cover image Fashion Victim

Fashion Victim

Sue Swift, Five Star, $25.95 (294p) ISBN 978-1-59414-930-6

Stylish New York fashion designer Cara Fletcher names her men's line Fletcher's Gear. Virginian CEO Fletcher Wolf of Fletcher Tool and Gear promptly sues. Cara starts to wonder whether Fletcher is also orchestrating the vandalism that's costing her hundreds of thousands of dollars at her studio and her home. Coloring her hair "serious brown," Cara meets Fletcher in court, where the two fall instantly in lust. Soon court-ordered mediation turns into dinner dates. Swift (author of 2008's Spy Game) successfully blends fast-paced action with a convincing emotional and sexual connection between Cara and Fletcher, despite Cara's realistic fears about engaging in a relationship that could put her heart and business at risk from corporate raider and inveterate flirt Fletcher. This delightful romantic suspense benefits from occasional detours into comedy as we anticipate Cara's next hair color, but doesn't sacrifice plot or real dramatic tension. (Feb.)