EXPECTING THE EARL'S BABY by Jessica Gilmore is Book one
in
the Summer Weddings Harlequin miniseries. This
story
employs the "surprise baby" trope but includes some
complex characters and depth of emotion. I was pleasantly
surprised by Sebastian Beresford, Earl of Holgate and by
what kind of hero he turned out to be.
Daisy Huntingdon-Cross and Sebastian Beresford are
opposites in just about every way. One of the many
examples is that Daisy never completed her college
degree, while Sebastian is an academic and published
author. The differences between them add conflict to
EXPECTING THE EARL'S BABY while still making the
characters sympathetic.
I think the difference that has
had the biggest effect on their lives is the type of
parents each of them had. At first, I thought Sebastian
would want to marry Daisy and make their unborn baby
legitimate because of some outmoded aristocratic
snobbishness. However, that is not the case at all. For
me, it shows a hidden sensitivity that he wants to give
the baby the stable home life he never had growing up.
I
am so glad that Jessica Gilmore decided to tell this
story from both points of view because it is crucial to
understanding the characters, and Sebastian keeps a lot
bottled up. His childhood was not the happy, loving home
that Daisy experienced. Even though her parents are
celebrities, the love they shared with their children
created a sense of security. Sebastian never experienced
any of that. If not for the window the author provides
into his thoughts, Sebastian would seem too cold and not
as complex.
The romance between Daisy and Sebastian, although based
on sexual attraction at the start, undergoes an
interesting and satisfying evolution throughout the
course of EXPECTING THE EARL'S BABY. They both try to
compartmentalize their feelings but they eventually
realize that doesn't work. I love how, through their
romance and getting to know each other, they become more
self-aware and grow as individuals. Sebastian is
particularly flummoxed by the epiphany Daisy inspires.
They are still basically the same people they always were
at their core, but having their world expanded changes
them in small yet profound ways.
EXPECTING THE EARL'S BABY is a thoughtful romance that is
both sexy and sweet. Some of the scenes between the hero
and heroine are particularly poignant. I look forward to
the next book in this series to see what happens in the
lives of Daisy's sisters.
It was the most incredible night of her life, but Daisy
Huntingdon-Cross never expected to see her Valentine fling
again. Except six weeks later Daisy's world is turned upside
down—she's pregnant! She just needs to tell the father.
Yet the man she knew as "Seb" has a few revelations of his
own. He's Sebastian Beresford, Earl of Holgate—he doesn't
just work at Hawksley Castle, where they met, he owns it!
And with Daisy's news, Seb's determined to claim his heir -
starting with a wedding!
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