Unfortunately this was not the book for me. I ended up dnf’ing due to the content not hitting the correct way for me to consider it enjoyable. I do appreciate the opportunity to read this story early.

This is an ARC Review. I want to thank Amy Daws and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me the chance to read this book ahead of release day! This is a great spicy rom-com! To start with the wanted ad had me hooked and it just kept getting better and better. The family as a whole, had me in giggles but the love story between Trista and Wyatt had me so intrigued with their constant tension! This was the best start to the series and I cannot wait to read the rest of the brother’s stories! And maybe even the VERY spunky niece! The writing style made it an exceptionally easy read. The only critique I’d have is that the book made me literally laugh out loud which caused seriously questionable looks when reading in public!

“I read one of the most important things a father can do for his child is to love its mother”

I have thoughts.
Trista was insufferable. The amount of emotional baggage this woman lugged around was EXHAUSTING. How Wyatt didn’t go insane is beyond me. She bit his head off anytime he offered help but if anyone else offered she would accept. He gave her a job, paid her money to do this amazing thing for him, but then would get upset when he spent money on her?? Girly just say thank you and move on! Also the internalized fat phobia was just so much to listen to. It felt so pointed and I just needed it to tone down a bit.

Wyatt’s brothers are also gross. Their little dating bet just put me off so much. Idc what else they did, they were just gross to me after that.

Meanwhile if felt like the only reason Wyatt wanted to become a father is because he missed his own… and I get that but also ????

I can see this book being the right cup of tea for someone, just unfortunately not me. Both MC’s were so unlikable in my eyes that I just truly didn’t care how their relationship progressed.

I know the next book is about one of the other brothers and I think I’m going to have to pass. I don’t care to see him “redeem” himself in anyway.

Thank you to NetGalley, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts are my own and are in no way influenced by early access to this title.

Trista and Wyatt’s story is exceptionally cute. Wyatt wants a baby and a family and his niece helps make that happen.

Trista doesn’t trust many people because of her parents and experience growing up. Watching her fall in love with Wyatt’s family and growing is a good part of this book.

I loved the animals and their names. LOL. Trista’s naming abilities is spot on and cracked me up throughout the book.

"Nine Month Contract" by Amy Dawes is a heartwarming and humorous story about an unconventional journey to parenthood. The story revolves around Wyatt and Trista, whose surrogacy agreement evolves into unexpected love.

Dawes beautifully explores the emotional rollercoaster of pregnancy and the complexities of their unique relationship. The story is filled with light-hearted humor {thanks to Calder & Luke}, touching moments {I mean Amy had me tearing up a few times}, and a sprinkle of sensuality {Wyatt is sweet & sexay}.

It is a quick read, offering a fresh outlook on love, family, and life itself.

🚼favorite quotes 📖

“How could you have possibly known?” she asks, still puzzling over this bomb I just dropped. I shoot her a coy wink. “I told you I was a mastermind.”—-touché Everly😍


“Everly, wait!” I turn on my heel to see her jog over to me as my parents watch us curiously. Trista grabs my hand and presses it to her belly, and instantly, I feel a light drumming on the palm of my hand. My eyes widen as a huge smile spreads across my face. “Aw, that’s my *******!”—-😭😭


“But if you need to hear it…you’re beautiful pregnant, not pregnant, stretch marks, no stretch marks. If I passed you in a bar somewhere in Denver, I would definitely moo.”💕

I definitely enjoyed my time with this story. It gave a fuzzy warm feeling, and it was spicy.

Trista, having a found family, was emotional. My eyes were watery when she spoke of her childhood. It felt so healing and heart-warming later in the story.

Wyatt is such a grumpy bear who turns into a teddy bear. I definitely have a thing for mountain man with no shame. Ekkk.

I love how every chapter started with an update to weeks pregnant and the animals on the mountain.

This was simply lovely & I can't wait to read more mountain man books.

This book was the perfect blend of funny and spicy.

I mean he has a pet goat. How can you go wrong with a broody mountain man with a pet goat?

