The mountain man, pregnancy kink, and juvenile writing made this not an enjoyable read. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC for my honest review.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. There were some elements like the setting and the main characters’ banter I enjoyed but it wasn’t enough to hook me in. I read about 30% of this book before putting it down. The premise was a bit strange to me but I thought I’d enjoy it despite the taboo. The writing was good but, like I mentioned, it didn’t hold my interest. This is one I could see myself picking back up in the future when the time is right.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for gifting this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book! I laughed a lot and it's just the perfect romcom. I even recommended it to my daughter who ran to buy it. I loved the banter that went on and hope to read more from this author!

2.5 stars
I really wanted to like this one as I’ve read everything Amy Daws has written but there were so many red flags in this book that it did not vibe. Speaking of which, all the added GenZ slang was repetitive and low key cringe. I listened to the audio and Teddy & Erin are the only reason why I finished.

- grump sunshine
-age gap
-slow burn
-possessive MMC
- funny banter
- found family
Wyatt is a grumpy mountain man who wants a baby. He doesn't want to share the baby so he's looking for a surrogate.
Trista had a rough childhood and has been on her own since she was 16. She wants to open an animal sanctuary and thinks surrogacy will allow her to do that.
This book has hilarious banter, fun side characters and a great plot. It has a really sweet found family aspect.
The only part I didn't like was the fact that the FMC's size/weight was constantly mentioned. I fully support plus size characters I just didn't need to hear about her size every other page. I would felt this way if they were referencing her size, height, coloring, etc.
Other than that it was a very fun read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

“𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴.”

no accidental pregnancies here! this time we're doing a full-on purposeful insemination from a guy who desperately wants to be a dad, but without all the marriage. enter in our girl trista. she's happy to provide said baby and asks to house her shelter pets with her. except her shelter pets include a large pot belly pig, a horse, chickens, and more! perfect for her mountain man's barn, much to his dismay.

this book was funny and filled with banter, provided mostly by trista. her character was so sarcastic & sweet. the way she totally dug wyatt's caveman-like tendencies was cute, but also held him back when she could take care of herself was relatable as hell.

i'm not usually much of a pregnancy trope kind of person, but i gave this a try, and i actually liked it! i also really enjoyed the ending of this one and would recommend it if you're into this trope!

3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Canary Street Press for an advance copy.

I love a good mountain man, and Nine Month Contract was quite the story of Wyatt and his journey to fatherhood via surrogate. Meanwhile Trista, the surrogate, isn't quite fond of kids, but she doesn't mind giving Wyatt his dream in exchange for a place to stay for a bit. She also has quite the love for animals and is determined to grow Wyatt's collection up on his mountain.

This was an interesting premise for a romcom, and Trista definitely brought the chaos to grumpy Wyatt's life. She has some deep-rooted abandonment issues she's dealing with, but the more she's around Wyatt, the more she finds herself not wanting to leave when her contractual obligation is complete. Trista is fun, quirky, and independent, and she keeps Wyatt on his toes. And when the spice hits, it hits hard! This was a fun start to the series, and I can't wait to read more of these mountain men!

It was fine? I think…

There were so many things I thought I was going to like about this book: a plus size FMC, a MMC who wanted to be a single dad, a solid family dynamic, a different take on a romance with the whole surrogacy aspect, etc.

But most of those things ended up giving me the ick. Trista constantly called herself a cow which seems like a whole step backward for plus size representation. The author could have picked literally any other farm animal to for her to compare herself to. Wyatt was so overprotective it made me sick. Even his interactions with his niece felt forced and awkward, even for what was supposed to be a close family. And the surrogacy aspect felt very off putting. Even for an open surrogacy with direct insemination it felt like a lot of lines were crossed in favor of making things spicy.

I did laugh a lot and there were some touching moments but I think the story could have been done in a much less cringey way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

4 ⭐️
4 🌶️

Okay, okay, I came into this book blind! I saw the cover and the title intrigued me but I did not think it was a pregnancy trope and found family. But overall, I really liked this book.

Pros:
Grump/Sunshine
Small Town
Found Family
Possiveness

Cons:
Pregnancy Trope (I know, I know, the pregnancy trope is the main point of this book but honestly, I've never liked this trope so, therefore, it's here on the cons.)

This was such a delight to read. Wyatt and Trista have such chemistry. Their banter was hilarious and Trista quick comebacks were hilarious. Honestly, give me a MMC that is possessive and I'm swooning! I loved how Wyatt cared for her. He was able to care for her in somewhat silent ways especially because being cared for is something that Trista is foreign to.

The found family was so touching. The way that Trista's parents left her and her sister are traumatizing. No wonder Trista took a long time to get a grip. But thank goodness that she had a heart-to-heart conversation with sister. I'm glad that she was able to find a motherly figure in Jo and a sister bond with Cozy.

I realized partway through this that I was getting a massive sick. The balance of power in the relationship just felt really off. And the fact that she basically got pregnant the first round seemed really unlikely.

4.25 ⭐️

↻ ◁ || ▷ ↺ 1:00 ──ㅇ────── 4:12
Playing: Will You Return by The Avett Brothers

What to expect from this book:
🤰 Multi 1st-person POV (mostly the FMC and MMC, but one other POV :))
⛰️ Several open-door spicy scenes
🤰 Strangers to lovers
⛰️ 38 year-old MMC/grump who wants to be a dad
🤰 28 year-old FMC/sunshine surrogate who wants money to open an animal sanctuary
⛰️ He's got 3 boundary-less brothers, 1 meddlesome niece, 1 hyper nephew, 1 overbearing mom and 1 father who passed away
🤰 Her parents abandoned her when she was young, and her older sister kind of did the same
⛰️ He's an "acts of service" kind of man and she's "used to doing things herself"
🤰 She's curvy (with internalized fat phobia) and he LOVES her curves
⛰️ Secret relationship with an expiration date

If you like the following, you might like this book: age gap, Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young, MMCs who are possessive and protective (even if in real life that would be a red flag), breeding kink, books where the FMC is not helpless but learns how to accept help from others, slow burn, small-town romance

┗━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┛Synopsis┗━•❃°•°❀°•°❃•━┛
Wyatt wants nothing more than to be a dad. Nearing his 40s, and grieving his father, he feels that it is the next step in his life—to share his Colorado mountain with a child (or children). But he is picky. Like, the last 12 women he interviewed were...well...not fit to carry his child. Until his meddlesome niece steps in to help him find someone.

