Interesting premise for the plot with characters who still find a way to romance. Thanks to publisher and netgalley.

Mary Sue Jackson’s The Rancher’s Baby Bargain takes off right out of the gate with a whirlwind of a story that picks you up and carries you along with it...the pages literally turning themselves. It’s been some time since I’ve felt so immersed in a story’s characters, feeling invested in the journey they take to their HEA. I’ll say once again that Ms Jackson is gifted in writing relatable characters who fit into everyday stories, ones we could see ourselves taking part in...this is one such story.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

They both had something to trade and when Lucy came up with the proposal Aiden found himself helpless to resist what it could mean. She could possibly save everything he had worked for all he had to do was give her the one thing she wanted the most. What could possibly go wrong? Was fun to watch to see how long they could last and enjoy the fall of them both.

A quick read, but not a bad story. Aiden is a former football player and is back living in his home town running his family farm because that is what he thinks he is supposed to do. He is also making beer so he is growing hops but now his crop is being attacked by a bug that eats them and he does not have the money to buy the pesticide to kill them. Lucy the former class nerd is home to sell her family’s house. She is divorced and besides her husband giving her headaches, he could not give her a child. Now with her made science skills she has what Aiden needs to kill the pests and save his crop. She will give it to him with no money being exchanged. She wants a baby and wants him to give her his in a cup at a clinic. He says the only way is the old fashion way. She agrees and he also ends up taking her out and helping her fix her parents’ house. He also is showing her that she is not what she looked like in high school. She is a beautiful woman. After the deed is done things change because now they are beginning to like one another and after everything Aiden told her about herself he does not think he is worthy of her. She now needs help to get him to see that it is okay to leave the farm if need be to be with someone you love. Can she do it? Read this good story about finding love when not looking for it. Good characters as well with his mother and sister just to name a few.

Great ranch love story. Loved the characters and happy ending. Character returns home finds baby and then love. Quick read

Ms. North and Ms. Jackson weave a tale of love and passion with a little humor thrown in. What man doesn't love a free offer that will help his crops all he has to do in return is give her a child. You won't be disappointed!

Throughly enjoyed this romance. The plot is well written and I loved the characters. I highly recommend this book.

Nice, easy going reading, perfect to unwind and escape at the end of a long day.
If you like your tortured, do-the-right-thing ranchers and finding out that small town mentality isn't always something to run from, this is the book for you!
I particularly liked that the author didn't make me cringe during the sex scenes, which is a feat in itself ! No cringey cheesy descriptions here, just good old losing yourself in the plot. An author I'll be keeping my eye on :)

I was grateful to receive this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
#theranchersbabybargain #netgalley

The Rancher's Baby Bargain is the first book I've read by this author, and it was a pleasant, feel good read. I liked the main characters, Aiden and Lucy, I liked the set-up, which was just a tad more than far-fetched, and I liked and also didn't like the reminder of what high school was like and the way some of the high school cliques worked, especially when it came to the nerds, the different ones, and the less popular, less attractive students. This novel gets 3.5 stars from this reader.

The nerd in question in this novel is Lucy, a brilliant student but one whose odd manner of dress, her intelligence, and her awkwardness, made her one of the outcasts among the more popular kids. She shared one chemistry lab class with the popular football player on the home team, Aiden, but was practically speechless around him. While Aiden didn't pursue her, preferring the cheerleaders, Lucy just accepted it as part of her lot as a nerd who just didn't fit in with the popular crowd.

After graduation, Aidan worked with his dad on the ranch that had been in their family for 3 generations, while Lucy went on to college, excelled, got her degree and became a brilliant scientist. She also married and divorced, and after one miscarriage, was now, at age 32, hearing her biological clock ticking away--but she has a plan. When her mother's death required her to return home to settle the estate, it's time to put her plan into action.

