cover image His Secret Past

His Secret Past

Katie Reus. Harlequin/Carina, $4.99 e-book (166p) ISBN 978-1-4268-9294-3

Alexis Baptiste’s engagement to a wealthy businessman is interrupted by the return of old flame Hunter Cassidy, unknowing father of her five-year-old son, Jonathan. Hunter is a former DEA agent just returned from several years undercover as an illicit gunrunner in Central America. He’s hotly pursued by renegade CIA agent Tom Davis, who wants to use Alexis and Jonathan as pawns in his vendetta. As Alexis and Hunter flee assassins, their old feelings rekindle and Jonathan becomes attached to his newfound father, but Alexis’s engagement and Hunter’s guilt over his past misdeeds make them reluctant to listen to their hearts. While Reus (Destined Mate) provides effective action sequences, the suspense element is generally shallow and predictable, and the complications of Hunter’s past are resolved far too easily. The central romance is convincing and passionate, however, and Jonathan’s charming affection for his reunited parents is delightful. Agent: Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (Jan.)