The Family Way

This isn't really a secret baby story, since the big reveal happened months before the baby arrived. So that would make it, what.... Secret fetus? Secret pregnancy? Whatever, it's not something I normally go for and not a trope JAK normally uses (and since she excels at recycling material in her books, this may be unique in her oeuvre). I generally liked the way it was handled. Nice mix of humor and pathos. This seems to be the point in JAK's career when she was startling to really get a handle on making things flow and toning down the alpha-jerkiness of her heroes. I mean McCord was kind of a douche at times, but the way his character was played off of Pru's made him seem like a befuddled, well-intentioned douche. And Pru seemed like a laid-back woman who knows how to use kindness to her advantage.I didn't love the end. There was actually a scene there that I think may have been repeated word-for-word in Ravished to better effect. But overall it was an enjoyable story. I rated it 3 stars in comparison with JAK's work as a whole, but in terms of her category romances, it might be closer to 4 stars.

This was an engaging classic romance story. Pru Kenyon falls in love with Case McCord while they are both working for a foundation which is concerned with improving agriculture especially in poor parts of the world. They begin an affair but Pru is hoping for marriage despite Case saying he wasn't interested in marrying.When Pru discovers she's pregnant, she gives Case an ultimatum: formalize their relationship or she is leaving. He declines; she leaves. After she's gone, Case gets a bill from a woman's clinic letting him know Pru is pregnant. He immediately goes to find her and proposes without telling her he knows she's pregnant.Pru thinks he really does love her and accepts. On their honeymoon, they go to visit his estranged family which is where she learns why he doesn't like ultimatums. She also learns that he had a fiancé who died in a car accident after accusing him of refusing to marry her when she got pregnant. Pru knows that something isn't right. After all, he didn't hesitate to marry her in the same situation. It takes Pru's clear vision and trust in Case to finally get his family to see who was lying when the fiancé died. But someone doesn't want Case and Pru's relationship to work out.I enjoyed this story. I liked the relationship of trust between Case and Pru and loved Pru's unwavering belief in Case's honor and goodness. I also liked some of the side characters. Pru's Aunt Wilhelmina raised her after her mother died and filled her with all kinds of Texas wisdom which Pru delights in quoting and Pru and Case's boss was also quite a character.