Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Running Scared
SERIES: Princeton Royals
AUTHOR: Amy Lane
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 263 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 12, 2025
BLURB:
Bailey Dodge is an overworked ER doctor with a needy cat and no life until FBI Agent Dean Royal seduces him in the hospital where he works and then leaves him, sure the whole interlude was a one-time thing.
Dean has other plans, showing up at Bailey’s door again, and again, and again…. Dean is ready to keep seducing Bailey into accepting his presence, at least until Bailey forces a small reckoning, and surprise! Baring his soul as well as his body to Bailey is as easy as breathing. Who knew?
Then Bailey witnesses a murder in the hospital, and suddenly Dean is forced to do more than tell Bailey about his job and family. He’s forced to let Bailey see the reality of an agent’s life and hope their bond is strong enough for Bailey to trust that Dean will come back—every time. But Bailey has lost a lover to the greater good before, and he no longer trusts in fate to take care of his heart. Still, the Royal family is a force stronger than fate, and when Dean goes missing tracking down the hit men on Bailey’s tail, Bailey turns to them to help bring the middle Royal home.
REVIEW:
We met Dean Royal during the first book in this series. He’s Val’s younger brother and is an FBI agent. He and his partner Marcus were in Texas when Val was injured in the last caper 😉 When there, Dean meets Dr. Bailey Dodge. What we didn’t see in Val’s book is Dean hooking up with the good doctor 🙂
A week later he’s back in TX and waiting for Bailey when he gets home from the hospital. And he keeps coming back 😉 Bailey isn’t mad about it. Exactly. But he’s not sure what’s going on and where they stand. Then he finds out Dean has a boatload of siblings and an VERY large network of family and friends. And thank goodness for that, because many of them get involved in saving both Dean and Bailey.
Bailey witnesses a murder. And it’s germane to Dean’s case. So he and Marcus get him out – but not without the witnesses seeing him. Oops! So Dean concocts a plan on the fly to get Bailey away from the scene of the crime and to his family for safe keeping. And let me tell you that plan was a DOOZEY!!
Dean and Marcus (his FBI partner and like another brother), continue on and are working on taking out the trash with the drug cartel and the Russian mob. Things are going well. Until they aren’t. And Bailey is done waiting around and decides HE is going to lead the cavalry to get Dean and Marcus. With a lot of help from the rest of the Royals of course 😉
LOVE love love this world. There is a lot of action and danger in this story and I was kind of hanging on every chapter waiting to see what Dean would end up in next. I loved Birdie and Marcus. And Saree. The rest of the Royals are along for the ride as well – particularly Val and Rory. But Reg and Chance are there too providing cover and support. I cannot wait to see what happens next. There are some nail biting moments here but thankfully the good guys win! Highly recommend for a good time reading about these guys getting their HEA 😉
RATING: 
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