Grace Under Fire

Bestseller Garwood (Wired) entices with this high-intensity romantic suspense novel. Recent college graduate Grace MacKenna is in Boston to celebrate her sister’s husband’s parents’ anniversary when she stumbles into an active crime scene. While walking from her hotel, a shooting victim running from his assailant collapses into her. His would-be killer quickly follows, and, though traumatized, Isabel manages to grab the victim’s gun and shoot the attacker before he can do any more damage. Michael Buchanan, a Navy SEAL turned attorney and Grace’s least favorite of her sister’s husband’s brothers, meets her at the police station, quickly appoints himself as her lawyer and bodyguard, and helps her field questions from cops. Michael even follows Isabella on a trip to Scotland the following week to claim the land she inherited from a great uncle, determined to protect her and worried that her involvement in the shooting may not have been an accident. Indeed, Michael and his FBI agent brothers soon discover that there’s a price on Isabel’s head. As Isabel and Michael work together to untangle this mystery, the simmering attraction between them only grows. Garwood delivers plenty of twists to keep the suspense brewing and a subplot about Grace’s potential music career adds color. Readers will be hooked. Agent: Andrea Cirillo, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (July)