Mr. Nice Spy

Fake dating and international intrigue enliven Smith’s addictive sequel to The Spy and I. Fireworks designer Andee Paxton has always been told by her mother that her father is Hollywood star Keith Huxley-Beck. But after reading in the tabloids that Huxley-Beck has fathered a child who could be her half sister, Andee decides to take a DNA test—and comes home to find CIA agents on her doorstep, among them Adam Chan, the hottie she recently met at a bar. Turns out, Andee’s real father is an international arms dealer named Holt and Chan’s on a mission to take him down before he unleashes a new chemical weapon called “the kill pill.” When Andie and Chan are kidnapped by Holt and end up in the Paris catacombs, they pose as boyfriend and girlfriend to conceal Chan’s status as an agent. Smith does a masterful job of mixing high-stakes action with rom-com tropes and witty banter, leading readers on a superb thrill ride with plot twists aplenty. With heaps of derring-do and explosive chemistry between the leads, this is an incredibly satisfying treat. (Nov.)