Wyatt is single man living on the mountain with his brothers. He's ready for a family and looking for a surrogate mother. When his brother decides to place an ad looking for a baby mama as a joke his niece decides she is going to help find him the perfect candidate since things are not going well at the agency.

When she runs into Trista on the street ranting she thinks you know what I think you would be perfect for my uncle. Trista who is about to be homeless and needing money decides this is something she can do. She needs the money Wyatt is offering and the housing as well since she has a pet pig that she can't keep in an apartment with her.\

Wyatt and Trista come to an agreement and decide they are going to do this. Trista is ready and she wants to try this thing without the clinics and do it at home style. Through this process Trista has doubts about herself as she is plus sized and Wyatt has other thoughts about her. Together they decide you know what lets make this beneficial for both of us and have a sexuationship. What happens though when feelings start happening??

Holy smokes the things that these two do had me laughing and blushing. I loved the mix of both of their personalities and thought this was a fantastic book. I am looking forward to reading more about these mountain men.

Review will be posted in Goodreads as well as TikTok on 2/22/25

okay. this one was... interesting but not super much my thing? i mean, it'll definitely be someone elses, and the animal collection aspect was cool (altho a bit weird). but.... WHY was the niece involved at all? the ethics of the entire situation feels a bit slippery, too. 2.5 stars, rounded up. tysm for the arc.

This was everything I wanted out of this book. It was emotional, but had lots of funny parts, and I loved the tension between Trista & Wyatt. The brothers were funny, and it made me look forward to reading their books in the future. I also loved the running counts at the beginning of each chapter.

This book is about a man that wanted to be a single dad and his family that wanted to help. When he gets dropped from the surrogacy agency, his niece finds a match for him. She had something else up her sleeves too. She gets pregnant by the turkey baster method and they fall in love.The main female character talks so badly about herself. It bothered me that she called herself a cow just because she was a little bit curvy. . this book definitely went a different direction than I thought it was gonna go, but the writing itself was good, but I just cannot stand that main female character.

One of my favorite tropes is fake dating or marriage of convenience - and while that was not the trope here, it had all the similar feelings around it. This is just an arrangement that is mutually beneficial - he gets a kid, she gets money. Or is it more? Do we have feelings for each other, or is it just the proximity?

I loved the setting, these characters, and of course, the animals on the farm! The premise was adorable, and I love the added element of his family member being part of the connection between the couple.

I think we all hoped there would be a happily ever after - I just loved coming along the journey for how they got there!

Overall, an enjoyable read.

CW - Surrogacy, pregnancy

I loved this book and I thought it was so funny. I know the pregnancy trope is wildly disliked, but you know exactly what you are getting into when you pick this book up. It’s not a surprise. I was laughing during the whole thing. I highly recommend!

I feel a little all over the place with this one. I really liked some parts but other parts gave me a bit of an ick. Overall it was a really good time but I just didn't love some parts of it.

The dialogue was one of the things I was back and forth on. So much of it was SO FUNNY. I giggled, I kicked my feet, all the good stuff. Trista especially could be really funny. But then sometimes she would say something and I’m like but why? What was the point?? I also dislike that she referred to herself as a cow. I totally understand why as she’s trying to detach herself from the pregnancy, but with her being plus size and occasionally making critical comments about herself it just rubbed me the wrong way.

I really like that Wyatt wanted to take care of her. He saw that she didn’t have anyone looking out for her and he just wanted to do all the things. Even when she was a bit of a jerk about it he still made sure she was taken care and that made me love him so much 🥹. And his family all coming together to make Trista realize that she really could rely on people?? Obsessed.

Some of it was a bit odd, such as the surrogacy being used as a kink, but it was still an enjoyable time.
It’s a quick read which I appreciated as well, great cover, eye catching description and title that makes you curious too.
It definitely had moments of romcom vibes with humor, sweet romance, events that make you laugh, but also some heartfelt spots too.
There is some of what I like to call “gen z” terminology that can be a bit cringey (such as Rizz).
Overall it’s still an enjoyable quick read and I’ll be recommending it.

