Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas Lullaby | 2007 | Laura Marie Altom | Buy |
| 2 | Smoky Mountain Reunion | 2007 | Laura Marie Altom | Buy |
| 3 | Cowboy Dad | 2008 | Laura Marie Altom | Buy |
| 4 | A Dad for Her Twins | 2008 | Laura Marie Altom | Buy |
| 5 | A Daddy For Christmas | 2007 | Laura Marie Altom | Buy |
| 6 | Holding the Baby | 2008 | Laura Marie Altom | Buy |
The State of Parenthood is a six-book Harlequin romance series published in 2007 and 2008. As the name suggests, each book drops its characters into a different location while keeping parenthood at the center of the story. The series opens with Texas Lullaby (2007), then moves to the Tennessee mountains with Smoky Mountain Reunion (2007), and continues through Cowboy Dad (2008), A Dad for Her Twins (2008), A Daddy For Christmas (2007), and Holding the Baby (2008).
Laura Marie Altom is a natural fit for this kind of series, given her long history of writing about unexpected babies, single parents, and families coming together. The books are compact Harlequin romances with a geographic hook. Whether the setting is a Texas ranch or a Smoky Mountain cabin, the emotional core stays the same: two people learning to be parents while falling for each other. All six books came out within about a year, making it easy to read straight through.