365 books in 365 days Challenge ... book #64

Sheriff's Runaway Witness - Kathleen Creighton
Harlequin Romantic Suspense
Harlequin, 2011
ISBN: 9780373277261

N.B. This book is a North American release


My rating




From the back cover:

"Pregnant and on the run, Rachel Malone Delcorte is the only witness to the murder of two federal agents. Mob boss Carlos Delcorte wants her baby—his grandson—and he wants Rachel dead. But as fate would have it, sheriff's deputy Jethro "J.J." Fox gets to Rachel first.
After delivering her baby and seeing her safely to her billionaire grandfather's estate, he's sworn to protect the beautiful widow. Keeping mother and son safe isn't the problem for J.J.—he's used to handling the bad guys. Matters of the heart—that's a whole different story. He's always had his own agenda. One he's not sure Rachel can accept…"


This was one of the books I bought while I was in NYC and was quite excited to read it as the 'Romantic Suspense' line is not available in the UK. I enjoyed it.

The story begins with the heroine Rachel escaping the home of her father-in-law, we discover that Rachel was married to the son of a very powerful and dangerous mafia boss. She is also witness to a shooting, which killed two federal agents and her husband, and she is nearly 9 months pregnant. Fearing for her life she escapes but her car breaks down in the desert where she collapses from exhaustion. The hero J.J., the local Sheriff, finds Rachel and tries to get her to safety but when Rachel goes into labour he helps deliver her son. When he discovers Rachel's identity he sees her as a chance to regain his former life as a homicide detective by persuading her to testify what she knows about the federal agents murder. When Rachel and her son are threatened in the hospital, J.J. takes her into his protective custody and takes her to the home of her reclusive grandfather. Rachel and J.J. grow close to each other and both develop feelings, however J.J. is still determined to convince Rachel to testify against her father-in-law.

This was a riveting read, and at times quite exciting. Rachel was a great character, she started off lonely and unsure of herself but as the story progressed she became stronger and stronger. J.J. was an OK character although at times I felt he wallowed in his own self pity a little too much. I felt the 'action' sequences didn't quite work and seemed a little rushed. The romance between Rachel and J.J. was well written and believable.

This is the first book in the 'Scandals of Sierra Malone' mini-series, running alongside Rachel and J.J.'s story is also that of Rachel's grandfather, who after years as a recluse has decided to reach out to his grandchildren. The parts with his story were really interesting and I will be interested in seeing how his story plays out.

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