Seduction Game

Clare’s seventh I-Team romantic thriller (after Striking Distance) is a rollicking good time, but readers will need to work hard to suspend their disbelief in the central scenario. Excessively perfect Holly Bradshaw is a beautiful entertainment reporter with a penchant for designer shoes and rich men—or so she would have everyone believe. Nick Andris is a federal agent conducting surveillance on the lovely Holly, due to her romantic connections with a known arms dealer. Little does Nick know that he and Holly are both working for the same government toward the same end. When things start going very wrong, he kidnaps and tortures her for information—but once their mutual secrets are out, Holly’s impossibly quick to forgive everything, treat the torture like no big deal, and hop in the sack with Nick. Suspense and action make for an exciting read, especially when combined with steamy intimacy, but the effect is diminished by extraneous verbiage and the implausible progression of Nick and Holly’s relationship. Agent: Natasha Kern, Natasha Kern Literary Agency. (Oct.)