THE BACKUP PLAN

She’s a fertility doctor who helps other people make babies. He’s her best friend of ten years who just asked her to help him become a single dad.

Dr. Sarah Hills has spent her career helping couples conceive. She knows the science cold — timing, protocols, percentages. So when her best friend Ethan Price asks her to help him have a baby, she does what she does best. She makes a plan. Three nights. Timed to ovulation. Clinical.

Except Sarah has been in love with Ethan for eight years. And nothing about touching him, kissing him, falling asleep in his arms is remotely clinical. Every defense she’s spent a decade building comes apart in three nights.

Now she’s pregnant with her best friend’s baby. He’s building nurseries at 2 AM and showing up with pickles and assembling cribs she didn’t ask for. And somewhere between ultrasound appointments and morning sickness, the co-parenting arrangement is becoming something neither of them planned for.

The thing Sarah doesn’t know: Ethan has loved her since the day she walked across the graduation stage ten years ago. He didn’t ask her because he needed a clinical arrangement. He asked her because she’s the only person he’s ever wanted to build a life with — and he’s been waiting for any reason to finally be close to her.

Two best friends. Eight years of secret love on her side. Ten on his. One baby on the way. And the growing, terrifying realization that the backup plan might have been the real plan all along.

Friends-to-lovers. Pregnancy romance. Mutual pining. He fell first. Moderate heat (fade to black).

The kind of book where you know they belong together from page one — and you’ll lose your mind waiting for them to figure it out.

WHY THIS WILL SELL

→ Friends-to-lovers appeared in 28% of Top 100 romance bestsellers in January 2026 — one of the most consistently in-demand tropes on the market
→ Pregnancy romance is a perennial bestseller with strong readthrough — readers who start the journey want to see it through
→ The fertility doctor premise creates a fresh angle on a proven trope — she knows exactly what’s happening to her body, which adds layers of irony and emotional tension most pregnancy romances can’t access
→ Dual POV with asymmetric pining timelines (8 years vs. 10 years) gives readers the dramatic irony they crave — both characters hiding, both readers screaming
→ Moderate heat level (fade to black) targets the massive sweet-to-warm readership without excluding readers who want emotional intimacy over explicit scenes

TROPES:
• Friends to Lovers (10-Year Friendship)
• Pregnancy Romance
• Medical Romance
• Mutual Pining (He Fell First)
• Grumpy / Sunshine
• Forced Proximity
• Only One Bed
• Dual POV

HEAT LEVEL: Moderate (Fade to black)

Perfect for fans of: Emily Henry, Lynn Painter, Abby Jimenez, and Tessa Bailey