Living in the city had been Jordan's dream for as long as she can remember after growing up in a small town. Now that she's achieved her dream she never thought she'd end up back in small-town America when her job as a television producer sends her to Lucky Hollow, Montana. The goal: find one Luke Elliott and convince him to be a contestant on her new reality show Jilted. A send up of The Bachelor except the man at the head of the competition is one that has left numerous brides at the altar in the past, therefore making him the ultimate "prize" to whichever lady can win his heart. 
 Jordan hits a roadblock, however, when is becomes very apparent that Luke is not interested in parading himself in front of the country and opening up old wounds again. Ever determined, Jordan will not let his reluctance keep her from doing her job. With the surprising support of everyone else in Lucky Hollow who believe Luke should give the show a chance in order to get out of his shell, Jordan embarks on finding out exactly what happened between Luke and the three women he alternately left at the altar. Along the way, Luke and Jordan, people from two seemingly opposite sides of the tracks, just may end up feeling more for each other than they're prepared for. 
 Overall, I liked the idea behind Ready to Run. I liked the underlying theme that not everything (or everyone) is not as it (or they) seem. People are full of layers, and most of the time we're only getting a view of the surface in those we interact with. We definitely don't figure out the full extent of what happened between Luke and his three fiancees until very near the end of the book, but Jordan definitely comes into the situation making assumptions on the most basic level of knowledge about Luke. With Jordan's own past not being fully revealed to readers until after the halfway mark, one would think that she'd ask questions first, and jump second, but it doesn't exactly work out that way. Conversely, we see Luke also making assumptions regarding Jordan just based on how she dresses and conducts herself. I honestly loved seeing the moments when things clicked between Jordan and Luke. 
 On the other side, however, I also had issues with how many facts were kept close to the chest. Mainly in Luke's case, I thought it actually took too long for him to come clean about everything that happened between him and his fiancees. It was dragged out a little too long for my tastes and ended up making the "big reveal" not so shocking in the long run. Then again, maybe that's an intentional form of commentary on Lauren Layne's part. That we, as individuals, build up the things that we fear revealing the most in our heads when in reality they're not as dire as we make them out to be. 
 Regardless, I enjoyed watching Jordan and Luke's chemistry lead them to one another and the after-effects when they realize that Jordan's job clashes with their feelings for one another. 
 Lauren Layne is an author that I've come to count on to deliver good, often sweet, romances with a nice level of heat. After reading Ready to Run, I think this new series will prove to be no different. I look forward to seeing where we go next with Runaway Groom out next month. 
 *ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.