I’ve been fan of Helena Newbury for a while, and was super excited to read her newest romantic suspense, Hold Me in the Dark. At its core, this is a story about an FBI agent who has to rely on a hacker to help stop a serial killer. But it’s the details that pull you in and hold you. Agent Sam Calahan is a good agent, but he marches to the beat of his own drummer. He takes risks and gets shit done, rules be damned. And when he reaches out to a woman known as Yolanda, who is part of a trio of female hackers known as the ‘Sisters of Invidia,’ he forces her to take a risk, too. Because Yolanda has a secret bigger than the way she spends her time on the computer. She’s a genius mathematician and her brain, as much as her technology prowess, is what Sam and the FBI need to catch the killer. I love everything about this book. The fast pace, the sexy chemistry, the math (ugh, right!) … but perhaps what is most appealing is Sam’s helpless attraction to Yolanda, and the absolute certainty he has in her intelligence and bravery. Really, is there anything sexier than knowing that your mind is what most attracts your partner? For me, Hold Me in the Dark sets the romance standard for the year.