This novel was such a light and good read. I was engaged quickly and loved the story. Soldiers turned cowboys who end up assisting in raising a baby of one of their fellow brothers. Definitely a good story with lots of emotions involved. Thanks to Kensington books and Netgalley for the ARC.

THREE COWBOYS AND A BABY by Kate Pearce is a heartfelt contemporary western romance full of misunderstandings, tension, humor, and love. This is the first book in a new trilogy featuring three sexy former Marines now cowboys on the Nilsen family ranch at the northern end of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.

When Luke Nilsen left the service, he returned home to run his family’s ranch with two of his Marine brothers, Noah and Max. An old teammate shows up at the ranch out of the blue with his infant son, Sky, looking for the baby’s mother who supposedly lives in town. When he doesn’t find her, he sneaks out overnight and leaves the baby behind.

Noah Harding had to raise his three sisters while his mother worked to support them and he swears he will never have a child of his own, but until the baby’s mother turns up to claim him, he will do his best to take care of him. When Sky’s mother shows up at the ranch relieved to find her son safe, they become snowed in, and Noah learns there is more to the story and there may be more to his own feelings.

Jen Rossi knows her son’s father is unreliable and when she is delayed getting back from deployment, she never expected he would abandon their son with three men she doesn’t even know. Snowed in, Jen is especially helpful with her nursing skills after an accident. While she really appreciates the handsome, but taciturn Noah, she must consider her future with her son and the ever-present problems her ex can cause for her custody.

I like the author’s set up for this trilogy, the setting and the three friends. Their military service made them all close, but they also came back with some difficulties adjusting and the isolated, large ranch in the mountains is a perfect place to heal. Noah is gruff and has to have everything organized in a logical way which does not always line-up with emotions. Jen has grown up in foster care until her service and now whether she has found a man she can learn to trust and love; she must put hers and her son’s futures first. While I enjoyed all the back and forth while Noah and Jen are getting to know each other, there were times it went on too long for me when some things could have been taken care of by just some honest conversation. The sex scenes are smokin’ hot and explicit, but not gratuitous. All of the secondary characters are fully fleshed and realistic and I cannot wait to see who is going to meet their HEA match next.

I enjoyed this contemporary western romance and am looking forward to the other two books to come in the trilogy.

I have read many of Kate Pearce's books, but I personally had a difficult time being drawn in by this one. I am unsure if it was the implausibility of how the cowboys came to be caring for the baby or if it was hard to get past how cold and distant Jen and Noah seemed. I understand that they both have pasts and carry a lot of baggage, but for me I felt like the pacing was off and it went from hot to cold and back to hot. This book for me personally, asked for me to accept a lot of things and just move on with the story, but I am not very good at that.

On a positive note, Kate Pearce does an excellent job describing the characters and has taken a new look at the old "Abandoned baby" trope. I do believe that this book has an audience, but I am just not included in that group.

I know what you are probably thinking. I certainly did when this title came up to review. Three men and a baby was a lovely movie about three guys managing, sometimes rather awkwardly, taking care of a baby. But that is where the comparison ends in THREE COWBOYS AND A BABY by Kate Pearce. This isn’t my first read of a book by this creative author. Kate Pearce has a strong romantic sense, but it is her honest and intelligent dialog that has made me a fan. In THREE COWBOYS AND A BABY the guys aren’t just cowboys running a ranch together, they are all ex-military. They are retired but each still faces some issues. It seems everyone that leaves the military must deal with baggage.
As ex-military it makes sense that their circle of friends and folk share that background. So when their friend Dave shows up at the ranch, they of course offer hospitality. But Dave came with some baggage of his own, his almost year-old son Sky. No wife in the picture, just Dave and Sky. Dave is on the way to Africa for some sort of job. And during the night he somehow managed to exit the ranch, leaving Sky behind. Dave is irresponsible, but not stupid. He knew these guys would do the right thing. Problem was he didn’t leave them with any way to get in touch with him or with the baby’s mom.
Seems Dave wasn’t forthcoming with very much factual data. Somehow even that didn’t surprise his buddies.
Now several weeks later we get to meet Sky’s mom Jen. At first the guys keep themselves at arm’s length from the woman they assume had sort of abandoned her baby. That would not make her the best judge of character to begin with considering her relationship with Dave and the fact that she had been gone for much of the baby’s first year.
As facts unfold, we realize that Jen had been in an untenable situation. First finding out she is pregnant. Having her son Sky. And still legally obligated to her job in the navy. She had thought they had figured out a good workable arrangement. Dave would live with his mother who would help take care of Sky until her assignment was completed. Needless to say, events changed everything, and their plan had to be altered rather quickly.
Hence baby Sky winding up with Noah, Luke, and Max at the Nilsen Ranch in California.
Sky is being well cared for by the gruffiest guy in this trio, Noah. Noah had helped raise three younger sisters and seemed rather well prepared to take charge with Sky’s care until they could locate the mom, Jen. As it turns out Jen travels coast to coast – twice – in her desire to find her son. She never expected to find three navy guys taking care of her one-year-old son. And absolutely would never picture a big, bearded guy like Noah leading the team. Sky is absolutely in love with Nono – his Noah. Noah greets Jen with a huge chip on his shoulder as he had pre-judge her as a lousy absentee mother. But it becomes rather obvious that their shared love for this baby could become something rather wonderful.
Here’s where Kate Pearce comes in. Her dialog and attention to detail in THREE COWBOYS AND A BABY makes for a very entertaining story. You are immediately drawn to these characters. And somehow the story never feels contrived, instead rather plausible, and you can’t help but cheer these tough guys and gals along. Kate Pearce invests part of her heart and soul into her writing and awards the reader with some of the best situational romance books of this season.

