TO CATCH A VAMPIRE

Posing as a couple has two special agents all confused, since the most complicated thing they are used to dealing with is their supernatural gifts.

Telekinetic Beatrice Alexander never wanted to be a freak, much less a member of F.R.E.A.K.S., the Federal Response to Extra-Sensory and Kindred Supernaturals Squad that the national government has been running almost since it was founded. For the past two months, Bea’s been working with the F.R.E.A.K.S., and so far the only upside is the relationship she’s been working on with werewolf Will. Her Operation Lovebirds has taken a hit since Will’s gone off to a camp to get in touch with his inner wolf, and Bea’s hopes to keep a low profile are ruined when she’s given a special assignment with ladies’ man—well, ladies’ vampire—Oliver Montrose. Now Bea’s stuck in a vamp-friendly hotel in Dallas, posing as Oliver’s wife and trying to infiltrate a local cabal of vampires that may be behind several recent missing persons cases. The case heats up fast, as do Oliver’s attentions to Bea. Eventually, “Trixie,” as Oliver insists on calling Bea, isn’t sure if she’s more annoyed by her supposed husband’s relentless flirting with Marianna, the mistress of the hotel, or the fact that she’s bothered by it. Bea only hopes they can solve the case and get out of there before she has time to figure it out.

The second in Harlow’s F.R.E.A.K.S. series (Mind Over Monsters, 2011) reads like an homage to Harris’ tales of Sookie Stackhouse, though Bea seems to take herself a little less seriously.