After the death of Aiden's father, Aiden struggled with keeping the ranch afloat, a duty he felt was his because that's what his father wanted. Aiden wanted to try his hand at brewing beer, and by mortgaging the ranch, he set out to grow his own hops, but while everyone seemed to love the beer he made, he'd been having problems with the crop for the third year running, which was a problem since his fields had been invaded by red spider mites, and weekly crop dusting with pesticides was having no effect at all. With all his money tied up in the ranch, he's at a loss, until one day, the man who dusted his crops called in an expert, one who had come up with a new pesticide, and Aiden was eager to consider it, but with little capital, had no way to pay for it. When the expert shows up, he's shocked that it's his former lab partner, Lucy, only she doesn't look like a nerd now. When she checks the infestation in the field of hops, she is suddenly smiling, and Aiden is wondering why. She informs him that he doesn't have red spider mites, he has pink ones, and other than her promising new pesticide, no other pesticide on the market will kill pink spider mites. When Lucy offers to save his crop with her new formula, he knows it will be expensive and admits that he can't afford to pay her, and when Lucy tells him she'll give him her pesticide free, on one condition, he's willing to hear her out.

Lucy has her own agenda, and she does want to help Aiden, but she also wants something from Aiden as well--she wants him to father her child, shocking him when she offers to trade him her pesticide for his cooperation in getting her pregnant. It doesn't hurt that Aiden is attracted to the new and updated version of Lucy, but after much soul searching agrees to be her sperm donor, and they sign a contract, but before they try in vitro fertilization, Aiden's attraction to Lucy leads them right into her bed, where they hit if off like gangbusters, and they never do opt for in vitro, and soon they can't keep their hands off each other.

It's when Lucy becomes pregnant that all the priorities change, involving Lucy getting her family home ready to sell before she returns to her life and work in Portland, Oregon, using Aiden's rather manipulative mother as her realtor. Regardless of their contract, Aiden decides that he wants to be more than a sperm donor, he's excited about Lucy's pregnancy and wants to be in his child's life, but the fact that his life in on the family ranch, and Lucy's life is in Portland, seem to be an impossible obstacle to overcome.

Much of this novel consists of the waffling both main characters do on the should she stay or should she go trope, which is interesting at the start but tends to become rather repetitive after a while, bogging down the forward momentum of the story until almost near the very end. So will she or won't she stay? Will Aiden follow her to Portland and give up his deeply held feeling of obligation to make the family ranch a success, or will he give it up for a life in the city with Lucy? What about his beer businss? Will these two interesting characters ever find a happy medium when it comes to their child? How will Lucy feel if she decides to return to her small, home town and the people in it, which include many of Aiden's former girlfriends, the same girls who bullied and teased her back in high school? You'll have to read this rather sweet, sexy romance to find out, since I don't do spoilers.

As I stated at the outset, this is a sweet, rather pleasant read about two people, a contract, and small town nosiness, but I did feel that the somewhat dramatic moments were a little weak, and that the degree of indecision between both Aiden and Lucy, called for a little more angst and drama than Ms. Jackson wrote in this novel. All in all, a good read but not a great one.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

If you’re in the mood for a cowboy romance with a touch of drama and heat, then you’d absolutely enjoy “The Rancher’s Baby Bargain” another fantastic book by Leslie North and Mary Sue Jackson. Perfect duo for page turning stories. Absolutely recommend all day long.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Relay Publishing for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This book has an interesting premise (not believable but interesting!). I liked the characters they weren't perfect but human with flaws. Lucy Carr was the class need and grew up to be a world class chemist, and is willing to trade her brand new insecticide for a baby!! Aid an is a farmer growing hops.for.his real passion beer brewing. I enjoyed this book. 4 stars

I have always had love-hate relationship with Leslie North novels. Sometimes she ables to hit the mark while others… Let's just say they don't interest me enough to continue reading the story. Obviously she must be doing something right to gain a lot of fans yet her stories just don't reach out to me. During my “The Rancher's Baby Bargain” read I found myself putting off the read too many times to count and I just didn't feel any connection to the story nor we're the characters likable enough. The overall ugly duckling turn swan has always be a fan favorite of mine and the ideal of friends turned lovers prompt pulled me in but unfortunately nothing captivate me enough to stay. As much as I appreciate the ARC, ultimately this series landed in my dropped graveyard.

Sometimes desperation drives us to great lengths. Two people who are desperate to make their dreams come true strike up a bargain.
Lucy wants a baby, and Aiden wants his ranch to prosper. And they make an exchange. Lucy provides the solution to keep Aiden's crop and Aiden is to have a baby with Lucy. Since this is a romance, of course, they fall in love.
The good thing about this book was it dealt with romance in a sweet way. Not steamy, but sweet. Family was involved and friends as well.
While Aiden's desperation came through in spades, Lucy's character was buried under a heavy blanket. I felt the times that she seemed to have human emotion were much too quickly eclipsed by a very pragmatic attitude.
But, all is well that ends well.
This book provides the reader with a warm and cosy small town romance.

