 
 
From the publisher:
He’s going to claim his child and the woman who got away…from USA TODAY bestselling author Naima Simone.
Will they ever learn…
that giving in to desire is playing with fire?
After discovering he has a secret son, oil heir Ross Edmond isn’t letting Charlotte Jarrett walk away again. He proposes they move in together–to share their son…and a bed. But Charlotte has secrets, and Ross doesn’t know the real reason his family’s former chef left town three years ago–and they still have a powerful enemy who could bring them both down…
From Harlequin Desire: Luxury, scandal, desire–welcome to the lives of the American elite.
Visit Royal, Texas, and find out if the Edmond family is all that they seem in Texas Cattleman’s Club: Heir Apparent.
Review:
The first book in the Texas Cattleman’s Club: Heir Apparent, Back in the Texan’s Bed is a second-chance romance with a secret baby in the mix. While second-chance romances are my catnip, the secret baby trope is less interesting to me. But I’m on board for Naima Simone’s steamy writing and excellent plots so I dived right in and happily wasn’t disappointed.
I enjoyed Charlotte and Ross, though their path to the bed seemed a bit quick for my slow-burn heart. It worked for this story because there was history between them. There is a good amount of angst between this strong, independent woman and her emotionally compromised love interest. Charlotte is a fabulous character who deserves all the good things, while Ross has a bit of growing to do, given his dysfunctional family and emotional baggage. But I really rooted for them as a couple and their coming together was highly satisfying.
Simone also handles the baby reveal so well – I didn’t end up wanting to slap anyone for being willfully clueless (which is mostly the issue I have with this trope). Instead, there are real external obstacles and a credible threat that has the power to do real damage to this couple.
I’m a fan of Simone’s category romances – she can pack so much character development and steam into a tight space. And she describes desire like no one can. She gives the same care to her primary characters as she does to her secondary ones and now, I want all their stories. A quick, tight, well-developed read that I’ve come to expect from a writer on her A-game.
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