Hard and Fast

Scott’s solid second romantic suspense novel (after Hard as Ice) is both a love story and a high-tech espionage thriller. Asset-protection agent Lucas Johnson and his elite team of former G-men are hired by a custom race car–component builder to battle a sophisticated, aggressive computer hacker, who is out to steal or destroy a potentially groundbreaking hybrid engine. Lucas determines that Alex Cotts, the brilliant, flirtatious engineer responsible for the design, is in increasing danger and needs protection. The attraction between Lucas and Alex is immediate and electric; as their involvement intensifies, they banter and try to keep it noncommittal. Alex is a stubborn, strong, and independent woman in a male-dominated business, and she bristles at Lucas’s supervision. When Lucas uncovers the true culprit behind the burgeoning violence, he and Alex are forced to go on the run. Scott’s team of covert heavy hitters, car-racing pros, and criminals delivers mostly classic (but sometimes unoriginal) thrills. Agent: Sha-Shana Crichton, Crichton and Associates. (Jan.)