cover image Targeted

Targeted

Katie Reus. Signet Eclipse, $7.99 mass market (352p) ISBN 978-0-451-41921-7

Reus strikes just the right balance of steamy sexual tension and nail-biting action when administrative assistant Sophie Moreno joins undercover NSA agent Jack Stone, aka Sam Kelly, on a rollercoaster ride of danger. Sophie is at a routine lunch meeting with Sam, whose cover calls for him to do business with her employer, South Beach Medical Supply. Then a sniper takes aim at Sophie, who’s been snooping around links between SBMS and international drug smuggler Miguel Vargas—the same deal Sam has been sent to investigate. He pulls her to cover and for the next 48 hours they’re never more than a hair’s breadth from death. Reus ratchets up the heat and the danger with a complicated backstory: Sam and Sophie were childhood friends, but he’s had so much plastic surgery that she doesn’t recognize him, and he can’t reveal the truth or he’ll blow his cover. This romantic thriller reliably hits every note that fans of the genre will expect. (Oct.)