cover image One Touch More

One Touch More

Mandy Baxter. Kensington/Zebra, $7.99 mass market (328p) ISBN 978-1-4201-3483-4

Baxter’s third U.S. Marshals novel (after One Kiss More) is a nail-biting, sensual romantic thriller. Undercover marshal Parker Evans, using the alias Damien, is on the trail of a major drug lord when he meets assistant hotel manager Tabitha Martin. The attraction is immediate and mutual, but he thinks she’s an accomplice to one of the ring’s dealers. Tabitha, the daughter of two addicts, is trying to keep her brother, Seth, on the straight and narrow while she studies to become a nurse. Unfortunately, her no-good ex-boyfriend is threatening Seth in order to blackmail Tabitha into helping with drug deals. The man she knows as Damien is hot beyond words, but his tattoos and tough attitude remind her all too much of her ex. Assumptions will be challenged right and left—assuming that Tabitha, Parker, and Seth can stay alive long enough to sort the whole mess out. Skillful plot twists are interspersed with red-hot love scenes, keeping the pages turning. Agent: Natanya Wheeler, Nancy Yost Literary Agency. (Nov.)