Smoking, sexy suspense

Edge of Sight by Roxanne St. Claire offers hot romance and sizzling suspense. Heroine Samantha Fairchild witnesses a murder. Afraid the assassin is out to silence her, Sam turns to friend and investigative reporter Vivi Angelino. But turning to Vivi means returning to memories of heartbreak—Sam had an affair with Vivi’s twin Zach right before his deployment as an Army Ranger three years before. Even after she told him she loved him, Zach never contacted her again. But now Sam can’t escape the memories—or Zach himself, who has returned from war an even darker and badder bad boy. And even though he ended things with Sam before, Zach vows to stay close to her now—if only to protect her life. He’ll be her bodyguard while he and others in his extended family work on uncovering who is out to get Sam. Zach has another job, too   . . . that of figuring out if he and Sam can finally have a future together. Steamy love scenes, a scarred hero and a passion that won’t go away add up to a thrilling read.

LAST-MINUTE MISTRESS

Kieran Kramer pens a sexy Regency romp in When Harry Met Molly. In a delightful opening, adolescent Lady Molly Fairbanks writes and recites a poem that reveals two things: She has a crush on her sister’s betrothed, and her sister has been kissing her betrothed’s brother, Lord Harry Traemore. As a result, both Molly and Harry are banished from their families, she to a strict school and he into the military, where more scandal follows this “spare” to the heir. Some years later, they end up in trouble again. Harry has been conscripted by the Prince Regent into a weeklong competition at a remote estate with four other men to discover which has the most enticing mistress. When circumstances leave him with Molly as his only option, and she’s in her own desperate straits, they decide she’ll step into the role—in name only, of course. There’s a reward for her if she succeeds—Harry’s help in finding the perfect husband. But close proximity takes the edge off their enmity and hones a new sexual tension. Their play-acting becomes more intimate and soon Harry and Molly are almost making their fake relationship real. At week’s end, can they pretend this new closeness never happened? It’s fun and fast-paced, with a couple that wises up just in time.

ROMANCE OF THE MONTH

The final installment in Nora Roberts’ wedding quartet, Happy Ever After, should not be missed. Parker Brown, the mastermind behind the wedding business that she owns with her three childhood friends, has her world under control. Until mechanic Malcolm Kavanaugh decides she’s the next intricate item he wants to take apart, that is. Mal is persuasive, however, with his argument that everyone is seeking that sizzling something they seem to have together. As with the rest of the series, wedding details abound, adding to the aura of romance. But it’s the opposites-attract of Parker and Mal that takes center stage. He’s the one who can rock Parker’s world, yet will the über-efficient woman let herself be unsteadied? Roberts writes with the confidence of an author who knows that a love story needs no bells or whistles—at least in her able hands.