One woman. One baby. One chance to make it right.

After leaving the army, surgeon Ryan Hunter lives by one rule– stay safe. He never remains anywhere or with anyone for too long. And then he meets Aria DeLuca, and for two years, he breaks all his rules. When he realizes he’s fallen in love, he walks away, heading to Marietta, Montana.

Aria never expected forever. Her relationship with Ryan was supposed to be strings-free, but tell her heart that. After Ryan leaves, she discovers she’s pregnant. Wrestling with her decision to keep her pregnancy a secret, Aria changes her mind after Sophie is born. Her daughter deserves to have a chance to know her father. But she is leery, as Aria knows firsthand the pain of having a father walk away.

Aria arrives in Marietta—with a baby and a dream of opening a plant nursery. Ryan breaking her heart again is not an option.

Loving Aria and their daughter, Sophie, is easy. Believing he deserves them is not. Can Ryan prove he’s done running before the family he never knew he wanted slips away for good?

Titles in the Montana Made series include: The Wrong Brother ~ The Christmas Cowboy ~ Montana Medic’s Match ~ Hot Christmas Cowboy ~ Surgeon’s Surprise Baby ~

This story may contain language, violence, and/or sexual situations intended for an adult 18+ audience.

Title:  Surgeon’s Surprise Baby
Series:  Montana Made #5
Author:  Eve Gaddy
Published:  May 12, 2026
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Surgeon’s Surprise Baby is the fifth title in the Montana Made series, set in one of my favorite fictional small towns, Marietta, Montana.  I sometimes wonder if the founding authors of this unique town ever imagined it would spread to so many families, so many stories… almost as if it took on a life of its own.  I just hope those stories keep coming to us.

Ryan is a former military man, a talented surgeon, and a man who has an expiration date for every relationship.  Aria has been an exception to his rulebook.  They’ve been together two years now, but Ryan is acknowledging that he’s fallen in love with this amazing woman… and he leaves her behind as he heads to Marietta, Montana, sticking to his no-commitment rule.  He has his reasons.  Are they good ones?  Who knows, but they’re his reasons, and only he (and the love of a good woman and an adorable baby) can change his mind.  Ryan is one of those heroes that I just want to reach into the book and smack him upside the head.  He has what so many people long for, yet his fears keep him from a love that would last a lifetime…if he took the risk of giving his heart away.

Aria only discovered she was pregnant after Ryan left.   At first, she was determined never to tell him that he was a father.  If he couldn’t commit to her, then how could he ever stick around for a child?  Yet, she changed her mind when she finally acknowledged that Ryan might not deserve to know about Sophie, but their daughter certainly deserved to know her father.  And it was for that reason only that Aria packed up, moved to Marietta, and planned a future there with her daughter, not the man she still loved.

Difficult times lie ahead for this couple.  Watching Ryan lower those walls of his, face his fears, and let Aria and Sophie into his heart was an emotional journey.  Their story is well-written, passionate, emotional, with an adorable baby who will steal your heart.  I always have fun with an Eve Gaddy romance, and Surgeon’s Surprise Baby was a delight.  If you enjoy an emotional romance with a couple who do belong together, if they each can get beyond their personal pasts and risk everything for each other, then you’d love Ryan and Aria’s romance.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review and share my personal opinion about this book.*

Do you love anything (any story) that’s even slightly connected to Marietta, Montana?  Yeah, me too.  Be sure to visit our Marietta, Montana pages (this link to where this series is located – there are three pages :)) to catch up on the series that you might have missed over time.  It’s quite an amazing and diverse community, with happily-ever-after endings guaranteed.

This title is available at Amazon