Strategic Seduction

In this sexy, impassioned Southern romance, entrepreneur Richmond Crawford returns to Atlanta after a bitter divorce to open a luxury hotel and falls hard for beautiful, audacious Alicia Michaels, his new head of marketing and promotions. Each carrying emotional baggage, they attempt to keep their attraction in check but instead end up blazing a steamy trail from Piedmont Park to the Eiffel Tower, where readers are reunited with characters from previous books as they enjoy delectable meals and expensive bubbly. Past events spur Richmond to avoid publicity, but with Alicia’s PR skills and encouragement, he’s able to put his past behind him. Alicia is keeping a painful secret of her own, and when a dangerous man from her past joins forces with Richmond’s scheming, greedy ex-wife, the lovers find themselves in an unusual situation. The dialogue is witty, and Hodges (Deadly Rumors) does a good job of bringing Atlanta and Paris to life. The resolution is anticlimactic, but the genuine friendships and suspenseful blackmail plot carry the story to a satisfying ending. [em]Agent: Sha-Shana Crichton, Crichton and Associates. (Apr.) [/em]