Pretty Little Lion

Snyder’s sharp and steamy paranormal romance expands the politically driven alternate reality introduced in Big Bad Wolf, perhaps biting off more than it can chew. This time the game is spy versus spy. With a potentially disastrous weapon on the black market, Elijah Richter, a lion shifter and cofounder of the supernatural vigilante organization Third Shift, goes undercover to infiltrate the criminal enterprise of Mirko Aston—and the mogul’s Indian celebutante girlfriend, Meghna Saxena-Saunders, is his way in. But Meghna is a far more practiced seducer than the earnest British-Jamaican Elijah. As an apsara, a Hindi supernatural gifted in the art of charm, Meghna’s used to exploiting relationships to get close to her targets. The attraction between them is credible, but rather than focus on that tension, the story diffuses its attention across myriad subplots, including an equally steamy and possibly even more poignant one about a triad between fellow Third Shift loyalists. Jumping between perspectives and story lines, the narrative takes on a chaotic, stream of consciousness feel that can be hard to follow. Still, Snyder delivers a frothy mixture of sex, lies, and espionage, punctuated by well-executed, fevered couplings. With so much going on, some readers will struggle to keep up, but others will revel in the sexy mayhem. Agent: Courtney Miller-Callihan, Handspun Literary. (Oct.)