When your best friend is the one you need ‘help’ from…

Synopsis

A BRAND NEW flirty, addictively steamy billionaire romance from Rachael Stewart. Perfect for fans of Nicole Snow and Ilsa Madden-Mills. 

Taylor

I wanted a baby-no strings, no messy emotions. Just a donor I could trust-my best friend. He didn’t hesitate or ask why. He said yes… with one condition: no clinics, no cold procedures. Just him-his bed, his way. I should have said no. But I wanted this. And I didn’t realise how much I wanted him. I told myself I could handle it, keep my heart locked tight. The moment he touched me, all those lies fell apart. Now, I’m falling-for a man who never promised me anything but his body. And my deepest desire risks becoming my darkest downfall. But now there is no turning back.

Axel

She asked me to give her a baby. No love. No future. Just a piece of me. I’m not a good man. I’m not the kind you build a life with. But this…this was my one chance to touch heaven and pretend it wouldn’t burn me alive. So I took her. Over and over. Knowing she’ll never be mine. But now I’m addicted. Possessive. I don’t want just her body-I want her soul. Her future. Her everything. And when she walks away-like we both know she will-it’ll break me. Because I’d give her the world. But I’ll never be worthy of it.

My review

Taylor is the kind of woman who knows what she wants, and always finds a way to get it. Now that not only her biological clock is ticking, but also as she sees the joy her little niece brings, Taylor wants to experience motherhood herself. However, she wants to do this on her own, and she does not want any donor. She wants a donor that she trusts… and who is better than her best friend Axel? Not that she wants him to be an actual father, she just wants a baby from him. Axel is initially flabbergasted by Taylor’s request, but only on one condition: no clinics or procedures, the baby has to be ‘made’ the natural way. Because what Taylor doesn’t know is that Axel has always wanted her, but as he doesn’t see himself as a good man, he doesn’t believe he is worthy of her. So with this one chance to be with her, how can he refuse? However, the longer they are trying to get pregnant, the longer Taylor realizes that who she truly desires is the man she cannot ever have. And Axel realizes that when the moment arrives and Taylor will walk away, he will be left broken…

Having read the first book of the series, and having already met Taylor and Axel with them helping out Sadie, I was very curious to see where Rachael Stewart would be going with the next chapter in the series!

It isn’t mandatory to have read the first book, but I suggest to read it, as it will give you a better idea about all the dynamics between not only Taylor and Axel, but all the main characters. And it will also give you a better idea about who Taylor and Axel are. And of course, that first book is also a great book, so more fun too for you! 😊

Taylor is the kind of woman you don’t mess with. She knows what she wants, she knows what it takes and she isn’t afraid to just go for it. It is obvious that she is a very strong, independent woman. She also isn’t the kind of person that shows affection. But I don’t mean it in a way that she doesn’t love, because with Sadie we see how much she loves her younger sister. Taylor is just the kind of person that doesn’t has her heart on her sleeve.

Perhaps I have to admit, while she is very protective, caring and loving towards her family and her closest of friends, I did not see in her the maternal feelings she starts to have at the start of the book. But that can be on me, because of course, we don’t know Taylor all *that* well, do we?

I could understand Taylor, that she doesn’t want just any donor for her baby. With how she and Sadie grew up, it makes sense in her way of thinking wanting the biological father to be someone she trusts, knows and also knows that he would never take a claim on her child.

Luckily for her, she knows one person that she trusts implicitly, and she knows that he does not have an interest in being a “real” father. And that is her best friend Axel…

Axel, that we know is this tough guy, someone you don’t want to mess with. But also the guy that would do just about literally everything for the people he cares about and loves. That desire to do anything, goes even that far that he agrees to give Taylor a baby.

But with his condition, to use the natural way, we see already a little bit who Axel truly is, and what he feels.

And with his real emotions and feelings revealed to us, I somehow couldn’t stop myself from feeling sorry for Axel. Not only because it shows us what he truly feels for Taylor, but because how little he thinks of himself…

Yes, he had a terrible youth, and yes, perhaps he has done wrong things while growing up. But he has redeemed himself in so many other ways, and he has been able to change his life for the better. So why wouldn’t he be worthy of love? Why would he not be enough for Taylor? Why would he be having ‘evil’ in him?

So even if Axel this tough guy, on his own he shows a vulnerability that just made me want to jump into the book and give him a comforting hug, and I just wanted to show him what I saw, that he is in fact a good person. But I also knew that Taylor would also be perfect for the job 😊.

Funny isn’t perhaps the correct word to use, but I found it a bit funny to see how the dynamics are shifting between Taylor and Axel, and how they both see each other in a way they didn’t expect. We know that Axel is a Alpha man, and I didn’t expect any different in the bedroom. And he for sure delivers 😊. Yet there are a few moments that i was a bit stunned by his ‘alphaness’ 😊.

Of all the things, I didn’t expect Taylor to going along with Axel, following his demands and follow his instructions, that have no room for any kind of negotiations. And yes, also and especially in the bedroom! 😊

Of course, as a reader it doesn’t come as a surprise when it becomes clear to the pair of them that the other party has not always been completely honest about their feelings. And that made me also very curious to discover how the reactions would be. And I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised!

Now, another non – surprise is that there is a point where things are going terribly downhill, as something happens that seems impossible to overcome for Taylor and Axel. That angered me a little bit very much (😊) because the pair of them have gone through so much, past and present, and they have grown so much even throughout this book that I just wanted things to work out for them without any further hiccups.

Rachael Stewart wrote this book about two very strong characters, yet the more you get into the book, you see a vulnerability in both of them. We see that behind the strong façade is a person (applicable for both Taylor and Axel) haunted by the past, afraid to change the strong existing relationship, doubting the own self-worth and afraid of admitting the deep, hidden feelings…

This book show us the vulnerability of characters, but also their strengths. It shows us also several steamy moments, that fit so well with both characters. And it shows us, and most important, how courage and understanding, acceptance and trust, can just change everything, for the better.

Saying I loved this book, would be too easy and it would never express exactly how I feel about it! Rachael Stewart just did once again deliver and exceeded my expectations that were already sky-high! 😊