend the night together.  The one night together results in a pregnant Beth.  The story continues as we read how they try to balance a friendship and plan to raise a baby together.

I thought Kevin was the whole package, almost perfect, and often wondered what Beth was thinking when she continuously rejected his entreaties for a romantic relationship.  If there was a downside to this book, it was that she seemed unable to give an inch during the entire year they spent together.  It takes until the end of that year for Beth to realize their feelings for each other are real in a few pages that felt too fast, given the pace of the rest of the book.  I did appreciate the realistic feel to this book, which is admittedly rare in romance novels.  Beth’s stubbornness aside, I liked the story and was happy that the Kowalski family returned, filling out the background a little more subtly than in EXCLUSIVELY YOURS. 

Christina Baker

Close Window or Back to Previous Page