I read many in the Harlequin Intrigue series but I keep few of them.
This one is a keeper, though that's not obvious at first. The author effectively uses a technique called en media res ("in the middle") to jump start the story and it doesn't lack for action from that point forward. It does, however, make the main characters more difficult to appreciate. The male antagonist comes across as shallow and unfeeling ---your typical macho man who needs no one --- and the female as a stereotyped lab smart but street foolish woman in need of a man. As the story develops, readers get more of the original background story and the characters develop into more complex, likable people. At the book's conclusion, you're wishing the author had written just a bit more.
The raw romance is largely missing from this book; the author leaves most of it to the imagination and focuses instead on the complications of building a relationship which cannot be wholely based on honesty. Most of the content reads more as a spy novel. Like the main characters, the reader never has a chance to rest or speculate. Just who masterminded the situation which put them in peril will surprise anyone.
A few minor glitches distract and sometimes derail the story line. The author likes to use the word "cloying" as a descriptive and it isn't often used correctly. By the time one reaches the end of the book, one is practically tripping over its usage. The word sometimes occurs multiple time within paragraphs of the previous usage. There are some glaring errors when it comes to explaining hard sciences and the author really should have done a bit of research. Anyone living near a beach would know that ocean dwelling creatures with shells do not produce larvae.
Even someone who doesn't appreciate romance should like this one. It is, in general, well written and worth reading again.