Today’s post is all about one of those tropes that’s like Marmite (you either love it or you hate it): Secret Babies.
Obviously I love the Secret Baby (SB) trope given that I wrote my own version with Poppy & The Gents (see below).
Let’s start with what defines the SB trope? At its most basic, it’s where the existence of a baby (or child) is hidden from the biological father.
Today’s list includes several different variations on the typical SB trope including (1) the Female Main Character (FMC) isn’t the mother of the SB, (2) the SB is adopted before the Male Main Character (MMC) finds out and (3) it’s the biological father’s family who didn’t know about the SB and only find out after he passes away.
P.S. I’ve tried my best to avoid them but I can’t guarantee that this post will be 100% Spoiler Free.
As always, if you’ve got any recommendations, you can let me know either in the comments or by e-mail at louisehallbooks@gmail.com.
P.S. If you’re looking for more Book Lists, you can find links to them all in the Archives.
Happy reading x
(1) Poppy & The Gents by Louise Hall (2021)
Poppy Jones doesn’t date. She’s too busy taking care of her younger sister and managing The Gents, a coffee kiosk at the Arches, a legal graffiti space in South East London.
Street artist, Gabriel Morrone is exactly the type of person Poppy despises. He lives life on his own terms. All he cares about is what he’s going to paint next. That all changes when he comes back from getting coffee one morning to find the three-year-old son he never knew about abandoned on his doorstep.
A rookie parenting mistake immediately puts the reckless artist on a collision course with Perfect Poppy and it is hate at first sight.
When Poppy and Gabriel are forced to spend time together by Poppy’s meddling teenage sister, they realise they’re more similar than they first thought. Living in the moment with Gabriel gives Poppy the chance to reclaim her lost youth while Not-So-Perfect Poppy might be the ideal person to help Gabriel navigate his way through the rocky terrain of fatherhood.
Amidst a backdrop of growing tension between two rival street gangs at the Arches, Poppy and Gabriel’s relationship will face the ultimate test when his son’s biological mother makes a surprise return, setting off a devastating chain of events.
After the paint’s dried, can Gabriel prove to Poppy that he’s no longer the rakish, irresponsible artist she first met at the Arches? Will Poppy be brave enough to give Gabriel another chance even though life with him will never be safe and predictable?
Tags: My Books / Guardians
(2) Bountiful (True North #4 & Brooklyn Bruisers #5) by Sarina Bowen (2017)
Once upon a time a cocky, copper-haired tourist sauntered into Zara’s bar. And even though she knew better, Zara indulged in a cure for the small-town blues. It was supposed to be an uncomplicated fling—a few sizzling weeks before he went back to his life, and she moved on.
Until an accidental pregnancy changed her life.
Two years later, she’s made peace with the notion that Dave From Brooklyn will never be found. Until one summer day when he walks into her coffee shop, levelling her with the same hot smile that always renders her defenceless.
Hockey star Dave Beringer has never forgotten the intense month he spent with prickly Zara. Their nights together were the first true intimacy he’d ever experienced. But the discovery of his child is the shock of a lifetime, and his ugly past puts relationships and family out of reach.
Or does it? Vermont’s countryside has a way of nurturing even tortured souls. The fields and the orchards—and hard won love—are Bountiful.
Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Sports Romance (Ice Hockey)
(3) Lies & Lullabies (Hush Note #1) by Sarina Bowen (2020)
Once upon a time, he gave me a summer of friendship, followed by one perfect night. We shared a lot during our short time together. But he skipped a few crucial details.
I didn’t know he was a rock star.
I didn’t know his real name.
Neither of us knew I’d get pregnant.
And I sure never expected to see him again.
Five years later, his tour bus pulls up in Nest Lake, Maine. My little world is about to be shattered by loud music and the pounding of my own foolish heart.
Tags: Favourite Author / Fictional Musicians / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)
(4) Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino (2015)
To the Green-eyed Lovebird:
We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House.
You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.
We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money. I learned more about myself that year than any other.
Yet, somehow, it all fell apart. We lost touch the summer after graduation when I went to South America to work for National Geographic. When I came back, you were gone. A part of me still wonders if I pushed you too hard after the wedding…
I didn’t see you again until a month ago. It was a Wednesday. You were rocking back on your heels, balancing on that thick yellow line that runs along the subway platform, waiting for the F train. I didn’t know it was you until it was too late, and then you were gone. Again. You said my name; I saw it on your lips. I tried to will the train to stop, just so I could say hello.
After seeing you, all of the youthful feelings and memories came flooding back to me, and now I’ve spent the better part of a month wondering what your life is like. I might be totally out of my mind, but would you like to get a drink with me and catch up on the last decade and a half?
M
Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Book by This Author / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)
(5) King of Hearts (Hearts #3) by L.H. Cosway (2015)
I used to rule the world.
There might be wolves on Wall Street, but there were crocodiles in Canary Wharf. Some of us craved money. Some of us craved power.
I liked money, and power had its advantages, but what I really wanted was to excel, to surpass the men who came before me. I never cared much for love and romance until I met Alexis.
