Stranded with the Boss by Elizabeth Lane

A single mom—and her twin babies!—are snowbound with the boss. Can they melt his frozen heart?

 

When Tessa Randall sues CEO Dragan Markovic's company for unfair termination, he insists on hearing her side of the story. But the billionaire known as The Dragon gets more than he bargained for when he's stranded at his snowy Alaskan lodge with Tessa and her twin toddlers. Now the flame-haired beauty wants to uncover his story. How can he tell her that her children remind him of his harrowing past and all that he lost? Or that the sweet family of three is slowly melting The Dragon's frozen heart…

 

Series: Billionaires and Babies | Publisher: Harlequin Desire | Genre: Contemporary Romance | Source: Publisher | Rating: 3.5 Cups

When Dragan Markovic learns that Tessa Randall refuses to accept his generous settlement and intends to follow through with her lawsuit against him company, he decides he wants to hear her side of the story. So when Tessa’s flight is delayed, Dragan offers her a ride on his private plane although he never expected her to bring along her twin toddlers or for them to be stranded at his lodge in Alaska. Events from Dragan’s past has him wired to stay away from Tessa’s children, but he finds himself growing closer to them and their mother.  

 

Dragan has been through a lot. Growing up in war-torn Sarajevo has left him emotionally capped off and because of what happened to him he doesn’t want to be a father, he doesn’t want to be responsible for bringing up children, and he doesn’t want to allow himself to fall in love. He’s a damaged—yet lovable—hero. Given what he’s been through, I would have almost expected him to come off as angst-filled and surly. Instead, he pulls away when he starts getting close to Tessa and the girls. Yet when they need him, he’s there no questions asked.  

 

While I felt as though a vivid picture of Dragan was painted, Tessa wasn’t as thoroughly flashed-out. The little I learned about her could fill a thimble. She’s a fiercely protective single mother of two adorable—yet rambunctious—toddlers. Her fiancé died. She was wrongly fired from her job and now has a lawsuit filed against the company. She’s drawn to Dragan, even though she tried to stay away. I learned about her parenting skills, her reasons behind the lawsuit, yet I didn’t really feel as though I was able to really meet Tessa.

 

The chemistry between Dragan and Tessa was interesting. There was a spark at the beginning, then when she discovered who Dragan was, it went back to bordering on enemy territory, then once they were forced to spend time together the flame seemed to ignite.

 

The twins, Missy and Maddie, both had very different personalities. Maddie’s a little Houdini who can escape from just about anywhere and Missy was all cuddly and smiley. Their antics kept the book lively and it was fun watching Dragan learn to interact with them. I enjoyed how they were intertwined within the story without bogging down the plot.

 

I had a slight problem with the lawsuit. I completely understand Tessa wanting to make sure that her hospital bills were covered, but the fact that she was allowing her lawyer to use the lawsuit to make an example of Dragan’s company kind of irked me. It also irked me that Tessa allowed her lawyer to cow her into a corner. I really wished she would have been more vocal and stood up for what she actually wanted.

 

Overall, I liked this book. I’m a sucker for the forced proximity trope. I enjoyed watching Tessa and her toddlers melt Dragan’s frozen heart. I would have liked to have seen more of who Tessa was. She came off very flat and one-sided.  Yet it was still a cute, quick little read. While the plot felt complete, the ending could have been extended by a few extra chapters.

Books with babies…love them or hate them?