Make It Hurt

Nora Sutcliffe may not be every man’s dream woman, but in Ashenden’s powerful contemporary romance she is biker Smith’s ideal. Eight years ago she was a demure Houston debutante who flirted with danger when she enticed Smith, a “trailer-park-trash” laborer, to come down off his ladder and get to know her better. A lot has changed since their brief summer romance. Now Nora’s a professional fugitive-recovery agent who turns Smith on because there’s nothing he likes better than “a chick with a gun.” She’s popped back into his life determined to take at least one prisoner—Smith’s bail bond–skipping right-hand man—and deliver him to justice. Smith refuses to turn him over, and Nora chooses principle and righteousness, even if it means giving up on romance with Smith. The second-tier characters lack dimension, but the plot moves along apace, and the mutual attraction between Smith and Nora is convincingly fiery. (Dec.)