Baby Business

Thad Winters is a thirty-two-year-old widower who has lost his wife and unborn child in a car accident. After living for eighteen months feeling detached and alone, he decides a child would help fill the void in his heart. He plans to replace, as closely as he can, the baby that was taken from him. To do that, he needs the perfect woman. But he believes he can find her. . for the right price.

At twenty-nine, Macy McKinney is a divorced mother and a medical student at the University of Utah. She wants to be a pediatrician, not a surrogate mother. But her five-year-old daughter, Haley, is lying in a hospital bed, dying of cancer. Her ex-husband has disappeared without a trace, and they've already reached the maximum benefits allowed by their insurance policy. Macy needs $100,000 to pay for Haley to have a bone marrow transplant. And she's willing to do almost anything to get it, including having a stranger's baby, even though she knows walking away from that child – and its father – will be the most difficult thing she's ever done.

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Chapter One Excerpt

"You look...nice," Thad said, knowing it was a tremendous understatement but trying to keep them on safe ground. Macy looked...well, stunning, and sexy as hell. But if he told her that, he might just pull her into his arms.

Stepping back so his hands wouldn't betray him, Thad motioned for her to come on inside the room.

"Where's the minister?" she asked, hanging back.

"The girl out front said it's a woman. She should be here soon."

Macy nodded, sighed, then wrung her hands.

He smiled and handed her the bouquet he'd bought her. "You're acting nervous."

Her chin came up, but when she answered, her voice was a little higher than normal. "I'm not nervous. Why would I be nervous?"

"Who knows what's going on inside that pretty head of yours. Why don't you tell me?"

She tugged at her lip with her teeth and moved closer to him, then looked over her shoulder once and lowered her voice. "I've just been wondering if...if you're going to kiss me. I mean, I think it might embarrass me if you let the minister know you don't want to. But," she swallowed, "I understand why you don't...want to."

Thad watched her in amazement. She didn't know how appealing she was? That if he were any other man....

"This is just a business deal and all that," she was saying. "You don't really like me, I mean in that way, but it wouldn't have to be a big kiss. Just a peck, so the minister doesn't know." Tears started to well in her eyes, but she blinked furiously and managed to hold them back. "I didn't think any of this would bother me, but now that I have this dress on and I'm holding this bouquet, I feel kind of like a real bride, you know?"

"I was going to kiss you," he said.

"Right." Her cheeks went pink and she nodded. "Okay."

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Reviews

Romantic Times Magazine * * * 4-1/2 STAR REVIEW * * *
"Superromance authors fill the holidays with expressions of love starting with talented Brenda Novak and BABY BUSINESS (4+). Since the death of his wife and baby an ad executive is intrigued by the notion of having another child, only he isn't looking for romantic entanglements. For a struggling medical student the offer to be a surrogate mother proves a blessing since giving life to his baby may save her own child. With style and sensitivity Ms. Novak pens a story about the healing power of love, faith and hope."
~Pamela Cohen

Old Book Barn Gazette
"You can't help but laugh and cry with Ms. Novak's characters. She also shows how families and friends can be supportive with just the right push every now and then."
~Nancy Manley

WordWeaving
"Baby Business is an entertaining contemporary romance confronting some of life's most tangled issues. Macy is willing to pay the highest form of payment; that is, giving Thad one baby to save another. Having lost my own loved one to leukemia, I'm impressed with Novak's handling of Haley's disease, confronting it realistically and lending the child joy even in the midst of great pain. Novak scores high marks with this extraordinary and poignant reading experience."
~Cindy Penn

Huntress Book Reviews
"AWESOME STORY, READERS! Here is one that you do not want to miss! Macy is in a catch twenty-two and the author wrote it all so well that I could not help but get deeply into the book and cheer for Macy! Excellent read!"
~Detra Fitch

Rendezvous
"Baby Business hums with the emotions of these complex and loveable characters who are very real to the reader. The hero is to die for -- he's sexy, loving, and tender and a perfect match for the strong heroine who needs someone to lean on. A cast of secondary characters adds charm all their own to this utterly amazing love story about sacrifice and second chances. It definitely deserves keeper status." 
~ Darlene Kendall

Heart Rate Reviews
"Bravo Ms. Novak for penning a poignantly beautiful category romance full of heart wrenching emotions and plenty of tender moments. My heart went out to Macy for putting up with all that went wrong in her life. Her courage in the face of helpless fear and despair is so exquisitely portrayed by Ms. Novak.

"Brenda Novak displays her unique talent for blending serious situations with compelling and lovable characters to create a romance one cannot soon forget."
~ Jenna Richardson

Romance Reviews Today
"A highly emotional, creative and intriguing tale, Baby Business is well-written, with good, strong dialogue and eminently sympathetic characters. The plot is unique, and balances well with the underlying theme of Haley's illness, which, although told with compassion, is not too heavy-handed or sappy. Baby Business is much more than just a romance - it is a heart-warming, touching story of the enduring love between parent and child during the most difficult of circumstances."
~Astrid Kinn

Belles & Beaux of Romance
"Baby Business is a heart wrencher with a knock your socks off ending! Ms. Novak has a super duper sense of humor, making the repartee between Thad and Macy a special treat in this book. In between the tears, there's some awfully good laughs. Thad and Macy are something else. I loved these two unforgettable characters. One thing is for sure, I know I never, ever, want to miss a book by Brenda Novak.

"Brenda Novak's love stories bring out the best of her three-dimensional characters who will wiggle and worm their way into your heart so when you finish Baby Business you will have an enormous grin on your face, and a pile of hankies on the table beside you. Now that is SATISFACTION!"
~Suzanne "Getting Ready to Fly Some Kites with Haley and Thad" Coleburn

Affaire de Coeur
"Brenda Novak tweaks the emotions in Baby Business. Macy's brave actions on behalf of her child and Thad's vulnerability are both endearing."
~Rickey R. Mallory

* * * 5 STAR REVIEW * * *
"Baby Business is an emotional relationship drama that continually pulls at the heart of the reader. Macy is an incredibly brave person willing to do anything to try to save her daughter's life. Thad struggles with his love for Macy and Haley against his feelings of be unfaithfulness towards his first wife. Brenda Novak beautifully writes about the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of loving someone."
~Harriet Klausner

MyShelf.com
"Baby Business is an emotional read that will keep the reader turning the pages until the end. Her characters are so well developed you will remember them long after you finish the book."
~Suzie Housley

Under the Covers
"Brenda Novak has once again written a romance that will bring tears to your eyes. Her characters are in-depth with pent up emotions that they are afraid to show, until their love for one little girl has them risking all to make it work. Baby Business is a story of a woman's love for her daughter, and a man that they both teach to love again. I highly recommend this book to all readers of romance."
~Robin Peek

Romance Reader on the Run
"Baby Business by Brenda Novak will capture your heart and and give it an emotional twist. Ms. Novak writes an amazing story involving the love one feels for their child and the possibility of losing that child to illness. Add a spice of love, disguised as a kind and gentle man who has so much love to give, but harbors his own fears from have loved and lost what means the most to him and readers have a heart warming story to treasure long after finishing."
~Pam Tullos