Fire and Ice

Brilliant and beautiful Jilly Lovitz goes to Japan ostensibly to study Japanese art and to visit her sister, Summer, and brother-in-law, Taka, who are mobbed up to the eyeballs. What she’s really there for is to reconnect with dashing tattoo-laden yakuza thug Reno, Taka’s cousin. Unfortunately, her arrival coincides with Russian mercenaries hunting for Summer and Taka. Bound by an attraction he cannot explain, as well as family honor, Reno goes to rescue Jilly from Russians looking for her sister, with a complex, countrywide chase resulting. Reno is charismatic and infuriating; Jilly manages to be both strong and vulnerable—and oddly believable as a 20-year-old California virgin genius. The plot moves at a breakneck pace, never letting up on the sexual or criminal tension. Stuart handles the action well and sprinkles Japanese custom and language vividly throughout. (May)