Running Hot

Running Hot by Jayne Ann Krentz

From the jacket:

Ex-cop Luther Malone, lifelong member of the secretive paranormal organization known as the Arcane Society, is waiting to meet Grace Renquist. Hired as an aura-reading consultant in the quest for a murder suspect, she’s got zero field experience. She’s from tiny Eclipse Bay, Oregon. She’s a librarian, for heaven’s sake.

As for Grace, she’s not expecting much, either, from Malone, who walks with a cane and isn’t so good with a gun. Nice résumé for a bodyguard.

But even before they reach their hotel in Maui – where they’ll be posing as honeymooners – Grace and Luther feel the electric charge between them. Problem is, they need to remain vigilant day and night, because it soon becomes clear there’s more going on here. Rogue sensitives – operatives for the underground group Nightshade – are pouring into the luxury resort as if there’s a convention.

While the pair’s employers at Jones & Jones scramble to get them backup, Luther and Grace have to think on their feet. The criminals in their midst aren’t just high-level sensitives; they’ve enhanced their talents with a potent – and unpredictable – drug.

And as Grace knows all too well, if you don’t control your powers, your powers will control you.

My thoughts:

This is the fifth Arcane Society Novel. I’ve enjoyed all of them and this is no exception. Running Hot is set in modern times, but half of the series havee historical setting and are written under the name Amanda Quick.

There is plenty of suspense and action and the variety of powers individuals have is interesting. Both Grace and Luther are aura readers, a power that is consistently under-estimated, both by the Society and by Nightshade. Despite all the danger surrounding them, Grace and Luther are attracted to each other and Luther’s friends offer Grace the only family she’s had since her mother’s death when she was young.

Of course, it has a happy ending, but Nightshade is still out there and still dangerous. And I’m grateful, because I can’t wait for the next in the series.