Reborn

Combining action and romance, this series opener features assassins, vendettas, and star-crossed lovers. Sensitive, beautiful, and bored, Isabel Foster has moved to Rio de Janeiro to teach English, finding solace in the vibrant distraction of its unfamiliar streets. She hopes eventually to forget her old lover Tristan Stone, who joined the U.S. Army and disappeared from her life six years ago. Unbeknown to her, they're about to cross paths again: Tristan (now a highly trained assassin with no memory of his previous life) has been ordered to kill her. When he learns that Isabel could be the key to understanding his past, he decides to protect her instead, whisking her away to a country manor. But he doesn't anticipate the force of their chemistry or the complications of recovering his memory: "I've built this new life on the surety of the kill. The simplicity of it. Nothing is simple now." For her part, Isabel tries to make sense of the cold, calculating figure in front of her, wondering, "Is there anything left of the man I fell in love with so many years ago?" As they flee from Brazil to the United States, they try to uncover who's seeking revenge on Isabel's family, all the while rediscovering the qualities that drew them to each other as teenagers. But what kind of future can they build together if they're always on the run? Wild (Misadventures of a Virgin, 2017, etc.) treads familiar territory for regular readers of romance and suspense, with plenty of passionate sex scenes, bloody shootouts, and collateral deaths. There's never much doubt as to where the various narrative strands will lead, but the specifics of the plot are beside the point; Wild seeks to entertain, and her fast-paced, punchy style should keep readers happily turning the pages. Similarly, Tristan and Isabel may represent every improbably gorgeous couple torn apart and reunited by fate, but their relationship quickly moves beyond questions of love to questions of trust--altogether more difficult to answer. A predictable but satisfying journey filled with lust, danger, and drama.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (Online Review)