St. Claire (French Twist
) sets a sleek, sexy and very American romantic suspense novel in the high-pressure world of auto racing. Decades after his brief affair with a socialite ends in pregnancy and heartbreak, NASCAR team owner Travis Chastaine is diagnosed with kidney failure. Desperate to save his beloved mentor, driver "Beau" Lansing travels to New York to beg the daughter Travis has never met to donate the kidney that will save him. Celeste Bennett has been raised amid riches by her uppercrust mom. Still, stung by romantic failures and the betrayals of her adoptive dad, she agrees to consider Beau's request—if she can get to know Travis better before committing to surgery or even revealing herself as his daughter. Following Beau to Chastaine's Florida headquarters incognito, she takes a job that will put her close to Travis, only to find herself tangled in mysterious threats, racing curses and corporate crime. St. Claire grounds the plot's many dramas in solid emotional logic, developing the protagonists' romantic relationship with a compelling mix of sexuality and tenderness. While Celeste's NASCAR conversion is a bit abrupt, the vivid evocation of racing's colorful culture should win over even the least automotively inclined. Agent, Roberta Brown at the Brown Literary Agency. (Feb.)
