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HaBO: Another Harlequin Secret Baby Book

You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!

This HaBO request is from Judy, who wants to find an older Harlequin:

I’m looking for what I think is an old Harlequin because I remember the book was white with a circle picture in the middle? I came by it used so not sure exactly how old it is.

The story centered around a girl who somehow got to vacation where there were a bunch of rich kids (she’s poor) and she caught the eye of one of them. They fall for each other, but due to the evil spurned rich girl, our heroine believes he was engaged to another behind her back and runs off. He couldn’t find her because her airplane tickets were purchased by her aunt (with a different last name). Thats also who she lives with.

Fast forward about 10 years and she shows up looking skinny and sick at the office where the hero is now a rich CEO. She has a son and the state is trying to take him because she’s been sick and the child (about 9 years old *wink wink*) doesn’t have anywhere else to go while she recovers. He was the only powerful man she could think of to help. He drops everything to help her – even buying an apartment for her – but telling her it’s a business apartment being remodeled.

Of course, the baby is his and this could have been cleared up with a 20 minute conversation. Of course, he tried desperately to find her and pined for her all these years.

I also remember she finds out about all his help and the apartment from the guy’s older secretary when she gets mad at the heroine.

I want this book even though it sounds like about 20 other books in this trope.

Though the secret baby plot is a popular one, I think there’s enough detail here to suss this one out. What do you think?

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  1. Elaine says:

    This sounds like Sandra Brown’s “The Silken Web.” I re-read it about a year ago and remember how scandalized I’d been by it as a teenager. In a good way. 🙂

  2. Carolinareader says:

    I hope someone knows this, I have read tons of harlequins similar to this one and now you have me wanting to read this one too

  3. Judy W. says:

    Not this one. It only featured the one couple. I’m pretty sure it was a category romance. He suspected the child was his but when he asked his birthday it was off. The little boy had been premature.

  4. Gingerly says:

    Could this be “Dark Side of Desire” by Michelle Reid? It’s a Harlequin Presents, secret baby, rich boy-poor girl, second chance reunion romance deal with a ten year old son.

    Review blurb says: As a teen, Rebecca loves Jay, and she believes he returns her love. After he leaves the country on business, she finds herself pregnant, and writes to him. The letter is stolen by jealous Olivia, and Rebecca is ultimately forced to leave home and have her baby alone.Ten years go by before the two lovers meet again. With Olivia is still around, trying to cause harm again,trying to re-start the rumors.

    Do you remember any nationalities for the characters at all? The most popular secret baby daddies appear to be Greek, Italian or French. On an unrelarred note this seriously makes me want to do some geeky comparative case analysis on romance heroes attributes by nationality!

  5. Karin says:

    This sounds like a Lynne Graham Harlequin Presents, but I’ve read so many, I’ll have to do some research to figure out which one.

  6. Judy W. says:

    Gingerly, I don’t think it’s this one. There was no letter confrontation. The heroine was watching hero sunbathe out the window lying next to his rich friends when the jealous ex pointed out to the heroine how she didn’t belong and he was using her as he was already engaged to HER (lie). They may have been in the Hamptons? But I may not remember that part right. Everyone appeared to be straight up white bread nationality. I knew this was a pretty common trope. I’ll have to research the Lynne Graham. Thanks for all your efforts and input.

  7. Gingerly says:

    @ Judy – no bother I’ll confess that I’m intrigued now with finding this. As someone who grew up with oughties romances my mind is boggled by the sheer volume of secret love children romances, boy were old skool romances lackadaisical with protection! Good thing all the secret daddies seem to be princes or billionaires.

    I scanned through all Lynne Graham’s backlist of Harlequin Presents – nothing matches yours exactly: either Child’s age or gender is wrong, or the time apart is off, or the nationalities are non-American.

    The Closest three matches were –
    The Greek Tycoon’s Defiant Bride

    Maribel and Leonidas (the Greek Tycoon) had a fling, she got pregnant, had his son-Elias and kept this from him, they meet again and he discovers the truth and does everything to cater to them and ensure that his son gets the best he has to offer. She does not make it easy for him.