Lucy had always had a thing for Aiden in high school. He was a star football player and she was the science nerd. They were not in the same social circles. Fastword.... Aiden is running the family ranch and is brewing his own brand of beer as a hobby. His crop of hops is having an infestation of mites. Nothing seems to be working to get rid of them and he is heading for financial problems. Lucy is a scientist and she has what can save Aiden's crops. All she wants in return is for him to father her child. What could possibly go wrong? Would a man really resort to fathering a child to save his ranch and his legacy? Good read.

A little far fetched but cute with a guaranteed HEA.
Lucy Carr was the typical high school nerd with weird clothes and hair, more into lab experiments than boys. She despises the small town mentality and longs to see more of the World.
Aiden was the quintessential golden boy, with a star career ahead in football and all the popular girls behind him.
Flash forward a decade or so, nearly in financial ruins, Aiden grasps at straws to keep the ranch going, all the while trying to maintain his brewery on a small scale as a pet project. After his bad knee has wrecked his football career, he's understandably bitter and struggling with his late father's expectations of him. Lucy is back in town to sell her childhood home, after her parents' tragic death. Now, a hotshot scientist and super attractive, Lucy has the only thing that could save Aiden's ranch. But the way to save his family's legacy comes at a high price. A baby.
Some of the things shown in the book were utterly unrealistic, but extremely entertaining. Aiden's mother was a delight. The ending was sweet, but seemed a bit rushed. 3.5 stars for the weirdest bargain I've read about.
Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Ranchers Baby Bargain
by Mary Sue Jackson & Leslie North

How do you get a baby from your high school crush? By inventing a new pesticide that kills pink spider mites of course! Lucy grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone’s business. And fortunately she got his mail by mistake.

Aiden’s legacy is about to fail. Being confident in Lucy’s skill and the proof in the Petri dish, he accepts her proposal. But it’s going to be on his terms. And he plans for his terms to include keeping Lucy who was his high school crush. He just might be man enough to admit it now.

I throughly enjoyed reading this book and I’m willing to bet you enjoy reading about their intense bartering. Aiden are meant for each other, but can they figure that out on their own?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

#Netgalley

Of course, Leslie's books are always sweet and sugary. So every once in a while, I need my Leslie North fix. Today was with Lucy, the ugly duckling and science nerd at school and Aiden, the former high school football hero. As a succesful scientist, Lucy returns back to her hometown with a particular request to her high school crush Aiden: she will offer him her developed natural and eco-friendly pesticide in order to save his crops for free, in exchange of his sperm for her baby.
Aiden, desperate to save his farm from debt and not averse to a roll in the hay with a beautiful woman, thinks it is a good deal. Lucy didn't count on Aiden wanting to create the baby 'the oldfashion' way, but who is she to complain?
For the first few months of her pregnancy, Lucy stays in town, to ensure nothing goes wrong with her baby. But when Aiden keeps appearing in her life, things start to get complicated. Because now Aiden becomes more than just a sperm donor...
Cute, heartwarming and funny. A great read. Four out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

This was my first book by this author. I did like the storyline and the characters. The character development was nice and their relationship was great. I did enjoy the entire book and am glad I was able to read it.

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

Cute story but kind of not realistic! It was definitely a fun, feel good romance and you kept rooting for Aiden and Lucy to work things out so they would have their HEA.

Both Aiden and Lucy had to change their thinking and look at new possibilities for their life and yet it is hard for them to break away from what they are expected to do.

Aiden's mother and sister were great and it was fun to see Aiden surprised that his mother actually approved of a woman for him and didn't run Lucy off!

Loved the surprise shower and their HEA!

Ok, first off, the concept of accepting a pesticide in exchange for a baby is just odd. I did like the characters overall though, and Aiden's mother is a delight as well as his sister. Lucy was nerd in high school and is now a nerdy scientist, of course she is now beautiful too. Aiden was the hunky jock in high school, that all the girls chased after. There as plenty still around, who dislike Lucy because of jealousy. I would give this 3.5 stars, and would recommend it, since I was curious enough to see how it ends. Just felt like things were rushed a bit, and the horse before the cart concept.