Desperate Acts

For the tense fourth Pike, Wisconsin romantic suspense novel (after Unstable), Ivy spins a fast-paced tale of a small Wisconsin town with dark secrets and the unlikely couple determined to learn the truth. As a teenager on the way to a party, Lia Porter witnessed a strange, distressed woman running through town in the dead of night. Fifteen years later, the skeleton of Vanna Zimmerman is found under an abandoned bridge, and Lia, now a savvy investor running her family’s grocery store, puts the pieces together that she may have been the last person to see Vanna before she died. She’s flabbergasted—and even more so when movie star Kaden Vaughn, whose late brother was engaged to Vanna, arrives in town, intent on solving the mystery. Passion arises when the pair team up to chase answers, even as a killer returns and the body count grows. Ivy gives the mystery some exciting twists as Lia and Kaden learn to their peril that appearances can be deceiving. This smart, sexy thriller is sure to pique series fans. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Mar.)