If you’re looking for a steamy grumpy-sunshine, small-town romance, here's one with a twist: a grumpy mountain man planning to become a single dad, a quirky animal-loving loner who becomes his surrogate, and a whole lot of overly-close family chaos.

The story follows said mountain man Wyatt and Trista, a free-spirited vet tech who’s just trying to make ends meet. When Wyatt’s meddling niece orchestrates their meeting, the two strike up a surrogacy agreement that’s supposed to be strictly business. But as they spend more time together—navigating home insemination kits, nosy family members, and a menagerie of rescue animals—things quickly spiral into something much more complicated. And the author ... ahem... does not skimp on steamy scenes.

The book isn’t without its flaws. Wyatt’s possessiveness is pretty over-the-top, and Trista’s self-deprecating humor about her body can feel repetitive. Her family trauma isn't really dealt with, and the pregnancy happens so quickly and easily that it might be a bummer for anyone who's struggled to conceive.

But overall, this is a fun, fast-paced read that’s perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I’ve never read a book by this author before but after a few chapters I was an immediate fan! Such a perfect cute and cozy read!

This book was a wild romp in the hay (no... literally)
- super grumpy/sunshine
- small town (mountain) vibes
- found family
- spice/smut

This was a quick read (which is always a plus with a very lengthy TBR pile) - we meet this grumpy mountain man who just wants to be a dad so he's searching for a surrogate. Enter, Trista, a girl whose never really had a family so she puts all her energy into caring for rescue animals/wildlife. Trista agrees to be a surrogate and live on the mountain for 9 months while pregnant.

I will say this was mildly entertaining - I especially enjoyed her sneaking animals onto the property/farm. There's a bunch of family dynamics that were interesting... (and clearly paved the way for more books). At times, Wyatt (MMC) was just a bit TOO possessive and grumpy.

Mild spoiler: I didn't love the "I'm a cow" lines. I get that she's a surrogate and a curvy one at that but I wasn't a fan of that dialogue. I didn't enjoy how the curvy representation was done. I get it was an attempt at body positivity but it just felt off.

3.25/5

Many thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing & NetGalley for the ARC!

I was so pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book. Dual POVs, emphasis on a strong family unit, protective and grumpy MMC, and an independent FMC all led to an incredible story that I couldn’t put down. It was emotional, sweet, spicy, and so funny. I was about 5% in when I was genuinely wishing for it to be a series. Can’t wait to read more!

Found family
Surrogacy
Fat fmc
“Mountain man” x “Lucky”
🌶️🌶️🌶️

“At that moment, I realize that I am completely consumed by lucky number thirteen, and I have no idea how I will survive the next several months with her and, even worse, the months afterward without her.“

“truth be told, I don’t know if I’m capable of saying no to this woman. Ever.”

“But lucky number thirteen in my arms? In her bed? It feels like redemption.”

The banter between the two characters was good and they are both great and funny characters but I found it hard to get through the book. It was recommended to me by a friend. However the terminology that Trista in particular uses is so hard to get behind. It made me feel uncomfortable and was hard to look past.

Thank you to @htp_hive and @htpbooks for the #gifted ARC #hiveinfluencer

“𝐼’𝓂 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝓁𝓊𝒸𝓀𝓎 𝓃𝓊𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓇𝓉𝑒𝑒𝓃.“

Wyatt and his brothers had me laughing from the beginning. He’s a grumpy guy looking to become a father. I really enjoyed his character. I thought that it was great that he wanted to become a father and his reasons for wanting to doing it alone are understandable. He is very possessive, while also being very caring, but only with Trista.

In the beginning, I really liked Trista. She was funny and sweet. I loved how she spoke positively about her body and size. However, as we move through the book she starts to call herself fat and a cow. This and the fact that she didn’t want to accept any help from Wyatt were a bit frustrating. She is very hesitant to be involved with certain aspects of her pregnancy due to her own past with her family. Her ways of getting Wyatt to let her have animals in the barn had me giggling.

Wyatt and Trista together were really funny and they had some great banter. I really loved how Wyatt’s family accepted her without hesitation and stuck up for her. Everly, Wyatt’s niece, was the absolute best! She was funny, caring, considerate, in the end, she was my favorite.

Overall, this was a cute romcom and I would recommend it.

Thank you @amydaws @htp_hive and @htpbooks for the ARC for an honest review.

I fell in love with this couple and family! I am a sucker for loving family dynamics in books. This was beautifully written and the story described relationship authentically with all the complexities of love and loss in both romantic relationships and families. I absolutely loved how hope, resiliency, growth, healing, and found family was done. The writing was so engaging and described the vulnerability of falling in love in a genuine and heartwarming way. I am a huge fan of authors who have the ability to write feelings and emotions in a realistic and authentic way. Yet, this was hilarious and witty! In addition. the story was so sexy and swoon worthy. The MCs were both incredibly lovable and the chemistry between them was explosive! I enjoyed this story so much. I laughed, cried, and swooned! I cannot wait to read more about this family and the rest of the brothers. Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.

