The Bad Boy’s Baby by Cindi Madsen

Item: The Bad Boy's Baby
Rating: 3
Author: Sparkles

February 17, 2018 Sparkles Book Review 0 ★★★

The Bad Boy's Baby by Cindi Madsen
Series: Hope Springs #3
Published by Entangled Publishing on May 16th 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 260
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There are certain words that have always described Cam Brantley: Town bad boy. Soldier. Protector. But never, ever dad. Until he returns home from his latest military tour to discover the girl he had one smoking-hot night with is now mom to the adorable two-year-old Zoey. Who has his eyes.

Plenty of words could describe Emma Walker these days. Mom, dutiful granddaughter, budding designer, the town’s golden child. But when her longtime crush Cam Brantley comes back to town, she knows the perfect word to describe herself: screwed.

Cam and Emma are both shocked to discover he truly wants Zoey in his life. But Cam’s not sure he’s ready to be a dad, and Emma can’t gamble her daughter on maybes. As the long-simmering heat between Cam and Emma reaches a boiling point, he’ll have to work past his demons in order to be the man both girls need.

Each book in the Hope Springs series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order. Series Order:Book #1 Second Chance RanchBook #2 Crazy for the CompetitionBook #3 The Bad Boy's Baby

This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Surprise baby stories are one of my favorite tropes in romance. Don’t ask me why because it doesn’t have a rational explanation, I just love them. In The Bad Boy’s Baby, Emma and Cam spend one wonderful night together right before Cam’s deployment, and it’s only after he retires from the military and it’s finally back home that he realizes the sweet girl of his dreams is now tied to him in an undeniable way.

Emma had an emotionally rough childhood and suffers from a bit of abandonment issues. Deciding to not repeat the mistakes of her own parents, she dedicates herself to being the best mom possible to her little girl Zoey, all while trying to get her design and architecture career on its way. This leaves her with little time for anything else other than spending some time with her grandmother here and there.

Cam had a much rougher upbringing, with a volatile drunk for a father and a town’s bad boy reputation. But when the truth about Zoey comes out, he’ll do anything in his power to become a good dad to her. The fact that he’s always had a thing for Emma but didn’t want to tarnish her reputation is now a non-issue, as she’s been a single mom for a couple of years now. Now they both need to overcome their own issues, as well learn to trust each other if they wish to give Zoey the best childhood she could have.

Cam was loyal, protective and once he lets himself relax around little Zoey he was swoon worthy. He was sexy and bossy which was a plus as well and good with his hands…as a handyman!

Emma was a sweet, loving, devoted mother who had an independent streak a mile wide. Unfortunately, her lack of confidence regarding Cam was a major eye-roll-inducer.

I must confess that while Ms. Madsen’s work has usually rocked my world, I can’t say this one totally worked for me. For starters, while I liked both Cam and Emma, they spent an annoying amount of time in their own heads being insecure about themselves and the feelings of the other. This made for a very, very slowly developing relationship, as well as a lot of back-and-forthing.

Since it took me a while to get into the story (I kept stopping in exasperation) their connection never completely clicked for me. Also, some of the reasons behind their actions and decisions felt kind of lame, especially in Emma’s case regarding not letting Cam know about the pregnancy. All in all, I enjoyed reading The Bad Boy’s Baby and it definitely left me with a smile in the end, it was just not what I was expecting from this author.