Decidedly By Chance was a delightful, sweet, laugh out loud and sexy friends to romance story. Stina Lindenblatt has skillfully created real characters that you want to get to know, including the perfect blend of side characters who provide the story with additional humor and warmth. There was little angst in this story and though Hannah’s fears caused some conflict, it was minor, allowing the book to maintain its lightheartedness.

Overall, this was a sweet and fun read with emotional depth and great characters. If you enjoy a low drama and heartfelt romance, this is the book for you. This is the fifth book in the By the Bay series but can be read as a standalone.

I received an ARC copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher and voluntarily read and reviewed this book.

Hannah and Wes have been platonic friends for a long time. Then something changes. Wes becomes the guardian to his young niece and Hannah decides to get pregnant via sperm donor. Can these two overcome their complicated lives to become a family?

This is a story all about evolving relationships and opening your eyes to what is in front of you. It is the first book by Stina Lindenblatt that I have read and I was not disappointed. The writing flowed and the story line kept me reading. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

This is Hannah and Wes book, Hannah is taking matters into her own hands, after bouncing from one foster home to another in a series of failed relationships and she’s going to start her own family! Well rather she’s taking matters into her own hands or rather a plastic cup! Rather than being a single mom and be let down again she’s not looking for a baby daddy so she decides to go the route of being inseminated. She’s definitely not looking to hook up with the sexy workaholic game designer Wes! Wes Owns a software company and is a game designer and is a workaholic! But that all changes when he suddenly has to become the guardian of his three-year-old niece! Now his world is filled with princesses and little girl tea parties. But when Hannah needs a place to stay after her pipes burst in her apartment he invites her to move in with him and his niece! I mean she’s a pediatric nurse so what better situation could you ask for? That is until his heart gets tossed into the mix! This book was a very good read I definitely enjoyed reading this one! It went very smoothly it was not my all-time favorite But it was definitely worth reading I haven’t read any other books in the series and I don’t feel that you need to I do think I’ll go back and read them because I enjoyed this one enough to do that LOL thank you Netgalley and the publishers for sharing this book with me!

I did not start at the beginning and now I have to do so since there were couples that were in here and situations and characters that were mentioned that made me feel that I would get more if I had started from the beginning. This is Hannah and Wes's book. Wes has had a crush on Hannah since the beginning and now he is in charge of his niece since his brother and sister in law passed away, that part and his interactions with his niece brought tears to your eyes. He is not sure if he is ready or if he even wants a relationship with Hannah and so he goes back in forth with that and then there is Hannah she had a tough up-bringing so she feels like no man wouldstick around for a baby that is not his even though said baby is from a turkey baster (author) not an actual man. After Wes fully commits himself to this relationship he goes full force in proving that he is there for Hannah and the baby..

I will provide an honest review of "Decidedly by Chance" in return for a copy of the book from Net Galley. I . have not read anything by Stina Lindenblatt before, but note that this is the fifth book in the series. It can be read as a standalone and I did not read the previous books.

Its a good read and I really enjoyed it. Out of the books on my TBR shelf it captured by attention. Its a different take on relationships and parenting. Both Wes and Hannah become single parents. Hannah by choice and Wes after a tragic accident claims the lives of his brother and sister in law, leaving him to care for 3 year old Everly.

The book talks about some serious social issues, such as the stigma associated with women who choose to be artificially inseminated without a partner. Hannah's character comes upon a lot of these issues and her approach differs at times. It also touches on the importance of nature versus nurture. Even though Wes is not the biological parent to Everly, he takes on a parenting role and really embraces it. Hannah also grows to care for the child and become attached.

The story is touching and pulls at your heart strings, especially when Hannah talks about her own childhood. I lends perception into how the past impacts the future and future relationships. I would recommend this book to others. It was a good read and I really fell in love with Wes' character.

Happy reading.

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More of a fun book than I anticipated (I haven't read others in the series). All in all a good, easy read with low angst despite the backgrounds/situations of the main characters.