Enter Trista. She's never really had a family and has been on her own so long that her only desire is to grow an animal family—but for that, she needs money. What pays a lot and fast? Why...having someone's baby of course!

Will they get along? How should they try to get pregnant? Will Trista give Wyatt an aneurism with all of her foster animals?

_____My Review_____
I love an FMC who is all "I can do it myself!" and an MMC that comes along and is like "I know you can, but you don't have to, I want to help you." I will eat it up every time (except if it's marriage of convenience). He dotes on her (in a probably unrealistic way but a girl can dream) and the spice was firey. I also LOVE found family and for the FMC—she hit the jackpot.

We each have tropes we despise and I get that people do not like the pregnancy trope. I also get that some of the things in this book are not realistic or maybe are unethical. BUT IT'S NOT AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY PEOPLE!! I know that having a child as a single person is not as easy as deciding to "have a baby." Hell, it's not even easy for all people who are in a relationship. Can you get pregnant the way these two do? IDFK. Should you try it? I also DFK (aka probably not? but i'm not a doctor). Still, I was highly entertained and cackled the whole way through.

For the people in the back: I want more books where the men want to go to great lengths to become a dad.

There was also some...questionable phrasing happening here. The audiobook at one point has the MMC saying, "And now all I want to do is beat that thought out of her." but the eARC copy says, "And now all I want to do is bury that thought in the ground." The former was terrible phrasing—even if this MMC was a rough-around-the-edges character. He's highly possessive, which I know some people will hate, but if you can remind yourself that these are fictional characters and what works for some doesn't for others, hopefully you can look past some of these flaws and still find the underlying endearments.

IDK, I loved it. Flaws and all. But again, if you don't like pregnancy or possessive MMCs, perhaps this one should be a pass for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eARC. And thank you to Amy Daws, looking forward to Calder's book!

An atypical romcom where it's a given (mostly) that the FMC will be pregnant before the end of the book, but not in a bad way -- she meets and agrees to be the pregnancy surrogate for the MMC. Lots of adorable family hijinks, rescue animal moments, and sizzling chemistry.

4.5 stars

Oh my gosh! This story was so cute!

I absolutely loved Wyatt and how grumpy / growly he was during the story! It definitely made things interesting with Trista being a more sunshine-y but super independent character!

My favorite part of the story was definitely how close the Fletcher brothers were and how they stood up for their family! I loved the banter between the brothers and with Wyatt and Trista! I was laughing out loud at some of the animal antics and the chapter headers were so much fun!

I listened to the audio and loved the two narrators! It was so playful and I loved the hearing the banter throughout.

This is Book 1 in the Mountain Men Matchmaker Series by this author. It is an age gap, grumpy vs sunshine romance between Wyatt and Trista. These two flawed but likeable souls and the unique plot make for an enjoyable read. What starts out as a surrogacy contract turns into something more. It is a love story with drama and steam, sexual tension and chemistry, humor and charm, and twists and turns, plus appealing secondary characters. An emotional page turner.

Nine Month Contract was ridiculously hilarious and addictive!

Amy Daws delivered a master piece with the grumpy mountain man vibes and the sunshine FMC. This was such a rollercoaster of a read but I devoured every second of it.

I adored the found family aspect and how utterly herself that Trista was. The girl has a heart of gold that she wants to share with her farm animals and speaks freely with no regrets.

Wyatt is our ridiculous grump that’s the biggest softie for his niece, Everly, but now holds a spot for Trista. Their story was a sight to read and I can’t recommend this enough!

I loved this book!!! It was so fun to see all of Wyatt’s different sides. The grump, the protector and the dad. Trista was the best. She had me laughing throughout this whole story. This book is the literal definition of opposites attract. The audiobook was perfection.

The premise had promise, but I couldn’t get past the repeated breeding kink references and the main character constantly calling herself a cow. It felt more cringey than funny. Also, letting an 18-year-old niece oversee a surrogacy arrangement seemed unrealistic and uncomfortable. While some may enjoy the banter and chemistry, this one just wasn’t for me.

The grumpy/sunshine of Wyatt and Trista is fantastic! This book is filled with great banter, quick wit, and is laugh out loud. You really love the characters and see them grow through their past traumas. Daws does a great job writing these details in a funny and capturing way. This was my first Amy Daws book and I will be reading the others in the series and her other books.

If you're a fan of the Winston Brothers (Penny Reid), you'll love this.

Rating: ★★★½
This one was a mixed bag for me. I loved the grumpy-sunshine dynamic, small-town setting, and Wyatt’s big, chaotic family—especially his niece Everly, who totally stole the show. The goat was a fun bonus too!
But the surrogacy trope (and that DIY insemination scene) didn’t quite work for me, and Trista’s constant self-deprecating comments—plus the “breeding kink” references—were a bit much. The romance was a very slow burn, but the ending was sweet and satisfying.
If you’re into unconventional setups and big family vibes, this might be your jam. Just be ready for some eyebrow-raising moments along the way.

Really enjoyed it over all. Some of the spicy parts were not really my thing but over all it's fun read.