It Had to Be You

Brazier (Girls and Their Horses) elevates a familiar Mr. and Mrs. Smith–style premise to frenzied heights in this entertaining spy romance. Contract assassins Eva and Jonathan meet in the sleeper car of a train headed from Florence to Paris, and in no time, they’re having sex in the luggage compartment. Though both feel far more than a physical connection, they repress the romantic spark and go their separate ways. Six months later, they run into each other in Versailles, only to realize that each has been hired to kill the other. After much conversation (and a lot more sex), they set out to find their respective handlers and shake them down for answers, traveling from Versailles to the Cotswolds to an abandoned mansion in Bordeaux, all while battling hit men who’ve been sent to carry out the jobs they’ve refused to execute. Who wants them dead? Can they really trust each other? Alternating between the often-unreliable viewpoints of Eva and Jonathan, Brazier delivers exhilarating action, steamy romance, and enough twists to keep the pages flying. It’s a blast. Agent: Sarah Bedingfield, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. (July)