Midnight Target: Killer Instincts, Book 8

Kennedy knows romantic thrillers like the back of her hand, and this eighth Killer Instincts novel, like its predecessors, is reliably worthy. Dual romances play out amidst fist-, knife-, and gunfights in a formerly peaceful South American city. Four years after finding her birth father, 21-year-old Cate Morgan wants him out of her face. Jim Morgan, a mercenary, dislikes that his newfound daughter’s career as a freelance photojournalist puts her in harm’s way; he wants her back in college. Instead, while on assignment in fictitious Guatana, she inadvertently photographs a man who kidnaps her and threatens her life. The good news is that Cate’s major crush, David “Ash” Ashton, is dispatched to rescue her. The bad is that Jim is coming too. When Jim is wounded, the call goes out for an assist from Ash’s former teammates, forcing them to come face to face after a previous mission (in 2013’s Midnight Alias) upended their relationship. A predictable plot doesn’t really detract from the strong characterization and, of course, the heavy action. Agent: Don Fehr, Trident Media Group. (Apr.)