Art consultant Elise Young has just been offered three extremely rare ancient Greek vases for sale, which she knows were illegally smuggled into the United States. Racing against the clock before the valuable artifacts disappear into the black market, she calls upon the aid of Special Agent Brock Cooper of the FBI’s Art Crime Team. Their attraction is instantaneous and the sparks fly, but the timing and situation couldn’t be worse. As Brock and Elise follow the trail of the illicit vases toward a notorious crime lord, witnesses begin to die and they must go undercover to track down the elusive villain, staying one step ahead of the assassins’ bullets. From Los Angeles and San Francisco to Athens and the Greek Isles, their nemesis leads them on a dangerous chase but the most valuable treasure of all, love, awaits them, if they can find a way to stay alive.
For Olivia Madson's first novel of contemporary romantic suspense she draws heavily from her real life experiences as the FBI's Art Theft Program Manager, coordinating international art theft investigations. Sadly, not one of her suspects ever looked like Pierce Brosnan from The Thomas Crown Affair. And she never had the opportunity to dance with abandon in a see-through dress like Rene Russo, but working in the world of art theft is an interesting and hectic lifestyle that makes for fun reading. For inspiration, Olivia chose elements of various FBI investigations she managed, and the work of the FBI's Art Crime Team she helped create.