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.