Wes is just really suave, “Christ, you look effing gorgeous and hot in this dress.” Hannah is one smooth woman, “I always figured you were a briefs man,” I said before realizing: (a) how stupid that sounded, and (b) how I had just admitted that I’d been thinking about him and his underwear before now." I liked this book, I liked Wes.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for my honest review. This is book five in the By the Bay series, but can be read as a stand-alone book. Wes has had the hots for Hannah since they met two years ago. He hasn’t acted on his attraction, and they have become friends. His brother and sister-in-law recently died and he is now the guardian to his three year old niece, Everly. Hannah has a tough life with a neglectful mother who eventually abandoned her. She ended up bouncing around the foster care system, never having a steady influence in her life. She decides that she wants a family, and since she has no man in her life, she goes the insemination route. When her apartment floods out, she ends up staying with her “friend” Wes and his niece Everly. This is a great take on the friends to lovers trope. I really loved Wes, he is pretty much the perfect guy. Hannah is a very insecure, and cannot see the perfect guy who is right in front of her. I loved them both and enjoyed the development of their relationship. This is my first book by this author, and I will definitely be reading the prior books in this series.

I received a free copy of DECIDEDLY BY CHANCE (By the Bay, Book 5) by Stina Lindenblatt in exchange for an honest review. If you’ve read the prior books in the series, you’ve already met Hannah Morrell and Wes Chiasson. Even before Hannah went into foster care, she faced daily rejection by her mother and her mother’s many boyfriends. Hannah recently realized that her fear of being rejected by a loved one resulted in her only dating men she could never love; as a result, Hannah decided it was healthier for her to swear off romantic relationships. Hannah still wanted a family, so she decided to start her own family via insemination.

Wes was a workaholic who preferred to have hookups rather than relationships. When Wes became the guardian of his three-year-old niece, he changed his workaholic habits and swore off casual sex. Though never close, Hannah and Wes share mutual friends, so Wes feels comfortable offering Hannah a place to stay when her apartment floods. Neither expect their mutual attraction to cause much of a problem; after all, a toddler makes a fantastic chaperon. Soon, Wes realizes he wants much more than friendship and even more than sex from Hannah. Wes has a goal-he wants to keep Hannah and her baby, but can he reach that goal without scaring skittish Hannah away?

This is a fun series. It does have erotic scenes, but those scenes can be skimmed over. This book and the overall series has likeable characters. Each member of the group of friends is flawed in his or her own way. However, the group of friends is as tight as any family; they accept each member as they are, and they don’t mind plotting shenanigans behind someone’s back if it’s to the victim’s overall benefit.

#DecidedlyByChance #NetGalley

****Decidedly By Chance was a cute sexy story basically exploring the components of what constitutes family. Wes recently has become the guardian of his young niece. Hannah, a pediatric nurse is pregnant via a donor clinic. Raised in the foster care system she has a difficult time trusting. Fate in the form of a massive leak in her apartment brings them together as temporary roommates. The premise was good and the author has a good command of English. There were sweet interactions with Wes’s niece as Wes sets out to convince Hannah that he has relationship staying power. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.

The premise of this book sucked me in and so did the romance! I loved Hannah, Wes and Everly. It was so fun to see them fall in love and become a family. A super cute romance if your favorite trope is friends to lovers or single-parent.

I voluntarily received this book for an honest review!

I love Wes and Hannah. They have such a cute story. Everly and LB(little bean). It had to confess your feelings to someone when your afraid to be hurt. Which you have been hurt before in the past and especially by family, the ones who are suppose to love you the most!

This story has moments of intense feelings of love but at the same time self doubt. That doubt is something we all endure and this story will show you a little bit of how to over come.

Such a sweet family oriented story.

2.5 stars
The storyline for this book was a little different. The heroine is pregnant at the very start of the book. She has decided to have a baby on her own by artificial insemination. Then she runs into Wes, and sparks fly. The book was ok. Not really my cup of tea.