I could feel it the very moment she walked into the interview, with her outspoken charm and vivacious personality. She cast all the others in shadow, made me laugh when life held no humour. Our friendship should have remained professional, but it wasn’t long before the lines started to blur.
You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men? Well, I never foresaw where my plans would lead, and only in my darkest hour did I finally see the light…
You can have all the money and prestige in the world and still be the poorest man alive. And love, well, I hate to use a tired old cliché, but love can be the thing that truly sets you free.
Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Office Romance
(6) The Cad and the Co-Ed (Rugby #3) by L.H. Cosway (2017)
Keeping a secret this big is going to take lots of balls. Specifically, rugby balls.
THE CAD: Bryan Leech is a cad. Or, he *was* a cad. No one is quite certain.
Once the quintessential playboy, Bryan claims he’s done with wild parties and weekend benders. No more one night stands leading to mornings he can’t remember; no more binges and blackouts; no more exploits plastered all over the tabloids and rag sheets. According to Bryan, he’s cleaning up his act.
The only problem is, no one believes him.
THE CO-ED: Eilish Cassidy never thought she’d be a mother at nineteen or still in college at twenty-four. Cut off from every member of her family except her favourite cousin, she’s finally managed to put her life back together. Stronger and wiser, Eilish enters her last semester of university determined to stand on her own. Now she just needs to find an internship.
The only problem is, her best option—by far—places her directly in the path of her son’s father, and he doesn’t remember her at all.
THE PLAN: Bryan is determined to prove he’s changed. Eager to settle down with the right woman, he’s got his sights set on the gorgeous redhead who seems terribly familiar.
Eilish is determined to hide her secret. She’ll do anything to keep her child safe, even if that means ignoring her own wishes and desires.
But what happens when Bryan starts to remember? And what will it take for Bryan to convince the girl he forgot that she’s unforgettable?
Tags: Favourite Author (L.H. Cosway) & Favourite Author (Penny Reid) / Favourite Series / Sports Romance (Rugby)
(7) Only You (One and Only #1) by Melanie Harlow (2018)
Nate Pearson is ridiculously handsome and wears the hell out of a suit and tie, but I’ve seen the parade of beautiful women leaving his apartment across the hall—a different one every time—and I want no part of it. When it comes to romance, I’m looking for something real, something that will last: the happily ever after.
As a divorce attorney, he loves to tell me there’s no such thing.
As a wedding planner, I choose to disagree.
We disagree on almost everything, in fact. Everything except James Bond. The only time we really get along is when we’re watching 007 flicks together, and I’ll admit—he has rescued me from a disaster or five. So when one of the baton twirlers from his parade leaves a baby girl at his door with a note that says “I’ll come back for her” and he begs me for help, I can’t turn him down.
But it’s a mistake.
Because watching him with his daughter, I start to see another side of Nate, a side that has my breath coming faster, my body craving his, my heart longing for him to change his mind about love and tell me there’s a chance for us.
I don’t want to be just another girl leaving his apartment in the morning.
I want to be the one he asks to stay.
Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)
(8) Unforgettable (Cloverleigh Farms #5) by Melanie Harlow (2020)
Back then, I had it all. Wicked fastball. Killer instinct. Cocky grin. Full package. (And believe me, I knew how to score.)
My senior year, I was a first round draft pick with a two-million-dollar signing bonus. Before I could even legally buy myself a beer, I made my Major League debut.
Point is, I was invincible. Until one day I wasn’t.
After tanking my career—during the World Series, no less—the last thing I want to do is return to my hometown, where every jerk in a ball cap has an opinion about what went wrong with my arm.
So when my sister drags me back to town for her wedding, I vow to get in and out of there as quickly as possible.
Then I run into April Sawyer.
In high school we were just friends, but I’d always wanted her, and I’d never forgotten her—the red hair, the incredible smile, the crazy, reckless thing we did in the back of my truck the night we said goodbye.
It’s been eighteen years, but one look at her and I feel like my old self again. I can still make her laugh, she can still take me down a notch, and when the chemistry between us explodes, it’s even hotter this time around—and I don’t want it to end.
But just when I think I’m ready to let go of the past and get back in the game, life throws me a curveball I never saw coming.
Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads
(9) Friends with Benedicts by Staci Hart (2021)
Timing is everything.
Presley Hale and Sebastian Vargas are no strangers to goodbye. Their high school summers were spent wrapped up in each other until she would inevitably go home to California. One season after college, Sebastian finally escaped the little Texas town to travel the world, and they said goodbye for what they thought might be the last time. Sebastian went one way. Presley went the other.
For the first time in five years, they’re both in town, but the timing is no better than ever. So the only thing to do is what they do best. Keep it casual. Friends with benefits. They’ve done it before—doing it again will be easy. But their hearts don’t get the memo.
When the lines of their arrangement blur, Presley and Sebastian are faced with decisions they’ve avoided for years. And that’s not even their biggest problem. A small town in danger of failing. A secret that could tear them apart. And two hearts that can’t hide anymore.
They’ve shared so many summers, but none compare to what they’ll face.
Timing is everything. And their time is almost up.
