I really enjoyed this book. It was a fast easy read. I liked how Grer and Ryder worked together to overcome their obstacles. This is part of a series but I did. Oh feel as if I had missed anything by not reading the other books.

Thank you Harlequin and Netgalley for allowing me to read this title for an honest review.

With that, rancher Ryder Wilson’s world turns upside down. But he’s determined to make a home for the baby his late estranged wife left on a stranger’s doorstep. Local lawyer Greer Templeton is there to help, after growing attached to little Layla during the search for her daddy. It’s enough to make Ryder propose a marriage of convenience. But does love factor into his Christmas promise?
This was a quick read, perfect for the holidays. It was a pretty standard plot but was a good book with likable characters. I really enjoyed it.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Let me start by stating that had I known how far into the Return to the Double C series this novel was, I'd never have requested an advance reader copy to read and review. This is also the first novel I've read by this author, and although the novel was technically well-written, I spent a good part of it lost and confused by the sheer multitude of secondary characters, their different past issues and interrelationships. For this reason, and several other which I'll get to, I can only give this novel a 2-star rating.

The hero of this novel is rancher, Ryder Wilson, and to say that he's a man of few words is putting it mildly. It seems he mostly communicates with a raised eyebrow or a half-smile. We later learn that he wasat one time a rodeo rider and National Champion bronco buster, and that he was once married to a woman named Daisy who ran out on him two weeks after their wedding, leaving him bitter and confused, but certainly not heartbroken, as this apparently was more of a lust match than a love match. So, you can imagine his surprise when less than one year later, 3 strangers arrive at his ranch with an infant baby girl in her carrier, and Ryder learns that she's supposedly his daughter, who was left abandoned 3 months earlier, and they are the first to inform him that his runaway wife died in a car crash. Since he never bothered to divorce Daisy, he was still legally married to her, making the baby his. He's all set to deny paternity until he hears that the baby is named Layla. Daisy once told him during their brief time together that if they ever had a daughter, she wanted to name her Layla, in honor of Ryder's grandmother. So, without bothering to have DNA testing done, he accepts that the baby is his. Now his big problem is trying to find someone to care for her while he's busy working on his ranch. In short order, several nannies quit on him in the first month, mainly because his ranch is rather remote and isolated, and his long-time housekeeper gives him a week to find a replacement housekeeper and nanny, and she suggests that what he really needs is a wife.

During the 3 months that the authorities were trying to find Ryder and establish her paternity, little Layla was, for a time, cared for by the large Templeton family, and they all fell in love with her and want to be involved in her life. Unfortunately, one of the three Templeton sisters married Daisy's brother, Grant, and Grant blames Ryder for Daisy's death. There's no love lost between these two men and there hasn't been for some time. The only single Templeton sister is Greer, a lawyer, working 80 hour weeks as a public defender. She's extremely career driven, but when her car breaks down en route to one of her sisters' baby shower (both her sisters are pregnant), Ryder comes to her rescue, and there's some chemistry between these two from the start. Greer's been too busy to worry about a social life, and Ryder hasn't bothered with one since Daisy's departure. Greer wants to arrange visitation for her family members to spend time with Layla, but Ryder is far more concerned about finding someone to care for her, and while she agrees to help him search for a live-in nanny, he jokingly asks Greer to marry him. She can't get away fast enough, which is not to say that she's certainly giving the matter serious thought.

While all of this is going on, Greer's job performance has suffered and when she learns that she's about to be canned and relocated to work in a town 85 miles away, she quits her job, and eventually agrees to a business deal with Ryder--a marriage of convenience. Ryder will get a mother for Layla, Greer's marriage to Ryder and her adoption of adorable baby Layla means that the Templeton family will also finally get to spend time with Layla, something that Ryder had been refusing to permit. Ryder will also help renovate the old Victorian house Greer shared with her sisters until they married, and he will turn it into an private law office for Greer.

While I usually enjoy the marriage of convenience trope, there really wasn't much that endeared me to either of the two main characters. Neither character had much depth, but at least we got some reading on Greer's emotional state as the novel progressed. What was truly odd was that she seemed far more interested in and obsessed with keeping and caring for baby Layla than she was interested in Ryder. Ryder also didn't fare so well in the personality department. He was tall, dark and handsome, but very uncommunicative. He didn't really spend much time in self-reflection either, and by the end of the novel, we know only the bare bones of his history. However, his reasons for marrying Daisy in the first place, and his reason for not pursuing or looking for her after she left him seemed utterly cold and unfeeling, and were as much a mystery at the end of the novel as they were at the beginning.

Had I been following this series from its inception, I probably wouldn't have minded or been so confused by the plethora of interrelated secondary characters in this novel, and I can't recommend reading it as a standalone. As romance novels go, this one was seriously short on romance, and at best, I'd call it a mediocre read.

