Things We Hide from the Light

Score pairs a sassy insurance investigator with the police chief of a sleepy Virginia town in her sprawling second Knockemout romance (after Things We Never Got Over). After Chief Nash Morgan is nearly killed in an attack he can’t fully remember, he struggles to get his life back on track—until his brother’s college ex-girlfriend, Lina Solavita, shows up in their small town, igniting a forbidden attraction. She claims she’s there to visit Nash’s brother, Knox, but really she’s tracking a missing Porsche for her work. Lina’s not forthcoming with Nash, and he explodes when he discovers her deception, despite Lina’s insistence it was a “practically insignificant omission of the truth.” Soon, however, the couple faces a bigger problem: a local crime boss is out for Nash’s head, along with those of his soon-to-be sister-in-law and niece. Meanwhile, Lina and Nash’s chemistry ignites—but an unexpected villain is determined to end their affair. By romance standards, this is a brick, but Score keeps the pages turning with a twisty, danger-laced plot; feisty leads; and blazing passion (which produces “not just any run-of-the-mill, I-could-have-done-better-with-a-vibrator orgasms”). This lively tale will delight series fans. Agent: Flavia Viotti, Bookcase Literary. (Feb.)