I will not be reviewing because I DNF’d at 10%.
I found it odd using surrogacy as a breeding kink. The whole thing was ethically ambiguous to me and a little misogynistic. Also the use of “rizz” twice before 10% was not it for me. People wanting to read about MCs in their late 30s, don’t want to read the word Rizz.

I adored this book just like I adore everything Amy writes. The banter is perfection. The spice is perfectly spicy. The book is hilarious, and the growth of the characters is spot on. Loved it.

This book was solid, and I liked it very much. The stakes, while somewhat ludicrous, were firmly established, consistent, and as high as they need to be in a romcom. The main characters were both likable, with established goals and behavior consistent with their personalities. They communicated clearly with each other, had good banter, and the happy ending felt both earned and deserved.
I also thought the author did a great job with the side characters, and I can tell that as she wrote this, she had very solid character concepts for the next MCs of the series (which is great. It's always weird when you hop on to book two and suddenly, so and so's brother is like a soulful bookworm or some such not even hinted at during his appearances as a side character in book 1).

Like others, I could've gone without the baby foreskin thing, and the word "groin" made far too many appearances in this text. Looking at others reviews, it seems that some find the tone too light for the subject matter. I get this, but I don't recommend reading a romcom for the realism. That way lies madness.

I have one more gripe I want to mention: don't at me, but I wish contemporary romcom authors would cool it on the Taylor Swift references. Nothing against Tay, but she's overused as shorthand for the mmc having a sensitive side. Beloved Authors I'm begging you: please come up with a second way to indicate that your male main character isn't shackled by the bonds of traditional masculinity. Give him a collection of antique cookie jars, or a bunch of house plants that he treats like children. Put him in a beginners watercolor class. Give him a yappy little dog who he delights in buying dresses for, or an encyclopedic knowledge of some niche soap opera that he watches with his grandma. Idk, and I'm sorry, Amy, for soapboxing during my review of your lovely novel. It's just that this was the NINTH romcom I've read in a row that used this exact trope.
T. Swift thing notwithstanding, I really enjoyed this text, am looking forward to the sequels, will order this book for my collection, and plan to keep the title in my back pocket for reader's advisory purposes.

Many thanks to netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of this title.

Wyatt is a mountain who wants to start his own family but is single. His niece Everly puts an ad for a Surrogate. Tristia responds to the ad. Along the way, Wyatt and Tristia form a bond. Nine Month contract was quick and sweet read. It was nice to see some familiar faces from previous Amy Daws' books. This book can be read as a standone but it might make a little more sense if you have some of Amy Daws' previous work.

this was such a fun twist on the single dad trope and i LOVED it! i already had the indy version of this book but hadn’t read it yet so i was delighted to get the e-ARC copy of the canary street press publication and i CANNOT wait to see more from the mountain men.

mmc wyatt wanted nothing more in life than to become a dad - especially after unexpectedly losing his own father. little did he know, his brother and niece put out a help wanted ad in search of a baby mama for wyatt. before they knew it, they had a handful of people interested and lucky number 13 would be the one.

the way the surrogacy would work is that trista (the surrogate) would have wyatt’s undivided attention and support through the pregnancy then they would go separate ways once the baby was born - no contact after that. trista would also be able to live on the family compound where wyatt and his two brothers lived. trista came from a really terrible, loveless childhood and found her happiness in farm animals. she never expected her safe place to be on wyatt’s mountain with his quirky, fun family. they were a lot but they loved her and accepted her like she was their own — fully knowing this relationship was only temporary. this was one of my favorite executions of found family evverrrr. i loved it so much!

The book starts off making you laugh and continues that way throughout. Possibly one of my favorite parts was the brothers’ bond. It was written in a way that just felt genuine. As someone who has a sibling I joke around with but will ride or die for, it hit home.
Now normally I don’t go for novels where the FMC gets pregnant - just not my thing. However the surrogacy plot was intriguing to me, and the author did not disappoint. Wyatt is that broody, protective man that takes care of what he considers “his”. **swoon** Sign me up for one of those 🫠 while, Trista was spunky and entertaining! The collection of animals added a lighthearted humor, while the love story was everything. Amy does such a good job at bringing banter and emotion to her books!