Set in St. Louis, this spellbinding novel of romantic suspense from bestseller Robards (The Last Victim) stars Samantha "Sam" Jones, a 23-year-old single mother, who struggles to make ends meet by working nights repossessing cars while taking classes for EMT certification during the day. Her mundane life goes terribly askew after she finds an injured man in the trunk of a BMW she's repossessing. Before she can decide what to do, she's assaulted and thrown into the trunk with the man. In a fight for survival, Sam and her trunk mate, who turns out to be an undercover FBI agent, Danny Panterro, must seek a way to outwit their captors, members of a drug cartel. Sam's fiery determination to stay alive and keep her four-year-old son safe is the perfect match for Danny's tenacity as an undercover agent. Sensual love scenes help propel the novel toward its explosive conclusion. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Samantha Jones, a repo driver, gets caught up in a dangerous FBI undercover operation when she inadvertently interrupts a torture in progress and must flee with the...victim? criminal? hero?...bloody guy in the trunk in order to keep her son safe. All Sam wants to do is repossess the Beemer, collect her money and get home to her 4-year-old son, Tyler. But when the trunk flies open and she goes to investigate, she finds a wounded man, and the next thing she knows, she's waking up next to him, apparently on the way to her execution. Lucky for Sam--and Marco, the bloody guy--she packs heat, so she's able to save them both. Now, if only she could lose Marco, who for some reason is determined to keep her close. When she realizes that the bad guys have colleagues hellbent on finding them, and have gone after her son, she knows she's out of her league. Against her better instincts, she and Tyler go into hiding with Marco, and the U.S. Marshals pledged to protect him. Against her better judgment, she finds herself falling for Marco and placing way too much trust in him. After all, he's a former federal agent turned traitor, and now he's ratting out the drug cartel he's been working for in order to save his own skin. So why does that story not ring true, no matter what the Marshals say? And how could anyone so deceitful promise to protect her? Or worse yet, make her believe that he actually will? Undercover agent Danny Panterro wants nothing more than to end his dangerous "Marco" charade and tell Sam he's falling in love with her. But too much is at stake until the mission is truly over, and he's determined not to lose the woman he's been waiting for. Romantic suspense writer Robards grabs the reader by the throat in the first few scenes and doesn't let up. A couple of abruptly handled twists slightly mar the last quarter of the book, but overall, this is a riveting, satisfying romantic suspense read. Packed with fast-paced action, nail-biting suspense and blazing sexual tension, Shiver plays on a single mother's tender love for her son and an FBI agent's deep undercover assignment to keep the story taut and the romance conflicted.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Robards' newest, after The Last Victim (2012), finds tough tow-truck driver and single mom Samantha shocked to discover a badly beaten man in the trunk of the BMW she's repossessing. FBI agent Daniel Panterro, involved in a complicated sting operation to shut down a vicious drug cartel, realizes that Sam's intervention has saved his life while endangering hers. He can't tell her he's one of the good guys, so even though she rescues him from bleeding to death, he must drag her into the witness-protection sham that serves as his cover. However, Sam won't leave her four-year-old son. Knowing little Tyler is in danger because the assassins can trace Sam to her home via the information on the tow truck, Danny agrees to take the boy along. When they get to the house, the babysitter is dead and Tyler is hiding under his bed. Slowly Danny realizes their enemies include a mole inside the FBI. Robards pours on the suspense while portraying a compelling couple who complement each other's strengths.--Henshaw, Pat Copyright 2010 Booklist