(Harlequin Medical Romance)


The most precious gifts in life are worth risking your heart for…

Dr. Ben Richardson is trying to make yet another new start, this time in the emergency department at a Melbourne hospital. It’s been nearly four years since he lost his wife and unborn child—and he still hasn’t let go. So it comes as quite a surprise to him when his eye is drawn to a beautiful pregnant woman on the beach.

When Ben realizes Celeste is a nurse at the hospital, he wants to keep his distance. She reminds him too much of all he’s lost. But Celeste is clearly facing this challenging pregnancy alone, and Ben can’t help coming to her rescue. Being with her to deliver her premature baby girl finally makes him realize there’s a future for him right here after all—if he’s prepared to risk enough to claim it.…





“Are you okay?” Ben asked in concern.

“Fine,” she moaned, then looked up. “Stupid yoga!”

“Are you having a contraction?” He was assessing her. But not wanting to just dive in and place his hand on her stomach, he thought he ought to introduce himself first. “I’m Ben. I’m a doctor.”

“And I’m Celeste.…” She blew out a breath and then slowly unfolded. “And I’m not having a contraction—it’s a stitch.”

“You’re sure?” he pressed.

“Quite sure!”

He was suddenly slammed back into the past again—just as he was almost every day and every night. Not all the time anymore, but surely, given that it was nearly four years on, too many times.

“So long as you’re okay,” he said, his voice clipped. He turned to go.

But suddenly she was holding her swollen stomach with both hands and blowing out a long, slow breath.

“That,” said Ben firmly, “is not a stitch.”





Dear Reader,

We hope you enjoy One Tiny Miracle... written by USA TODAY bestselling Medical Romance author Carol Marinelli.

Harlequin Medical Romance books are brimming with intense emotion, compelling drama and our trademark devilishly alluring doctors—falling in love has never been so pulse-raising!

To experience the breathtaking roller coaster of emotions, ambitions and desires of today’s medical professionals, make sure you indulge in the six brand-new stories available every month from Harlequin Medical Romance!

You’ll find them for sale on www.Harlequin.com in print and ebook format, from other online retailers or on subscription from Harlequin Reader Service.

Happy reading,

The Harlequin Medical Romance Editors






CHAPTER ONE

A NEW DAY.

A new start.

Another one.

Walking along the beach, Ben Richardson was head down and too deep in thought to really notice the glorious pink sky over the smooth waters of Port Phillip Bay. He had been accepted for a position as Emergency Registrar at Melbourne’s Bay View Hospital and would be there in a couple of hours to start his first day, only there were no first-day jitters as he made his way along the beach—after all, he’d had plenty new starts before.

This would be his fourth job in the three years since Jennifer’s death...no, it was nearly four years now. The anniversary was coming up soon and Ben was dreading it. Trying and failing not to think about it, trying and failing not to constantly think how life should be, had they lived. Had he stayed put at Melbourne Central, had life not changed so dramatically for him, he’d have been starting to apply for consultant positions now. But staying there hadn’t been an option—there were just too many memories there for him. After six months of trying, Ben had realised that he couldn’t keep working in the same place that he had once worked with his wife and had accepted, after some soul-searching, that things would never be the same again, could never be the same again. So he had moved on to Sydney—which had felt right for a while, but after eighteen months, well, that restless feeling had started again and he’d moved on to another Sydney hospital. Only it had been the same tune, just a different song. The place was great, the people too...

But it just didn’t work without Jen.

So now he had returned to Melbourne, but on the outskirts this time, and it was good to be back closer to his family and amongst old friends again.