The 9 month contract by Amy Daws is a delightful romantic comedy that masterfully blends humor with heartfelt moments. The story follows two main characters who enter into an unconventional agreement that leads to unexpected consequences. Daws has a knack for creating relatable characters with genuine chemistry. As with many of the romance books I found myself quickly rooting for them, we always wants an HEA.
The book tackles themes of love, commitment, and self-discovery, all while keeping it in a lighthearted tone. With the blend of comedy and deeper emotional insights, i feel it was very easy to relate to the characters, which is what I look for when reading.
Overall this book is a must read for fans of contemporary romance.

Rating: 5✨
Spice: 3🌶️

Thank you Amy Daws, Canary Street Press and Netgalley, for providing me with this ARC.. It was provided to me through Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

This is an adorable story of unconditional love and family. Full of banter, pining and moments that just warm your heart. This book had me crying, laughing and saying awe. Trista is so feisty, strong and kind, who loves nothing more than animals and having as many as she can rescue. Wyatt is a brooding flannel wearing mountain man, with a mushy heart of gold under a gruff and grumpy exterior. He is looking to build a family to shower with love. The side characters were amazing, Wyatt’s brothers, sister-in-law, mom, niece and nephew were just as thought out as the main characters. You get 3 POVs in this book, Wyatt, Trista and Everly’s (Wyatt’s niece). Because of a hard and traumatizing childhood Trista grows up quickly, not knowing what love actually looks or feels like. Enter the mastermind Everly who meets Trista while trying to help her uncle find a surrogate. He wants to be a father and struggles with trust and opening up to the idea of finding love. Everly decides to take it into her hands to find him both. When she stumbles upon Trista, she knew that Trista was the one for him. The ending had me laughing and crying tears of relief and joy.

Read if you like:
•Grumpy/Sunshine
•Banter
•Contracted Arrangements Becoming More
•Fun Characters
•Found Family

Release Date: March 18th, 2025

Omg I loooooooved this book! This story has the perfect amount of wittiness, spice, & healing. Absolute chefs kiss!

9 Month contract follows 2 broken souls: Trista & Wyatt, who unfortunately have had the displeasure of dealing with traumatic life-instances that have shaped them into the lonely-heartbroken individuals they are. Trista was “raised” by an abusive family that didn’t care for her or her sister, eventually leaving her to fend for herself. Struggling with the idea of being cared for and loved, she directs her attentions to animals— the things she can count on that won’t ever leave her or break her heart. Her goal is to one day own her own rescue so that she can help all the animals she can. But with what money? Being a vet tech won’t pay for a rescue so she begins her research on “how to make fast money” and thus finds that surrogacy is her answer. On the other hand Wyatt has always wished for silence. But even in the silence one very important thing always stirs, his need to be a father. After countless failed interviews (12) with a surrogacy group, Wyatt gives up and allows his niece to find him a surrogate. Lo and behold, his niece comes through with who else but Trista! Upon meeting Trista, Wyatt knows that she’s the one he wants to carry his baby and so a deal is struck with lucky number 13. On their journey to pregnancy Wyatt & Trista become friends and eventually friends with benefits, only to find that there’s more to their friendship than they want to admit. Trista doesn’t want a family or a baby (or so she thinks) and Wyatt doesn’t want to deal with another woman that could potentially break his heart… but when feelings get involved and they both crave each other could they put their fears aside to come together and become a family? 👀 you’ll have to find out for yourself.

Guys when I say I’m so obsessed with the Fletcher’s, Trista and all her animals, I mean I am OBSESSED! I’ve already started telling my friends to add 9 Month Contract to their TBR’s and I’m so excited for them to experience this wonderfully funny story! I’m so eager to continue this series and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the other Fletcher Boys.

A huge thank you to Amy Daws, Netgalley, and the team at Canary Street Press & Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me to read 9 Month Contract before its pub day!

I loved this, right away it had me grinning and wishing they would get together, fun and cute read overall.

Silly at times, but full of heart, this commitment-phobe meets mountain man romance will have you smiling and cheering them on. I enjoyed counting the farm animals with each chapter :)

Hm.. This story kept me reading, until it didn't. I almost had to DNF around 50%.

There's a lot of wit and inner thoughts in this story and I did laugh out loud at quite a few parts.

But, I liked every character in this story except the two main characters. Wyatt was insufferable and Trista was just a dummy, in my opinion! Both were so insecure in their own ways and it got cringy and even pathetic at times.

My biggest gripe with this book was the psycho MMC, Wyatt. His crazy possessiveness was NOT CUTE like this story tried to make it out to be. It was abusive and gaslighting constantly. He was creepy AF the whole book. I can't even wave enough red flags in his case. Just, wow. Do some people really think that level of controlling behavior is "hot?" If so, I'm here to tell you - NO. It's not. It's toxic AF and not normal. I've read other "she's mine" trope books and they were fine. This one just didn't work for me. Wyatt was way over the top and well into crazy psycho obsessed territory. Think of the book and Netflix series 'You' by Caroline Kepnes. Yeah.

