Rent-A-Dad

Heart of the West/Bachelor Auction #11

by Judy Christenberry

"Heart of the West"

Join Harlequin for a special 12-book series about a bachelor auction in the heart of the West, Wyoming. Each book features a sexy new bachelor up for grabs -- and a woman determined to rope him in The popular Western theme was present in 4 out of 5 of Harlequin's top-selling series titles for 1997.

"Rent-A-Dad"

Lindsay Bright's small greeting card company was growing by leaps and bounds. Her private life was in good shape, too. Except she was a busy single parent having to manage everything on her own. When she heard about the bachelor auction, she decided this was her opportunity. A man to handle the baby, the housework and business demands. Just for one weekend, and what better weekend than Mother's Day? Russell Gibbons was that man -- and until he met Lindsay and her baby he never thought that babies, mommies and nesting were his specialty.

Genres: Romance

Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Judy Russell Christenberry was born in Dallas, Texas, USA, where she raised in a family of four children with a stay-at-home mom who was a terrific cook and an excellent teacher, where family tradition was concerned. As a child, Judy was surrounded by animals. Her father raised a few head of cattle to keep meat on the table. At one time or another, there were sheep, Thanksgiving turkeys, ducks and dogs, and there were always chickens.

Judy learned the importance of family at an early age. But, Judith's marriage ended in divorce. Yet, with support from her mother and siblings, she and her two daughters discovered their own definition of family. The family comes in all shapes and flavors. What's important isn't the two parents and the 2.5 children, it's love and support. She raised her children, taught during the day, wrote at night, and pursued her dream.

Judy, hasn't always been a writer, but she's always been a dreamer. As a child, for entertainment while doing chores, she told herself stories-she was always the heroine. However, she didn't start writing until she turned thirty-eight, just one year after her father's unexpected death. After this, she realized life promised no guarantees about how much time you have. Why wait to pursue your dreams? She had begun reading Harlequin Romance novels about ten years earlier, so romance writing came naturally. She signs her novels as Judy Christenberry, Judith Christenberry and Judith Stafford.

Over time, Judy realized two central themes dominating her writing: family and small town/country life. Many of her books have cowboy heroes, partly because she read all Zane Grey's romantic versions of the Old West as a teenager, and partly because her parents grew up on farms. The last element that frequently appears in Judy's stories is a dash of humor, just enough to bring a smile to your face. She believes laughter is good medicine and it definitely makes a six-foot hunk even more attractive!

Now, with her daughters pursuing their own dreams, Judy writes full-time and is wrapped up in her storytelling. She lives each new adventure with the vigor of a young girl, still dreaming up tales while washing dishes. She hopes to entertain her readers as much as she entertains herself!

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. All Melissa wanted from the bachelor she bought was for him to model for her line of greeting cards and watch her daughter one morning so she can sleep in. Russ showed up expecting that she wanted the kind of fancy date that other women wanted. Both of them got more than they expected.

Melissa had lost her fiance shortly before their wedding and was raising their daughter by herself. She loves being a mother but there are days when she really love to have someone around to help her. When she had originally bid on Russ at the bachelor auction, it was to seek his help for her business. Now she'd be happy with a couple hours of extra sleep one morning. Her initial impression of Russ leads her to believe that won't happen. He is obviously not someone comfortable around children and has no clue what to do. She's ready to cancel the whole idea, but Russ insists on carrying through with it. She is surprised by his willingness to learn, and even more by Mandy's acceptance of him. She's disturbed by her own reaction to him as she never expected that another man would appeal to her. Melissa spends a lot of time fighting her feelings for Russ. She goes from fighting everything he wants to do for her to total acceptance by the end of the weekend, but is sure that there's no future in it. I really enjoyed the photo shoot that did with Russ and the effect it had on both of them. Melissa has to decide if she can open her heart to the risks of loving again.

Russ came to Wyoming expecting to take Melissa on a fancy date. His flight had been terrible, with a crying baby right next to him, and he arrived in a less than pleasant mood. When he discovered that Melissa wanted his help with Mandy he was surprised and very nervous. He'd never been around kids and had no clue what to do. Once he'd recovered from the flight he was interested in doing as she'd requested. I loved seeing the way that Russ jumped in and took care of Mandy. He was so sweet in the way that he wanted to give Melissa her wish. I loved the way that Mandy found her way into his heart. It was great fun seeing just how much he enjoyed doing things with her. He also found that he was falling for Melissa. Being around her made him realize that the life he had in Chicago wasn't as satisfying as it used to be and that he'd really like more. He also discovered that seeing everything she was going through as a single mother changed the way he looked at his own past and the way his mother left him at the boys' ranch. I really loved the difference that made in his own attitude and what he did about it. I also loved the way that he didn't give up on Melissa and went after what he really wanted.

[Josie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ended up skimming through this. The scenes with baby Mandy were my favourite (and the only reason this is getting two stars), and I loved the epilogue. But the heroine WAS a martyr and it made her insufferable. I also felt like the way the hero was reunited with his birth mother was handled very poorly and was incredibly rushed.

[Khyla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a cute story overall, Melissa was getting on my nerves but I get it.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

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