PROJECT: RUNAWAY BRIDE – Heidi Betts
Project: Passion , Book 2
Harlequin Desire #2280
ISBN: 978-0-373-73293-7
January 2014
Contemporary Series Romance

New York City – Present Day

It's Juliet Zaccaro's wedding day, and she's locked herself in the bathroom at the church staring at the results of her pregnancy test. It's positive—and she then realizes she can't marry her fiancé, because he isn't the baby's father. Juliet does the first thing that comes to mind: she runs away. She thought staying at her family's mountain getaway would give her time to think, but she'd barely arrived when private investigator Reid McCormack shows up. He's the last man she wants to face right now, because he doesn't know yet that he's the baby's father…

Reid was hired by the Zaccaro sisters a few months ago for a case and was instantly intrigued by the prim and proper Juliet. He knew she was engaged, which made her off limits, but when she needed his help one night, one thing led to another…and a night of passion. Yet while Juliet insisted to Reid she was no longer engaged, she still went as far as to almost marry her fiancé. Reid is curious as to why she decided at the last moment to run, and it doesn't take long to learn the reason. She's pregnant with his child, and the news has left him stunned.

The unexpected results of an unplanned fling have thrown Juliet and Reid for a loop. Juliet prides herself on how well she plans her life and career, but when she met Reid, he flustered her in the most unexpected of ways. She'd allowed her fiancé to control her path to marriage with him, but a night of illicit passion with Reid shows her how much better it is with Reid. But Reid made it clear he didn't want to go beyond the affair. She wants to break things off with her fiancé, but he's persistent, and the discovery that she's pregnant—with Reid's child—gives her the excuse to break it off. Reid's presence forces her to give him the “you're going to be a daddy” news sooner than expected. They'll now have to deal with the aftermath…and try to figure out how things will go from there.

Reid isn't sure what he wants to do at first, but then realizes he needs to marry Juliet, even if it's just to make sure the baby is legal. Juliet refuses, and he embarks on a campaign to win her, yet he doesn't quite get it that all she wants is his love. Can Reid figure it out and win her hand in marriage—and her love?

PROJECT: RUNAWAY BRIDE is the second tale in the Project: Passion series by Heidi Betts, and readers are in for a treat of a read. The Zaccaro sisters act just like any other siblings—they bicker amongst themselves even as they care mightily for each other. Yet Juliet hasn't shared with them about her secret affair with Reid. How will her sisters react to the news—and that Juliet is pregnant?

An intriguing tale that pulls you in from the first, I highly recommend PROJECT: RUNAWAY BRIDE. Juliet and Reid weren't looking for love, but having a baby changes it all and forces them to relook at a future together. Grab your copy before it's off the shelves.

Patti Fischer