    Pregnancy Shock

    Alexei Drakos comes from a powerful Greek family. When he is a teenager Alexei meets Billie and instantly feels protective of her but she starts dating one of his “friends”. When they grow up, he offers Billie the role of his assistant. She accepts and they have the perfect employer-employee relationship until one night Alexei seduces her and takes her virginity while drunk.

    That same night he has an accident suffers amnesia and has no memory of having sex with Billie. When Billie discovers that she is pregnant she goes away, has the baby in England, and passes the baby off as her aunt’s when she moves the baby back to the island where she reunites with Alexei.

    The Frenchman’s Love Child

    Tabby fell in love with Christien Laroche, but then tragedy struck and Christien wanted nothing more to do with her. How could Tabby confess to the arrogant Frenchman that she was expecting his baby?

    Now Tabby has made a new life for herself and her son. But Christien is back! What if he discovers little Jake’s existence?

    All synopses are from Goodread reviews.

  8. I am 100% convinced I have read something so very similar and I am positive it was set in the Hamptons. So much of it sounds familiar as if I’ve read it in the last year or two. Will have to go through my spreadsheet.

    I feel like I need to create a document in which I include all the elements on my spreadsheet plus a description of the book. That will only take me a lifetime. Someone talk me out of it.

    But it sure would have been easy enough to find this book had I ever done that. Because I am positive I’d read it.

  9. For some reason, I am thinking of Melody Anne.

  10. <<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> A goodreads search “secret baby” results in 43 pages. Tried “Secret baby+Hamptons” nd that did nothing to whiddle it down.

  11. Karin says:

    The heroine who is poor, raising a child alone and having problems with child welfare services is a familiar Lynne Graham trope, but I also went through her backlist and couldn’t find an exact match. So now I’m looking at Sharon Kendrick. This is from a review of “Constantine’s Defiant Mistress”:
    “Over seven years have passed since Laura has seen her lover of one night who sailed in and out of her hometown port and now she learns he’s going to be in England and possibly getting married. Years have passed since the many times she tried to reach him to advise him that he had a son. Especially now it’s important as Alex needs to know his father, and Laura’s sister needs to leave the family business and go out on her own.” The blurb also refers to the heroine as “a mousy little waitress”.
    Sharon Kendrick of course, authored the infamous “The Playboy Sheikh’s Virgin Stable-Girl”. And she also wrote a book called “The Forbidden Wife” which was an HP version of Jane Eyre. I mean the entire plot was identical.

  12. Judy W. says:

    I really appreciate the bitchery’s help with trying to find this book. I can’t believe I lost it in the first place because I kept so few category originally. This title is frustrating me. I don’t think there was the word mistress in the title and none of the characters were foreign. Your typical orphan, white, good girl living with doting aunt(s). The hero was no sheikh, greek tycoon or anything exotic. His secretary was an older, loyal woman. Every character was white which might say something about the age of the book.

  13. @Judy W, I agree. I too have read this book. The youthful scenes take place in the Hamptons, the rest of it on Manhattan. I’ve read it within the last coupla years which may very well mean I learned about it here on SBTB in one of their daily sales lists.

  14. Celia L. says:

    I think it’s “High Risk” by Emma Darcy, one of the first Mills & Boons I read – she left by bus, not by plane, but all the other details fit.

  15. Gingerly says:

    I think you’ve nailed it Celia – the synopsis is here for those who are interested:

    http://www.fictiondb.com/author/emma-darcy~high-risk~11263~b.htm

  16. I am not so sure. The book I am thinking of started in the Hamptons and then the rest of it was in Manhattan. Emma Darcy seems to be writing books that take place in Australia.

  17. Judy W. says:

    Celia! I just rechecked the post. That is IT! All hail the bitchery and their amazing skills. I even remember that cover. Thank you, Thank you.

  18. Karin says:

    It was a real puzzler, Judy, because it’s such a common HP plot. I’m glad you found it! I could have sworn I read it, but now I know I didn’t, because I only read HPs with Greek, Italian, or Spanish heroes. Maybe Russian in a pinch. I’m picky about my billionaires.

  19. Gingerly says:

    Great detective work Celia — you should get the Nancy Drew Smart Bitch detective award! I seriously underestimated the volume of secret baby romances out there.

    I’d be curious to know if they escalated around the height of the pill and other widespread use of contraception? Are they still a big trend in the market?

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