I picked this book for a number of reasons—a Z author, a quick read, a little blast of fantasy before returning to my regular reading fare. This is very much a Beauty and the Beast tale set in a violent post-apocalyptic world.
Lynn Harmony is used to being the smartest person in the room, a high-powered researcher in the CDC. Then the Scorpius bacterium is loosed on the world from a meteorite (shades of The Andromeda Strain). Scorpius is deadly to most people, but a few survive. They either go crazy or become conscious-less killers known as Rippers. Now the President of the United States (and Lynn's former lover) is a Ripper and he wants her and her research back under his control.
Lynn grabs her uncle, a former cop, and heads towards a hidden lab to see if she can devise a cure. When her uncle is killed, she walks into Jax Mercury's territory and she thinks she knows what she's doing—finding a powerful protector who can help her locate the covert lab. She has no idea that he will be so unexpectedly gorgeous and charismatic. Jax hates that Lynn knocks his socks off too. The last thing he needs is emotion. They agree—just sex, no strings attached. The best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.
So this is a romance, part Forced Proximity (Jax keeps Lynn in his rooms) and Opposites Attract (the beautiful, brainy woman and the strong, ruthless warrior). What made it all palatable to me was the political manoeuvring, the disease research, and the group survival situation. It's a high stakes game and no one could be more surprised than me to discover that I really want to read the next book! I need to know more about the rescued FBI agent, Vivienne.
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