Just One More Affair (Sterling Family #5)

Carly Phillips

Blurb:

A one-night stand with a billionaire.

A surprise pregnancy.

Can she trust his love?

Or is it the baby tying them together?

Charlotte Kendall never expected history to repeat itself after a one-night stand at a wedding. Especially since a past encounter left her co-parenting twin daughters she adores. Except this time, her baby daddy is a man she can’t resist.

Billionaire Jared Sterling always gets what he wants—and he wants Charlotte Kendall. When he learns she’s pregnant, he’s all in. But Charlotte’s past has taught this independent, single mom to guard her heart. She doubts Jared’s motives and believes he’s only invested for the baby.

Their chemistry is undeniable and Jared will do anything to convince Charlotte she’s his endgame. But her life is complicated and when her brother’s recklessness puts Charlotte in danger, Jared takes over, proving he’s offering the love and stability she has always craved.

Now Charlotte must decide—will she keep running from the man who’s offering her everything, or take a chance on love?

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, there are very few authors that manage the “surprise pregnancy” trope well enough that I will bother reading the story, but luckily one of those authors is Carly Phillips, and her latest release is just another example of why I believe that. I was incredibly surprised when I realized who this story was going to be about, but I’m thrilled that Noah’s parenting partner Charlie will be pulled further into the Sterling family and get her very own sexy Billionaire for an HEA. Charlotte and Jared were beautiful together, even when they were having issues coming to grips with the changes in their lives and understanding one another. I cannot wait for the next release and to see which Sterling sibling falls in love next, though I have my suspicions but of course the best part will be seeing this little family continuing to grow and change as well.

Charlotte Kendall has already done the “oops surprise” baby thing once before and got crazy lucky with the father of her twins (Noah), because although they never had a romantic relationship after their one-night stand ended in a lifetime commitment of co-parenting their friendship and partnership is strong. She is incredibly careful now about her encounters, but the magnetism and chemistry she feels for Jared Sterling are undeniable and when they finally give in at Noah and Fallon’s (Jared’s Sister) wedding she never imagined she’d get unluckily twice. Six weeks later there is no denying the truth to herself, but now she has to find a way to explain to Jared that he is about to become a father and decide how involved they will be. Jared never imagined he would be gaining an instant family, but Charlotte is the first woman to really captivate him and he isn’t going to let her deny that they are perfect together, even if her has to get a little help from her twins to convince her they could be a perfect family. But Jared isn’t quite as willing as Noah was to be just a friend and father to her child, he wants more and that more will lead to a lot of changes in both Charlie and Jared’s life. Convincing Charlie that their unconventional family unit can last and that he isn’t just willing to stay with her because of that baby is going to be a challenge, but a Sterling never gives up when he finds something that he wants.

Jared and Charlotte both have remarkably interesting relationship hangups that kept them from jumping into the deep end and made their relationship hit a few bumps along the way. Jared knows that Charlotte is special and when she returns to his life with the news he is going to be a father, his heart, and goals for the future change immediately. He has a lot on his plate, working to keep his dad from pushing himself into an early grave and now he has to find a way to make more time for his growing family, but he is willing to put the time in for the important things—namely Charlie. Jared is intelligent, strong, alpha, and protective, even if he doesn’t always know the best way to go about asking for things, instead making demands, but Charlotte is just the girl to teach him that. Charlie has worked her butt off to get where she is in life, professionally and personally, and she refuses to take handouts, sadly leaving her with a bit of a chip on her shoulder about taking help from others. She is smart, loving, a good mother, steadfast, and sweet, not to mention supportive of those she loves, making sure that everyone around her has what they need to grow and succeed. As she spent more time truly getting to know Jared she was able to help him overcome some of his issues and they grew closer together and were able to truly become a family, even when her own family never offered her that same support. Together they will be fabulous parents, not only to their child, but her twins.

I truly loved this entire story as Carly found a way to bring a story that could have easily just revolved around the surprise baby to life, making it instead about two people that are taking a chance on a relationship that they might not have taken before. Just One More Affair was a great title because Jared and Charlotte had no idea they were taking that last fling and finding their Happily Ever After when fate stepped in. Charlie wonders if she might be the unluckiest woman alive when her second ever one-night stand ends in a second pregnancy, but thankfully she begins to understand that fate had her hand in Charlie’s life all along, leading her once again to the Sterling family, because Jared was meant to be her future all along. Jared had no idea his life would change quite so drastically when he took Charlotte to bed, but even after their one night together, he hoped to have a chance at a relationship with her, so their child is just the chance he needed and he gives it his all to convince her they are made for each other. I loved the way these two interacted with one another, the twins, and even Noah and Fallon, altogether making an odd little family of six (with more to come of course), and I can only imagine the parenting conversations to come. The love and passion between Jared and Charlotte almost shimmers off the pages and you cannot stop reading for fear of missing a single moment of their heat and sweetness. I am thrilled with the direction this series and the family has been going and I cannot wait to see where it heads next, but I know wherever that is that I will enjoy the ride immensely. If you haven’t picked up this series yet, I highly recommend you start it ASAP (at the beginning of course) because its only getting better and better and Carly doesn’t seem to be letting up on the gas of this crazy train anytime soon!

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.