Claiming Grace

Stoker (Assisting Aimee) combines romantic tenderness with the worst parents to ever walk the earth in the Ace Security contemporary series launch. High-school sweethearts Grace Mason and Logan Anderson both come from abusive households—not exactly the best training for happily ever after. Logan joins the Army and writes to Grace, but her parents hide the letters and the relationship falters. When Logan returns to Castle Rock, Colo., with his brothers after their mother kills their father and then herself, Grace’s controlling, manipulative parents make it clear that they’re not done orchestrating her life: they are determined that she’ll marry a business rival’s son and make theirs the largest architectural firm in Colorado. How Logan, a knight in slightly dented armor, overcomes their machinations makes for a heart-pounding tale. Grace’s parents are almost cartoonishly evil; kidnapping and psychological torture are but a few of the tricks in their repertoire, and they have absolutely no redeeming features whatsoever, making it hard to wait until the end of the tale to make sure they get what’s coming to them. But readers will root for Grace and Logan from the first. (Mar.)