Unexpected Forever by Marissa Dobson

*Pregnant…*

 The stick turned blue and Tessa Bradley’s world fell apart. But unplanned
 turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to her. Add a marriage of
 convenience to her best friend and unplanned just might give her the
 happily every after with the man she’s always loved.
 *Deployment…*

 Gunny Cameron White devoted his life to God, country and the Corp. Marriage
 has never been a blip on his radar. When his best friend—a woman he’s
 always loved—turns up pregnant and alone, he throws out the rule book and
 commits to her like a Marine.

 *Marriage…*

 Can two people overcome the choices of their past when an unplanned baby
 gives them the chance of an unexpected forever?

 Buy links:

 Sunshine Press http://sunshinepressbooks.com/shop/unexpected-forever-by-marissa-dobson/

 Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Unexpected-Forever-Clearwater-ebook/dp/B00DLZBH94/ref=sr_1_1?e=UTF8&qid=1372182799&sr=8-1&keywords=unexpected+forever+marissa+dobson
Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unexpected-forever-marissa-dobson/1115817185?ean=2940016714011

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/329631

 Romance Ebooks
 https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-unexpectedforever-1225099-149.html

 Kobo http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/Books/unexpected-forever

 Excerpt:

 Pregnant? Tessa Bradley’s hand slid across her abdomen, was there really
 a little person growing inside her? Her doctor’s voice droned on, but she
 couldn’t hear him. She was twelve weeks pregnant without a father for her
 baby, and after today’s shift—an unemployed mother-to-be.

 It can’t be…I was so careful.

 She hit the end button on her cell phone, and slipped it back into her
 pocket. During the last nine weeks, she’d worked as the secretary for a law
 firm in town, while their permanent one was on maternity leave—talk about
 irony.

 How was she supposed to be a mom when she didn’t even know how to take care
 of herself?

 “Tessa, there you are.” Mr. Jacob smiled as he stepped into the office. “I
 wanted to give this to you before you left. It’s just a token of my
 appreciation for stepping into Bev’s shoes while she was on leave. I
thought this might turn into a permanent position when I hired you, but Bev
 obviously has other plans. She wants to come back. If things change, you’ll
 be my first call.” He offered her a plain white envelope.

 “Thank you. I appreciate it.” She accepted it with a small, honest smile.
 Mr. Jacob was a wonderful boss and a good lawyer. He truly cared about his
 clients and did everything he could to fight for them both inside and out
 of the courtroom.

 “Very well, it’s Friday and we have no more clients booked for today. Why
 don’t you take off and enjoy your weekend?”

 She grasped at the generous offer, especially after the doctor’s call. She
 needed to get out; maybe a walk in the park would help her clear her
 thoughts. Maybe then, she would have a better idea what to do about her
 situation. In a daze, she moved around the office and gathered her things.

 “Thank you again for the job Mr. Jacob.” She called to him from the door as
 she slipped her purse over her shoulder, and let herself out for the last
 time.

 The air felt cool against her flushed skin, and the wind tugged her long
 brown hair, but she didn’t care. Heading into the park, she made her way
 past the children’s playground.

 One day I’ll be one of those frantic mothers watching from the bench
 praying my child doesn’t get injured.

 The countdown to ‘one day’ ticked faster than she’d ever imagined.

 “Tess?” He looped his arm around hers, startling her out of her reverie and
 pulling her to a stop. “Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

 Cameron White stood before her in his breath-stealing,
 damn-isn’t-he-good-looking crisp blue Marine uniform. The medals on his
 chest made her proud—and served as the steel fence between the future she’d
 wanted and the life he’d chosen fifteen years ago. He was a fine specimen
 of manhood—over six feet, muscular from his military training and hours in
 the gym, and shoulders wide enough to carry the world.

 Over the years, she’d nursed a long-standing fascination and attraction for
 Cameron, one he refused to acknowledge after he joined the Marines. She
 tried to supplant the desire, redirect it to someone else, but even Brian
 didn’t measure up to the yardstick she judged all men by. They weren’t
 Cameron.

