Rita Marchetti and Jack Buchanan fell hard for each other 6 months ago, then he left for his last tour of duty. After he left, she waited for a promised letter. When months went by with no word, she grieved his death, because surely nothing else could have kept him from contacting her. As she grieved, she moved to the last place she'd been with him, started her own bakery, and learned she was pregnant.

Jack returned from a war zone damaged. Not physically but in his soul. When he stumbles into Rita 's bakery, he is stunned to see that his former lover is pregnant. His suspicions confirmed, he proposed a temporary marriage to give his child his name. Can he and Rita come to terms on what's best for their child?

This was well written - especially for someone with PTSD, but my heart broke for Rita. The way she never gave up on Jack, showed her true strength, love and endurance. I much prefer this type of heroine over the usual doormats. All in all, a very much enjoyable read.

Reunited when she least expects it! A touching story about how the memories of the past can haunt someone's life. Strong characters, but bittersweet because he was pushing her away the entire time instead of enjoying their growing connection. Ended well though!

Baker Rita Marchetti had an impetuous fling with a Marine on leave and lost her heart forever! She thought they had a future, but when she didn't hear from him as promised, she assumed he had been killed at war. Without any contact info for him, she could only grieve the loss and rue the misfortune of meeting her love at the wrong time in life.

Jack Buchanan meets up with Rita again purely by happenstance, and he can't believe she's pregnant. He's not sorry she thought he was dead. He feels dead, and he can no longer give her the future he promised. He doesn't want anything to do with her or their baby, but he refuses to let the baby be born without his name. A temporary marriage in name only with a quick annulment after the birth will fix that!

Rating 3.5/5
What a roller coaster ride this story turned out to be! Rita Marchetti had been on holiday when she met and fell in love with a marine, Jack Buchanan, who was on leave for a week before being sent on deployment. Their attraction was mutual and he promised to write . . . then he didn’t. She mourned his loss and actually moved to set up a bakery near where they met. That’s where he found her again and discovered she’s having his child!

There are so many different issues raised in this story as their attraction is still there but there are so many other aspects to be resolved before they can have any chance of attaining their HEA. Jack has shut his emotions down and isn’t relating to anyone, not even his close family, as he had before deployment. He’s very emotionally scarred by his experiences and this is a story of Rita trying to breech the walls he’s erected to protect himself and to rediscover the man she loves. Rita is a brilliant, feisty, Italian spitfire - independent, considerate and loving!

A very different romance, exploring the impact of traumatic war events on servicemen returning to civilian life. There are some heart breaking moments in the story but keep going, it’ll be worth it in the end!

I requested and was given a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest opinion after choosing to read it.

A sweet, emotional tale from Maureen Child. There could have been a lot more to this story, but what you did get was a scarred former marine, Jack, stumbling upon Rita, his previous fling pregnant with his baby. Jack was unwilling to let Rita become more to him, and Rita, an italian spitfire wasn't taking no for an answer.

His Unexpected Heir (Little Secrets #1)
by Maureen Child

Arguable rather I should rate this story 2 or 3 stars. I expected better from this author. I can say the first part of the book I was engaged, then i became un-engaged and had to force myself to finish the story. At the end it finally became a readable book again for me. While this could of been a superb great read, it missed it by a long way. I was given this book in return for an honest review. Anna Swedenmom

Pleasantly surprised! Not at all what I expected, yet I could not dare put it down. I love this trope and will be reading more Maureen Child in the future :-)

I really disliked this book!! The hero was a total jack ass who refused to move on from an event that happened while he was in the service. So he has a week long affair with this girl, walks away and tells her he will call her, has this devastating thing happen and he never sees her again.

Up until by chance he spots her pregnant and working in a bakery. Then he wants to marry her so his kid has his name and then wants to divorce. She should have kicked this loser to the curb!