Play dead
When Newport Beach heiress Hayley Fordham heads to Costa Rica on an art commission, she has no idea she's narrowly escaped an assassin's car bomb. But before the paint's even dry on her mural, her stepsiblings have arranged her funeral and redivided the family trust. The fact that Hayley is still very much alive remains a secret to everyone but FBI investigator Ryan Hollister, who intercepts the "victim" returning home in the flesh. Ryan has zero tolerance for the pampered elite. But there's something about the complex Hayley that sets his blood racing. With evidence pointing to a Fordham family associate, Ryan needs her cooperation more than he dares admit. Because now, especially now, he's prepared to risk anything to stop Hayley from being killed.again.
Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Romance, Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
What the reading experience may hold
A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.
Romance · Fiction
Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.
No specific content concerns can be confirmed from the available English catalog information. Consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.
These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.
Balanced tone · Steady pace
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
A good fit if…
Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.
This book's DNA
A visual estimate based on this edition's categories, description, and length. Select a star to explore the signals.
This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.
Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc
A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.
This visualization is an interpretive estimate based on catalog description, categories, tone, pace, and content signals. It does not describe specific scenes.
A quick reading snapshot
Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.
- ISBN-13
- 978-0-3737-7453-1
- Language
- English
- Edition record
- OL26316916M
A more thoughtful way into this book
This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
Begin with its place in Romance, then notice where the book resists that label.
Read for connection, not completion.
Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.
Three questions to carry with you
- What must each character learn before the relationship can become believable?
- How do work, family, friendship, or identity shape the central relationship?
- Does the emotional resolution feel earned by the choices that came before it?
Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.
More Romance books
These matches combine shared categories with author, publication-era, and reading-length signals.
Arthurian Revival
by Debra Mancoff
Why it fits: shares Romance and Fiction, a similar reading length, a similar publication era.
Certain Dark Things
by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Why it fits: shares Fiction and Romance, a similar reading length, a similar publication era.
Falling for Dr. Dimitriou
by Anne Fraser
Why it fits: shares Romance and Fiction, a similar reading length, a similar publication era.
Feel the Burn
by r. Scott Briggs
Why it fits: shares Romance and Fiction, a similar reading length, a similar publication era.
Flirting with forty
by Jane Porter
Why it fits: shares Fiction and Romance, a similar reading length, a similar publication era.
Frostbitten
by Kelley Armstrong
Why it fits: shares Fiction and Romance, a similar reading length, a similar publication era.