 Young Marines spoke of him with respect, edged with fear. She knew he was
 strict, and expected only the best from his men, but he was also fair.
 Whenever someone needed a helping hand he was there, helping, guiding, but
 he expected his men to learn from their mistakes—to pay for their mistakes
 with pushups, loss of leave, whatever it took to drill the message home. He
 pushed his men to the breaking point, making them the finest Marines he
 could and he wouldn’t stand for them to give less than one hundred and ten
 percent.

 “Why are you in your dress blues?”

 “I just left John’s wedding, they pushed it up so they could be married
 before he ships out. It was a nice ceremony by the lake.”

 She heard him but it was as if his words came through a haze, distant and
 she couldn’t focus. Her legs felt heavy, and her head swam.

 “What’s wrong Tessa? Are you feeling okay?” He cupped a hand under her arm
 and guided her over to a bench.

 “I’m fine…I just need to go home.” God help her it was good to see him. He
 was like a port for a ship lost at sea but she needed to wrap her mind
 around what she was going to do—and how could she tell him? She didn’t
 think she could bear his disappointment.

 “Come on, I’ll take you home.” Arm around her waist, he pivoted neatly and
 guided her toward the street.

 “I’m fine. My apartment isn’t that far, I can walk. I’m sure you have other
 things you need to do before you have to go.” Even to her, the words
 sounded flat and they wouldn’t convince him, but it was all she had left.

 “You’re all that matters today. I was coming over once you got off work.”

 Even if he didn’t believe her, he didn’t force the subject. Maybe all the
 years they had known each other had enlightened him to the fact that if he
 pushed she’d only shut down more. What am I going to tell him? She tried
 to think of something, anything as he led her towards his car. They only
 had a few days left together before his upcoming deployment. She didn’t
 want to ruin the time she had left with him by bringing up her mistakes.

 Just the thought of another deployment was enough to send her into panic
 mode. Yes, he was career military and that was part of his job, but it
 scared the hell out of her every, single time. In truth, he married the
 Marines from the day he enlisted. He wouldn’t be there for their weekly
 movie date, or nightly chats. Selfish? Yes, but he was such a large part of
 her life, she didn’t know how to give it up—even for only a short
 time—without her heart breaking.

 If she were honest with herself, she’d admit she was in love with him, and
 had been since they were sixteen. Fifteen years later nothing had changed,
 at least not for her. For Cameron, he’d chosen the Marines, and that
 loyalty was absolute. He left no part of himself free for a girlfriend, let
 alone a wife. No matter how much she’d always wished otherwise, Tessa had
 accepted they would never be anything more than friends. Cameron wouldn’t
 allow anything more. He said something else, but she didn’t really
 understand it, the world around her tilted and she swayed. Blackness
 swamped her vision and everything faded.

My Review:

Unexpected Forever made me cry. I'll admit it; I teared up quite a few times actually.

Being a Military brat and spouse at one point, I could totally relate to the feelings Tessa was experiencing (minus the pregnancy while deployed part). The emotions and thoughts were hit dead on and the story was written beautifully.

Marissa has yet again written an amazing story full of emotions and detail. I totally recommend reading Unexpected Forever and other great works by Marissa.

About Marissa:

Born and raised in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area, Marissa Dobson now resides about an hour from Washington, D.C. She's a lady who likes to keep busy, and is always busy doing something. With two different college degrees, she believes you are never done learning.
Being the first daughter to an avid reader, this gave her the advantage of learning to read at a young age. Since learning to read she has always had her nose in a book. It wasn't until she was a teenager that she started writing down the stories she came up with.
Marissa is blessed with a wonderful supportive husband, Thomas. He's her other half and allows her to stay home and pursue her writing. He puts up with all her quirks and listens to her brainstorm in the middle of the night.
Her writing buddies Max (a cocker spaniel) and Dawne (a beagle mix) are always around to listen to her bounce ideas off them. They might not be able to answer, but they are helpful in their own ways.
She love to hear from readers, send her an email at marissa@marissadobson.com or visit her online at http://www.marissadobson.com.