Going Under

Emily Bartwell has reinvented herself on the isolated island of Lyra, hiding from her past in the misogynistic video game industry and anyone who might uncover her identity as the elusive game designer Phoenix. Reporter Fox Mullins is on Phoenix’s trail, and as soon as he meets Emily, he becomes determined to make her reveal her secrets to him. The lies and lust between them soon become too tangled to unravel without damaging both their lives. Kennedy (Master of the Opera) shows her talent for organic relationship-building in this erotic romance; both Emily and Fox display emotional growth and maturity, and their relationship develops from tentative flirting to domination to equality without feeling forced or implausible. The secondary characters, however, are little more than archetypes, and the broad-strokes overview of the video games industry will disappoint anyone with more than a superficial knowledge of the gaming community. (July)