THE RIVAL'S HEIR – Joss Wood
Love in Boston , Book 3
Billionaires & Babies
Harlequin Desire #2630
ISBN: 978-1-335-97190-6
December 2018

Contemporary Series Romance

Darby Brogan really needs the money to help her pay for in-vitro treatments, so the architectural job she's bidding on is important. But she has a few rivals, including renowned architect Judah Huntley. The moment Judah walks into the meeting, Darby is attracted to him. But he left before she could pursue it any further. Not that she should get involved with any man right now…

Six weeks later, the competing architects are brought together once more to find out who will win the assignment. Darby spots Judah entering the room, but he's barely arrived when a couple of men arrive with a baby in tow. While Judah is learning that he's got the job, he's also been told the baby is his for a few weeks while the child's mother is busy elsewhere. He doesn't want the baby (!!!) and Darby steps in to temporarily take care of the poor little thing. Darby thinks Judah is inhuman to not want his own child, but he turns it around to make her an offer she can't refuse: he'll take her on as his assistant for a lot of money if she helps him take care of the baby.

Turns out that Judah isn't the baby's father, but is instead the uncle. The baby's mother is Judah's ex, who cheated on him with his half-brother. He literally raised his half-brother and thought he'd put child rearing behind him and has no intention of ever becoming a father. Now he's forced to care for his niece and needs help. Darby had intrigued him six weeks ago when he spotted her in the meeting but he doesn't have time for romantic entanglements. Yet, now that they're working together, will they act on their mutual attraction?

Facing infertility issues, Darby is choosing to go the in-vitro treatment route, but the window for her to successfully do so is closing rapidly. That is why this job is badly needed as the money Judah will pay her will help a lot. And she can't help but fall in love with the beautiful baby girl who has irresponsible parents. Being in close quarters intensifies the attraction between them and something more soon develops. But Darby wants a baby, while Judah has no intention of being a father. How can they mesh as a couple outside the bedroom with differing ideas of their future?

THE RIVAL'S HEIR is the third book in the  Love in Boston  series about three women (Darby and her sister, Jules, and their best friend, DJ) who own an architectural firm. Each book has continued the minor plot of Darby and Jules's widowed mother, Callie, who is finding herself growing closer to a younger man. Callie wonders how they can have any kind of a future together and ponders whether it's time to break up.

An emotional tale, THE RIVAL'S HEIR will have readers falling in love with the cute baby, while rooting for Darby and Judah to find a happily-ever-after. There are a lot of outside forces pushing against them, but will love win in the end?

Patti Fischer