Review: Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey

Holly‘s review of Undeniably Yours (Kowalski Family, Book 2) by Shannon Stacey

One-night stand + two percent condom failure rate = happily ever after?

Bar owner Kevin Kowalski is used to women throwing their phone numbers at him, but lately he’s more interested in finding a woman to settle down with. A woman like Beth Hansen. If only their first meeting hadn’t gone so badly…

Beth’s tending bar at a wedding when she comes face-to-face with a tuxedo-clad man she never thought she’d see again. She tries to keep her distance from Kevin but, by last call, she can’t say no to his too-blue eyes or the invitation back to his room. Then she slips out before breakfast without leaving a note and, despite their precautions, pregnant.

Kevin quickly warms to the idea of being a dad and to seeing where things go with Beth. After all, he’s not the player she thinks he is. But she’s not ready for a relationship and, given his reputation, it’s going to take a lot to convince her to go on a second date with the father of her child…

I remember really liking Kevin in the previous story, and really wanting him to get his own, but I can’t exactly recall why I liked him. So I kind of went into this book blind.

I really liked a lot of it. Kevin and the whole Kowalski clan were wonderful. I loved the sense of camaraderie and friendship between them, and the other secondary characters.

Kevin was a solid character, who really wanted to do the right thing by Beth. He also wanted to settle down with a family, so the timing was right for him. Beth didn’t want to settle down, which meant he wasn’t able to just bulldoze his way into her life. It was good that she didn’t just fall for him hook, line and sinker, though I do wish she would have given just a little bit.

As stand up a guy as Kevin was, I kept wondering when he was going to say enough was enough and let Beth go. After his failed marriage and Beth’s constant rebuffs, I found his dedication to her to be a little…I’m not sure, I guess a little bit too much. She really pushed him away, yet kept coming back. I thought he’d reach his limit long before he did.

As for Beth herself, while I understood her need for independence, I don’t understand why she was so fierce about it. I think Paulie, Kevin’s bar manager, had a better reason to push people away than Beth herself did. Her reason for being so closed off was that her parents had smothered her as a child. We never saw evidence of it, though. They sounded like concerned parents, but they weren’t overbearing or smothering.  For her to scoff at every offer of help – whether emotional, mental or financial – and push everyone away because she was an only child and her parents cared about her…well, it was too much.

I understood better her concern that Kevin only cared about her because she was carrying his baby. As women, we never want to wonder if the man in our life is only with us because he has to be. But even that was taken too far.

Despite my issues with Beth and her need for independence, I really liked this story. I think it would have been better if Beth had given in sooner, but overall it had a sweet quality. It helped that Paulie and an old flame, Sam, had a secondary romance running in the background. That kept the frustration from Kevin and Beth’s lack of relationship at bay for the most part.


3.75 out of 5

The series:

This book is available from Carina Press. You can buy it here in e-format.

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