Bestseller McKenna (Extreme Danger
) aims for the heart with scorching precision in this well-researched romantic thriller in which the erotic elements fit the action and the central relationship doesn't interfere with the plot. Glamorous Tamara Steele, a career criminal turned jewelry designer, is doing her best to be a good mother to her three-year-old adoptive daughter, Rachel, a Ukrainian orphan rescued from a black market organ donor ring. Unfortunately, Tam's dark past is catching up to her: gangster Daddy Novak wants revenge for the murder of Kurt, his son and heir, with whom she was once involved; another crook, Georg Luksch, has hired Val Janos, a sexy covert operative, to deliver Tam to his bed so he can make her his love slave. Val and Tam emerge as fully fleshed-out characters as the smitten Val decides to help Tam rather than deliver her to the odious Luksch. McKenna fans will enjoy glimpses of her popular crime-fighting McCloud clan, whose members are also intent on protecting Tam and Rachel. (Nov.)