Three Cowboys and a Baby is loosely based on the 80’s movie Three Men and a Baby.. When three bachelors unexpectedly are left with a baby, Noah draws on the skills that he developed raising his siblings. The very reason he once swore would keep him from ever wanting children of his own. Too bad he never counted on falling for the baby or his mother. Jen, on the other hand, is wary of starting anything that might jeopardize her tenuous custody arrangements with her ex. While it would have helped if both Jen and Noah ever talked with one another rather than make assumptions, ultimately, they finally figured out their feelings. Overall, it was an enjoyable read.

Like the movie Three Men and a baby but better! Three cowboys are left taking care of a baby abandoned by an old friend. When the mom comes looking for the baby sparks fly. There is angst, sexual tension (and sex, too!), sexy men and strong, intelligent women. This book was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys modern romance. I can't think of anything bad to say about this book. I loved it.

I love Kate Pearce - and this is a sweet western romance with a fun take on the abandoned baby trope. Noah and two close friends from the Marines are working on a ranch in pretty much the middle of nowhere. They are all recovering from their military experiences when another old friend shows up and leaves his 11 month old with them. The baby's mom, Jen, is active duty military (something the dad neglects to mention to them - while trying to make himself look good and her look like a terrible person). Jen has just returned from duty and has no idea where her ex has left their baby. When she literally crosses the country and walks four miles in a snow storm to find him - the guys on the ranch - Noah in particular - don't welcome her particularly warmly. But as they get to know each other while riding out the storm of the century, things change. So overall - cute cute - and sexy in Kate Pearce's signature style.

I think the issue is - I am just really over book where people don't talk to each other like functioning adults. Both Jen and Noah have a lot of baggage - and neither has dealt with it well. Noah makes snap judgments and has a hard time changing his mind after those judgments are made. Jen avoids conflict and doesn't speak up for her own wants and needs. So despite how they come to care for each other and the sparks they have - they just can't seem to talk about what they need to. It drove me a little insane. Simple questions or statements like - what are your plans once the storm breaks? or, Do you think I could come see you in San Jose and we could try for more? or, My ex-is an asshole - but I need to work with him right now because I can't handle a custody battle - would have led to them supporting each other and not being miserable. Instead - Noah tells Jen what he thinks - and she responds with "you're wrong - so think about it and maybe you'll figure it out. Like what? How does that help anything? Its ok to be mad and definitely ok to point out that Noah is making snap judgments again - but people aren't mind readers. Generally speaking - if you explain things go better. Oy.

Overall - I liked it - but I really got salty about the way the characters handled the big issues in the book and it highly colored my views.

I received this via NetGalley as an ARC, but these opinions are all my own.

Kate Pearce has revived the "Three Men and a Baby" story and moved it into the west -- on a cattle ranch no less. Here three former Marines are living and working after their discharge and each is carrying some battle scars--some more that others. Enter a fourth Marine buddy with his baby named Sky.

He was expecting his wife to be there shortly to pick up the baby and stay with her aunt in the nearby town. He has a job in Africa that he needs to get to and asks his buds if they can help until the wife gets there. He then disappears with no warning leaving the baby with these three tough guys. The characteristically of Marines fill the gap!

How they cope until the mom comes is the focus of the story and she does get there, eventually. Enter unexpected events including a really bad snowstorm and the setting for them and the baby are quickly becoming complex.

Normally I do not read the :near romance" stories but this is one that I am glad I did. I enjoyed it a lot and I think a lot of other men as well as women might like. I was surprised at how much I liked the story.

I requested this book because it sounded interesting and similar to the movie, however, I did not like the characters or the writing style. The characters felt stiff and the dialog stilted. I didn't feel a comradery between the men, other than them mostly living under the same roof, and working on the same ranch. Jen seemed to have a lot of issues, and didn't seem to want to learn from them.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

This was my first book by this author. I found the writing style to be good and the overall story was fine. I, however, did not like many of the characters.

Noah is your typical gruff cowboy who resists love because of stuff that happened in his childhood. He was also a typical guy who didn't read the clues Jen was leaving.

Jen could have been such a great MC! How a strong, independent woman could fall for Dave and think he was "the one" is beyond me. The immature way he treated her, Sky and their situation was ridiculous. As a mother she should have put her child first instead of placating a man-child.

Of course it all works out for Jen and Noah in the end but having to deal with Dave forever would make anyone want to walk away from that situation.

Three Cowboys and a Baby, the first book in the Three Cowboys series by Kate Pearce, has all the elements of humor, drama, tension, conflict, and romance you’d expect in a story about three ex-Marines turned Cowboys who have a baby boy nearly dropped off on their doorstep.

Through Ms Pearce’s writing talents, even baby Sky’s personality was larger than life and quite vivid in my mind’s eye…and then there’s the vastly different personalities of Luke, Noah, and Max, who rise to the occasion of pseudo parenthood through teamwork and compromise. The hilarity of Noah not giving it a second thought that, while keeping Sky corralled in a playpen made of straw bales in the barn while chores are attended to, the baby sticks a piece of straw up his nose…or that a brand new rubber dog bone just needs to be sterilized in order to make it a perfect teething toy…adds to the multitude dynamics that make this story a page turner.

All in all the perfect beginning to a very promising new series.

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

three cowboys and a baby. that was it for me. I was hooked and i had to read it. Must read and enjoyed it from start to finish.