As stated at the outset, I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

Allison Leigh pairs up special characters in her Double – C Ranch series and THE RANCHERS CHRISTMAS PROMISE follows that formula. THE RANCHERS CHRISTMAS PROMISE is not really a seasonal holiday story. It is about choices we make and as Allison Leigh deftly illustrates these are immensely personal. All choices have a consequence and the reader hopes for a happy ending although the path will certainly be rocky.
Talk about a surprise package at your doorstep. Well Ryder Wilson truly never expected this one. He was still getting adjusted to his new home in Wyoming. It seems as if an infant girl had been abandoned three months ago and the local police had determined she was his. Impossible – until they can somewhat trace this baby to his wife who left over a year ago. Daisy had left after a mere two weeks of wedded bliss. The name of this baby’s mother was Karen. Nope wrong woman – wrong husband – not my kid. Think again.
But here’s where things so get a little murky. Karen and Daisy are the same woman and now dead. Ryder’s is still reeling from his short relationship with a woman who had lied to him. But one of the people at his doorstep is this woman’s brother and Grant is definitely not happy with this entire situation. The facts are truly meager. They need proof about the parentage of baby – both mother and father since there is no birth certificate before any adoption can proceed. The only thing they know is the baby girl’s name is Layla. Boom.
Still doesn’t really prove much but Layla was Ryder’s mother’s name. Coincidence – he doesn’t think so. And the story picks up five months later.
Ryder and Layla are getting along really well with one ongoing problem – that of a nanny. It seems they are going through them as quickly as diapers. Ryder’s ranch is rather secluded and most candidates couldn’t adapt.
Greer Templeton is one of three identical triplets and part of the family that had taken care of Layla. Add to that one of the triplets is married to Grant – Layla’s uncle. They had all become attached to Layla while in their care and haven’t seen her now that Layla was living with Ryder.
You may ask why Ryder accepted responsibility for a child that hadn’t legally been proven to be his – no DNA testing as per his instructions. He didn’t need them. Ryder accepted the fact that Daisy was probably Layla’s mother and Daisy had been his wife. Case closed for Ryder. In his mind and heart it was the right thing to do. And he always did the right thing.
Greer somehow gets involved in helping Ryder find a reliable nanny with staying power. Until then she found herself helping out which wasn’t a chore for her. Greer had really missed Layla and any time spent with this baby was a joy. It was the father that ruffled her usually staid feathers. And needless to say watching Layla meant spending time with Ryder. Ryder actually had the audacity to come up with an alternate plan of sorts. If he couldn’t find a woman willing to live far out in the country as a nanny – well then he would start looking for a wife instead. This would be a business agreement for sure given his history with love and such.
Sounds really good on paper. But both Ryder and Greer have deep seeded feelings about following this second choice. There is no shortage of attraction between these two intelligent adults but their decision will not be based on that fact. Any arrangement will be a pre-arranged legal proposition with a distinct expiration date. Choices and plans just have a way of messing things up.
So in THE RANCHERS CHRISTMAS PROMISE we are faced with what Allison Leigh treats as an inconvenience that can be solved with little or no commitment. The author certainly wore a smile while divining up this treasure. THE RANCHERS CHRISTMAS PROMISE is a lovely tale of making the right choices with unexpected consequences.

Ryder has be burned before and now when he least expects it a couple of people show up at his door claiming a child is his. While trying to locate the child's father, local lawyer Greer and her family has been taking care of the child and grown to even love the child. Ryder is trying to find a nanny but can't seem to find one to think and how thinks a marriage of convince might work out and Greer seems to be the person who might agree. If only they can keep their hearts out of the equation.

This book was pretty predictable but still enjoyable. I loved getting to know the characters. I loved seeing how the two were with the baby. I loved getting to know the characters and how everything played out in this book. Overall pretty good book I really enjoyed it.

I received a free, advance copy of this book from NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.

Ryder Wilson is shocked when 3 strangers come to his door claiming that an abandoned baby is his. He had already fought off a false claim of paternity once before and was not going through that again. His wife had left him a year ago after 2 weeks of marriage and he had not heard from her since. But when he learns that the baby was named after his mother, he decides to keep her regardless, as it is the right thing to do. Because the baby is sort of related to the Templeton family, they all want to be involved, but Ryder doesn't want anything to do with them, until his housekeeper and nanny both quit. Two of the Templeton triplets and happily married and pregnant, by attorney, Greer, is at a crossroads of her life, unhappy with her career and feeling she wants what her sisters have. After Ryler jokes about advertising for a wife instead of a nanny, she thinks very hard about the position.

I have not read any of the previous books in the series and there are a lot of characters introduced, but the author does a fairly good job of filling in the blanks. The main characters are adeptly developed and the scenario compelling.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but struggling to finish was not one of them. The story in itself was what originally captured my attention but for some reason I found the main characters just bland & boring. I didn't feel any chemistry or connection at all. The Hero came across as too cod & detached & the heroine in her pursuit & reaction of the baby was just unbelievable. Her sisters find an abandoned baby that one of them (not the heroine) takes care and all of a sudden she can't go without seeing this baby that doesn't belong to them in any shape or form? Now if the heroine was the one to have taken care of the baby for the short time it took to find the parents and bonded with it, then I could understand, however that was not the case and she seemed more interested in the baby then the Hero. I'm not sure if the baby was indeed the Hero's because there was some question about that in which he initially didn't want to find out. That was the only reason I kept reading but after a while, I no longer cared and I had to DNF.

This is book 19 in the Return to the Double C series and the last Templeton triplet to find her love. Greer is a public defender and court appointed lawyer to help find abandoned baby, Layla's father. When they finally find rancher Ryder Wilson, he is beyond surprised he has a daughter. When Greer and Ryder decide a marriage of convenience is best for all the fun begins. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed this holiday romance. Ryder finds out he's a father and has to learn to take care of a ranch and a baby girl, Layla, by himself. His ex-wife left the child he never knew about with friends and then died shortly after. The sisters who watched Layla are heartbroken when Ryder takes legal custody of the baby. Greer, a public defender, fell in love with Layla while her sister had her and when Ryder suggests a marriage of convenience she gives it serious thought.

This was a cozy romance that has that holiday fun with it. The characters were fun and although the plot was a little predictable, it was a good read. I enjoyed reading this book!