Deep Cover

Deep Cover, Mara Moore, 2016, Instafreebie

Ashley Pepper is a present-day Washington campaign strategist. For the past couple of years, her life has revolved around getting Senator Mueller elected as President. The election is in a few weeks.

A big donor walks into Ashley's office, carrying a check with lots of zeroes. His name is Max Armstrong, and he happens to be incredibly handsome. Ashley's laser-sharp focus on the campaign deserts her. All she can think about is Max. They have quite a steamy relationship going, until the Mueller Committee's offices are raided by the FBI.

It is then that Ashley learns that Max is really FBI Special Agent Max Armstrong. Ashley is  not happy, to say the least. A woman was murdered in the private club next door, and if a cover-up was going on, Ashley would know about it, right? Ashley is attacked in her home, so Max appoints himself as her FBI protection detail. He is torn between doing his job, and totally falling in love with Ashley.

Suspicion then falls on Mason Bryant, Ashley's second-in-command. He is a brash Texan with no "filter" on his mouth. Supposedly, Mason found about his wife's infidelity, so he thought he would do the same. When the dead woman threatened to expose the affair, Mason killed her and dumped her body in the Potomac River. After his FBI interrogation, Mason's truck, and his body, were also found in the Potomac. Suicide is the official ruling. Simple, no? Ashley refuses to believe it.

As election day approaches, Ashley is kidnapped by people working for the real killer, and taken to an isolated Virginia farmhouse. Will Max and the FBI get there in time to rescue Ashley? Will Ashley be added to the fatality list?

This is a good mystery/thriller that will keep the reader guessing. But, the thriller part does not start until the reader is one-fourth of the way through the book. Until then, it is a steamy romance novel. Even if this is intended as a romance/thriller instead of a thriller/romance, the thriller part could have started a little sooner than it did.