I "nothing'ed" Trista. For a bit of the story in the beginning I was really feeling the strong curvy girl vibes. But then the way she just suddenly turned submissive and let Wyatt control her with his psychoness, even while admitting that he's crazy, I immediately lost the "you go girl" I had towards her. I honestly didn't expect the submissiveness from her because the whole beginning of the book she isn't the submissive type to let anyone try and control her headstrong mentality that way. I was ready for her to light him up when he started talking his crap. But nope. She kind of just bends over. Literally lol 🌶. I felt her character was suddenly written as the opposite of what she was in the whole first half of the book. It was confusing and unexpected.

Wyatt was a spoiled rich kid who has always gotten what he wanted and if he didn't then he just takes it. And this book makes that seem like it's a "hot" thing for a "mountain man" to do. It didn't settle well with me. I think this story would have worked out better for me if Trista humbled that dude over and over again.

I was also bummed that this was partially a story about a curvy girl feeling insecure about herself and thinking no one "like Wyatt" could ever be interested in someone like her. *eyeroll*. Darn, I was ready to read a book about a plus sized girl who OWNED her space and didn't take ish from anyone. Trista kept saying she "loves her body" yet her actions throughout the second half of the book are 100% the opposite that. Words are words. Actions are a different story. And again, her sudden character flip halfway through the book is why this was confusing for the reader.

Not my favorite.

Thank you publisher and author for the copy of this book.

I tried. I really did, but this one is a DNF for me. It gave me the ick so bad.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Trista and Wyatt's story was unique and unconventional, it was different from other stories I've read recently but it was still a cute and easy read. I loved the banter, the angst, the steam, and the sweet moments. I loved how they took care of each other. I loved the animals and the shenanigans they get up to in the barnyard. Trista is compassionate, sweet, and feisty with a twisted sense of humor. Wyatt was an alpha grump who is caring and protective so it was easy to fall in love with him and his love language definitely was acts of service. His family's dynamic was very relatable and loved the dynamics between them. I can’t wait to read the other brothers stories!

I absolutely loved this book! I couldn’t put it down and read it in one day.
I thought this book was funny, sweet and steamy. The characters had great chemistry and you really wanted to root for them.
Their chemistry was off the charts and the banter was just amazing.
A great read with humor, steam and great characters.

“I was lucky to receive an advance copy from NetGalley, and I absolutely couldn’t put this book down! The brothers and their niece completely stole my heart—I adored them, and I can’t wait to dive into their stories next. The banter had me giggling, while Trista’s journey brought me to tears. Though there were a few moments that gave me the ick (like the way the mattress was described), they didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. Small-town romances are quickly becoming a favorite of mine, and this book was a perfect example of why!”

4⭐️ 2.5🌶

To say I was hooked within the first page is... an understatement! That ad for a surrogate?? Outlandish!

And truly, that set the tone for the whole book -- outlandish and hilarious. If you can turn a blind eye on some of the unrealistic and over-the-top elements to set the plot up (an 18yo parent trapping her uncle and a complete stranger/surrogate using her own egg thinking she'd have no emotional attachment to the baby or the baby daddy while essentially living with him/non-accurate depiction of surrogacy/calls herself a cow), then you'll have a really fun time!

I went into this book wanting to have a fun time and it absolutely delivered on this front ten fold! The banter, the dynamic between the brothers, the animals and just the overall choas of it all had me laughing more times than I can count. It was absurd in the best kind of ways and yes, the grumpy mountain man was hot as hell.

Surrogacy
Small Mountain Town Romance
Curvy FMC
Age Gap
Grumpy/Sunshine
Found Family
(MANY) Animal Companions / side characters

One thing that bothered me a bit was the constant reminder that the FMC was curvy, or fat as she calls herself. As a curvy woman myself, I find it disheartening when the focus is constantly brought on that as if it's the only thing that defines them. And it had nothing to do with her thinking she was even bigger due to the pregnancy but all to do with just who she was as a person and I found that to be a real bummer.

From the first page and the ridiculous ad I was hooked. Wyatt’s reaction to the ad and his treatment toward his brothers was hilarious and terrifying. Even though they love each other fiercely, the ad might have pushed Wyatt over the edge.

Wyatt is ready to be a father, but he has decided that he isn’t ever getting married, so he has been trying to use an agency. Unfortunately, after twelve candidates, they turn him away. Trista is trying to be a surrogacy but the agency turns her away. When she meets Wyatt’s niece outside the agency she is offered a job that is too good to be true.

I enjoyed the banter, friendship and brotherhood in this book. Surrogacy is a serious life choice and some might feel a rom-com about it is disrespectful, but I found the book to be more about the relationship between Wyatt and Trista. Yes, she was his surrogate, but even from their first meeting there were sparks and even though they tried to deny them, they realized they wanted more.

I liked the fact that both had baggage that they were dealing with and neither really knew what to expect from the situation. They relied on each other, even though she fought it tooth and nail, and his past comes back to show him that what he thought he wanted at one time wasn’t what he thought it was.

I loved this book and can’t wait to find out what happens when the next brother falls. I received an ARC and this is my honest, voluntary review.