Tags: Favourite Author
(10) Finding Cinderella (Hopeless #2.5) by Colleen Hoover (2013)
A chance encounter in the dark leads eighteen-year-old Daniel and the girl who stumbles across him to profess their love for each other. But this love has conditions: they agree it will last only one hour, and it will be only make-believe.
When their hour is up and the girl rushes off like Cinderella, Daniel tries to convince himself that what happened between them seemed perfect only because they were pretending it was. Moments like that happen only in fairy tales.
One year and one bad relationship later, his disbelief in love-at-first-sight is stripped away the day he meets Six: a girl with a strange name and an even stranger personality. Unfortunately for Daniel, finding true love doesn’t guarantee a happily ever after… it only further threatens it.
Will an unbearable secret from the past jeopardize Daniel and Six’s only chance at saving each other?
(11) A Lie for a Lie (All In #1) by Helena Hunting (2019)
Sometimes I need an escape from the demands, the puck bunnies, and the notoriety that comes with being an NHL team captain. I just want to be a normal guy for a few weeks. So when I leave Chicago for some peace and quiet, the last thing I expect is for a gorgeous woman to literally fall into my lap on a flight to Alaska. Even better, she has absolutely no idea who I am.
Lainey is the perfect escape from my life. My plan for seclusion becomes a month-long sex fest punctuated with domestic bliss. But it ends just as abruptly as it began. When I’m called away on a family emergency, I realize too late that I have no way to contact Lainey.
A year later, a chance encounter throws Lainey and me together again. But I still have a lie hanging over my head, and Lainey’s keeping secrets of her own. With more than lust at stake, the truth may be our game changer.
Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Sports Romance (Ice Hockey)
(12) Heart of Glass (Fostering Love #3) by Nicole Jacquelyn (2018)
Henry Harris was living his dream as a staff sergeant in the Marines. When he’s killed in action, his devastated family is in for one more shock: he had a daughter they never knew about.
Morgan Riley has been raising Etta on her own, and that’s always been fine by her – until Henry’s brother Trevor arrives on her doorstep, willing to do anything to help and make up for his brother’s mistakes. Their attraction feels wrong, but Morgan can’t seem to turn him away.
Trevor is suddenly in too deep. He has always wanted a family, but Etta and Morgan come with complications. Yet as Etta brings them closer together, Trevor begins to imagine giving Morgan and Etta the life his brother never could. But he wonders if Morgan will ever learn to trust another man with her heart, especially a man whose last name is Harris.
Tags: Favourite Author / Favourite Series / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog)
(13) Feisty Red (Three Chicks Brewery #2) by Stacey Kennedy (2020)
She’s prepared for anything… except for the second chance with her cowboy ex she never saw coming.
Clara Carter is the brains behind Three Chicks Brewery. The oldest and most responsible of the Carter sisters, she doesn’t have time for anything but taking care of her son and making sure her family’s top beer, Foxy Diva, gets into bars across North America. Which means getting the brew in front of Colorado’s biggest beer distributor. Unfortunately, that becomes tricky when the man in charge of distribution is none other than Sullivan Kenne, the cowboy who ran out on her seven years ago.
Sullivan’s life has been one wrong move after another. First, he tried to prove himself to his bastard father by signing a contract to play professional baseball, a choice Sullivan still regrets. Then he bailed on Clara, the only woman he’s ever loved. Seeing her again makes Sullivan determined to right his wrongs. Unfortunately, he wasn’t counting on one of those wrongs being a six-year-old son he never knew about.
Reuniting with Clara and meeting his son is a shocking–and amazing–experience. But as much as Sullivan tries to return to his roots and be the stand-up cowboy of Clara’s dreams, the reality is, she’s having trouble trusting him. Luckily, Sullivan knows the way to Clara’s heart, and he’ll prove to her that a second chance with a cowboy is worth the risk.
(14) Tattered (Lark Cove #1) by Devney Perry (2018)
Thea Landry has always known her place in modern-day society. It’s somewhere just above the trash can her mother dumped her in as a newborn but below the class where much comes easy. With her tattered shoes and bargain-bin clothes, her life has never been full of glamour.
So when a rich and charismatic man takes interest, she doesn’t fool herself into thinking their encounter is anything more than a one-night stand. Months later, she’s kicking herself for not getting his phone number. Or his last name. She’s given up hope of seeing him ever again.
Until one day, years later, Logan Kendrick waltzes into her life once more and turns everything she’s built upside down. This time around, she won’t make the same mistake. She’s going to fight to keep him in her life—not for herself.
But for their daughter.
(15) The Best Thing by Mariana Zapata (2019)
Some things are easily forgiven. Other things… not so much.
Lenny DeMaio made herself a promise: she was done.
Done thinking about him.
Done worrying about him.
Done reaching out to a man who clearly didn’t want to be found.
Too bad no one gave Jonah Collins the memo.
Tags: Favourite Author / Five Star Reads (Pre-Blog) / Sports Romance (Rugby)
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(9) Emergency Contact by Lauren Layne & Anthony LeDonne (2023)
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Louise Hall 