THE PREGNANCY CONTRACT - Yvonne Lindsay
Harlequin Desire #2117
ISBN: 978-0-373-73130-5
October 2011
Series Romance

Auckland, New Zealand - Present Day

After being away for eight years, Piper Mitchell comes home to make amends and try to repair the relationships with her father and her former lover—only she comes home four days after her father's death.  She spent most of her life trying to get her father's approval in one way or another, only to eventually run away when her father once again refused to allow her to have a job in his company.  She had hoped that her lover, Wade Collins, would run away with her, but he wasn't willing to leave his job with Mitchell Exports, so Piper turned her back on both of them.  More mature now, and willing to take responsibility for her past actions, Piper returns too late to fix things with her father, but is it too late for her and Wade?

Wade Collins has never forgiven Piper for running away and aborting their child, and he now has her exactly where he wants her, in his debt.  Between the recession and her father's illness, most of the Mitchell holdings now belong to Wade, and Piper's trust fund not only is gone, but has been supplemented by Wade.  But, he has a proposition for forgiving that debt: bear him a child.  While her initial response is exactly what he expected, Piper's negotiations are a surprise.  What would a world-travelling party girl want with an entry-level job at Mitchell Exports?  Piper continues to surprise Wade with the changes in her behavior, and he can't help but wonder if she has changed from the spoiled girl he once knew.  But, no matter what he sees on the surface, Wade isn't about to lose his mind—or his heart—over Piper again.

THE PREGNANCY CONTRACT is a story of both reunion and revenge.  Piper wanted nothing more than her father's love and attention, but he was dedicated to his business and was a bit chauvinistic.  He scoffed at her ideas of joining the company, telling her she should stick to dressing well and looking pretty rather than bother with work.  After a while, Piper gave up and became what he wanted, again hoping to gain her father's notice.  After leaving home, she did live the life of a party girl for a while, but she then started to grow up.  Her past four years have been spent as a volunteer doing relief aid in Africa and Asia .  She doesn't try to gloss over her past mistakes, and is a harder worker than Wade is willing to give her credit for.  Wade, however, seems to be stuck in the past.  Thanks to a misunderstanding, the bitterness he feels towards Piper is overwhelming.  He remembers how, during his initial meeting with Piper, he thought her vulnerable and hurt by her father's inattention, yet ignores what that could mean.  He is also shaped by his relationship with his father, and this complicates things with Piper.  Wade intends to make her pay for the hurt she has caused him, but is he too blinded by the past to see the woman Piper has become?  Read THE PREGNANCY CONTRACT and find out.

Jennifer Bishop