Sap & Secrets
A Surprise Baby Firefighter Romance (Maplewood, Book 1)
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3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher
Sap & Secrets
Buy Now for £20.19
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Narrated by:
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Vanessa Edwin
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Connor Crais
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By:
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Daphne Elliot
A Surprise Baby Firefighter Romance from Amazon Bestselling Author Daphne Elliot
Nine months ago, I had one perfect, reckless night with Jasper Lawrence, the tall, tattooed firefighter who made me feel fearless. I told myself it was a mistake I’d never repeat.
Then he finds me at the Maple Festival… in labor with our surprise baby.
The best part? I had no idea I was pregnant.
Now Jasper is everywhere. The two of us stumble through new parenthood together. And he doesn’t just step up, he moves in. Almost. He pitches a tent in my backyard and sleeps outside so he’s never far away from us. He’s a shirtless, helpful menace who cooks, cleans, and cuddles our son. He makes me feel safe, seen, and wanted. And I hate how much I love it.
Every time I shove him away, he shows back up, golden retriever energy and all, with coffee and pastries in tow, ready to carry the baby, the groceries, and occasionally me.
I came to Maplewood, Vermont, to discover my independence. But it’s hard to keep my distance when the town’s been shaken by danger, the scars from my past refuse to stay buried, and the firefighter I should absolutely avoid keeps setting my world on fire.
Turns out the biggest threat to me in America’s most charming small town might be the man who won’t stop rescuing me.
Author’s Note: Sap & Secrets is a small-town romance featuring a curvy black cat, a tattooed golden retriever, and a (very cute) surprise baby. If you enjoy acts of service, small-town shenanigans, and maple syrup madness, you will not be disappointed.
Series Blurb: Welcome to Maplewood, Vermont. America’s Most Charming Small Town has some dark, sticky secrets. Come for the maple syrup, festivals, and cheese wars; stay for swoon.
©2026 Melody Publishing, LLC (P)2026 Melody Publishing, LLCContinue the series
The narration was lovely. I wouldn't expect any less from Mr Crais who could read the Highway Code to me and I’d be happy. If you haven't heard him before, he can voice anyone from a young New Englander to an older Irish mob boss with equal aplomb. Ms Edwin is a new narrator for me but has a warm, mid-octave voice without any hint of breathiness or overdone growliness. She voiced Evie perfectly - initially the confused new Mum, growing into self-confidence as her feelings and respect for Jasper grow. I’ll happily listen to her voice again. The audio production quality is excellent - no chapters cut short by the odd word or two and no sudden changes in sound volume.
Ms Elliot writes long family sagas very well. Though this is currently (February ‘26) sold as the first of a two part series, it can be listened to as a standalone. I hope it turns into a longer family story, taking in siblings from both sides. Jasper has quite a few brothers and sisters and Evie has a couple of sisters too so there's plenty to go at and 2 books might turn into more. So long as they appear in Audible, I’ll be buying. Josh and Celine or Nolan and Francis next? My bet (if I were a betting woman) would be on the former.
Happy listening!
The gorgeous hidden gem meets the bearer of good news with a lovely outcome!
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Listener received this title free
5🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️🎙️
3🌶️🌶️🌶️
🍁plus size FMC
🍁surprise baby
🍁small town
🍁found family
🍁endometriosis
🍁protective MMC
Author: Daphne Elliot
Sap & Secrets is the first book in the Maplewood series. Evie has recently moved to the small town of Maplewood a few years ago. She came to visit and fell in love with the views and the safe small town. Jasper has grown up in Maplewood his entire life. His family has a farm where he grew up. Evie is a beautiful curvy boss baddie. She works in advertising for the maple tree and sap company. This book starts off with a bang. Evie goes into labor in the pizza parlor. Jasper is the first on the scene. The only problem is, she didn’t know she was pregnant. Surprise! Jasper asked if she knew who the father was? Surprise number two, he is the father. Jasper quickly steps into a protective papa bear. He wants to help Evie raise their son and protect them. Evie has endometriosis and has very irregular cycles. She was not prepared to be a mother. She grew up with an alcoholic father and dismissive mother. She had a verbally abusive past and doesn’t trust men or know how to let one in. She has built walls in place to protect herself. Jasper’s family is under investigation due to a death on the farm. Evie has found a support group in her friends she has made here in this small town. I love Evie and Jasper so much. Can’t wait to read more of this series.
Vanessa Edwin and Connor Crais did an incredible job narrating this book in duet style narration.
Sap & Secrets
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Stab at erotica was rather boring
apart from that , I enjoyed the story line and characters
narrator was clear and precise
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Predictable
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Listener received this title free
First, let me say that I feel enough about it that I will be listening to the audio when it releases in about a week. I love the narrators and it’s going to be performed in duet. I mean that’s #winning right of the bat! I had a hard time “connecting” with a lot of this story when I read it and my hope is that Connor & Vanessa’s performance might change that. It’s happened before so fingers crossed. For now though, I am squarely in the middle of the road with this story.
Even though I admired a whole lot about Evie, on the flip side I really didn’t understand her treatment of Jasper on many occasions. It was borderline cruel and unusual punishment of sorts and I was twitchy. On the flip side of that, I found that Jasper may have “turned the other cheek” way too many times. Their treatment of each other changed dramatically probably about halfway thru and the relationship building truly began and while that’s outstanding, I have to wonder how many future readers might “give up” on this story before they even get to the “good stuff”! *shrug*
The surprise pregnancy trope, plus size issues and infertility issues, I feel were done really well and felt very genuine. I really like it when a story incorporates IRL circumstances and the author incorporates them in a respectful and thoughtful way.
The mystery portion of this story is still a mystery to me (see what I did there) and I can’t really wrap my head around the why of it all, but I trust that Daphne will reveal it all when the time comes and as each book releases in this series, we will get a bigger picture. This is what she does so I’m not unhappy about it it’s just that I’m used to binging her series and not having to wait LOL
I’m looking forward to more stories in Maplewood and seeing some of these side characters getting fleshed out a bit more. I’m invested in this town and its shenanigans already!
🎧This performance really brought it all into a different focus for me! As I mentioned in my “book” review just last week, my experience with this story wasn’t “bad” but I had trouble really connecting with a lot of what was happening. I liked it enough that I knew I’d be listening to two of my favorite narrators perform the story in duet and you want to know what happened? A whole lot of circumstances and actions happening to and between Jasper & Evie didn’t give me pause anymore. As a matter of fact, I saw them in a whole new light. I remember being frustrated and twitchy at so many different things but 🎙️Connor & Vanessa🎙️ brought a whole different perspective with their performances and I think it is because they not only narrated this story, but truly became Jasper & Evie, and I felt it!
Listening to a story being performed is very different than reading it. At least that is what I have learned in my #AudioEra journey thus far these past few years. But try as I might, I’ve never really been able to express how or why that happens, but it does! Sometimes it’s good and others it isn’t. I’ve had stories be completely flipped because of it, and although Sap & Secrets didn’t need to do backflips for me to “like” the story, it did do a cartwheel when I listened to it! Do with that information what you will :)
I'm increasing my rating of the story from 3 stars to 4 because the performance was outstanding and because it really gave me a whole new perspective on the story itself!
Sap & Secrets: Maplewood Book 1
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