Oxblood

In this exciting, if believability-stretching thriller from Grant, author of the self-published Lake series, Victoria “Vic” Asher, 20, eschewed college to work in a diner while her academically minded older brother, Gil, chose law school. Now he’s in Italy for a six-month exchange program. Or so Vic assumes, until she receives one of Gil’s private notebooks, a clue that something is terribly wrong; she soon learns that there is no exchange program, and Gil is missing. Dropping everything and flying to Rome—using settlement money from her parents’ untimely death in a plane crash—Vic conveniently runs into a handsome and tight-lipped British Interpol agent, Ian Hale, who tries to persuade her that there’s too much danger ahead. Vic is tougher than she looks, and sparks predictably fly between the two as she is (too easily) taken under the wing of Ian’s secret Rogue-14 team. Chase scenes through scenic Italian towns and earnest discussions about feelings don’t always gel, but the breezy thrills of this series opener should whet readers’ appetite for future installments. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Italia Gandolfo, Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management. (Sept.) [/em]