Dangerous Impulses

The Naturals #5

by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

The Naturals are BACK! #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Lynn Barnes delivers the highly anticipated new installment in her beloved Naturals series.

Cassie Hobbes joined the FBI’s Naturals program at seventeen because she had an incredible ability to read people. Since then, Cassie, fellow profiler Dean, emotion‑reader Michael, lie‑detector Lia, and statistical genius Sloane have caught serial killers, outsmarted masterminds, and saved countless lives.

Now, eight months after the most twisted, traumatizing case of their lives and still dealing with the psychological fall-out, the Naturals decide to take on a joyful mission for playing matchmaker. With Christmas fast approaching, how hard could it be for an emotion‑reader, a deception detector, two profilers, and a statistician armed with a wealth of data on romantic relationships to secure a happily ever after for two people who are already very obviously in love?

Turns out…very. Because to bring their FBI mentors back together, the Naturals will first have to solve the mystery of why Special Agent Veronica Sterling can’t let herself have the very thing she wants the most. Profiling a profiler is tricky business, and it soon becomes clear that to solve this mystery, the Naturals need to uncover the past. Add in a puzzling series of interconnected crime scenes, an UNSUB with a fondness for snow, and a cold case on the verge of heating up, and it’s shaping up to be a killer Christmas.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published November 3, 2026

About the author

Jennifer Lynn Barnes (who mostly goes by Jen) was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has been, in turn, a competitive cheerleader, a volleyball player, a dancer, a debutante, a primate cognition researcher, a teen model, a comic book geek, and a lemur aficionado. She's been writing for as long as she can remember, finished her first full book (which she now refers to as a "practice book" and which none of you will ever see) when she was still in high school, and then wrote Golden the summer after her freshman year in college, when she was nineteen.

Jen graduated high school in 2002, and from Yale University with a degree in cognitive science (the study of the brain and thought) in May of 2006. She'll be spending the 2006-2007 school year abroad, doing autism research at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[lena ♡⸝⸝]

pre - read
THE DAY HAS FINALLY ARRIVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY YEAR 👹


this book has restored my will to live.

[Pierce Samuel ✞︎]

GOD IS GOODDDDDD

Dude y'all don't understand

WE'RE BEING FED

I feel like JLB is Paul Revere delivering the good word

DEAN REDDING HOW I MISSED YOU

ALSO IN THE WINTER??? Y'all I am a SUCKER for winter-murder-mysteries (ERASED fandom, wya???)

I do NOT apologize for the man I will be once this comes out

EDIT: THE COVER IT OUT Y'ALLLL 🗣 Is it bad that I'm using color theory to analyze the green chosen (I'm an art nerd who is way into mysteries I fear...)

[ava ★]

OMG IS THIS REAL??? YAYAYAYAYYAY OMG A NEW NATURALS BOOK YAYAYAY IM LITERALLY SCREAMING IM SO EXCITED 🤭🤭🤭 HEHE IM THE FIRST REVIEW OF THIS LMAOOO

[Salma (inactive)]

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

˖ ֹ੭୧pre-read:⊹ ࣪ ⑅

IT IS FINALLY HERE. People think I'm reading this for Dean and Cassie when I'm reading it for Briggs and Veronica. Gimme more of them. I really hope this book doesn't disappoint, because I love that series so much. Buddy read with the sweet Uswah🩷

I loved reading this series, but adding more books to a series always scares me because it sometimes feels like a money grab. Pretty sure that was the case with TIG. Hope it's not the same case for this one as well 😭

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ the naturals
✦︎☆┇ The Naturals - 4 stars
✦︎☆┇ Killer Instinct - 3 stars
✦︎☆┇ All In - 4.5 stars
✦︎☆┇ Bad Blood - 5 stars
✦︎☆┇ Twelve - 2.5 stars

[shania]

who's going to tell jennifer lynn barnes that it's okay to end a series

[Uswah]

⋆🧩˚｡⋆ pre-read ⋆🧩˚｡⋆

Buddy reading this with my love, Salma 🤭🤭 We’ve been so excited and waiting for this book forever 🖤💚 Can’t wait to meet all the characters again 🙂‍↕️👀

[Ashley (new account: neartothewildheart)]

dragging it

but i'll read it anyway

[asra⭑.ᐟ (hiatus)]

THE SCREAM I FRICKING SCRUMPT OH MY DAYS
I CANNOT WAIT HOLY SHIT

[zeinab]

i resurrected from my hiatus for this book. jlb i fricking love you.

[seeraaa ♡]

⋆𐙚₊˚⊹♡ |𝑃𝑟𝑒-𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑
⤿ Happy release day!! 🥳 I love this series sooo much, I hope this book doesn't disappoint me🤞🏻💚




˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖ 𐙚 ˖ ݁𖥔 ݁˖



OMG I’M SHOCKED!! I’M SCREAMING. 😭😭

[luna ♡]

I'M SCREAMING?!?! GAHHHHHHHHHH

[Saranya [mostly ia]]

Pre-release:

HOLY MOLLY! This comes out on my birthday! Also, this is a sign for me not to procrastinate and start with book 2 ASAP.

[Joud {mh hiatus}{there's escape in escaping}]

#not - out - yet...

AAAHHHHH I LITERALLY CANNOT WAITT!!! I AM SOOOO EXCITEDDD!!! I'M IN LOVEEEEE!!!
I LOVE JLB SOOO MUCH AND I CAN'T BELIEVE THERE'S A NEW ADDITION TO THE SERIES!!! CASS, DEAN, SLOANE, MICHAEL AND LIA MATCHMAKING BRIGGS AND STERLING??! COME ON!!!!

[ellie]

luckiest fans alive i swear

[hads :]]

PRE-READ

OMFFFGGGGGGGGGGG HOW DID I JUST FIND TS OUT!!! LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[sophia_thesecond (in my noah kahan era)]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH OMGGGGGGGGGGGG

[caleigh]

jennifer lynn barnes write a new series challenge (impossible)

[juliette [beth mccarthy’s version][school ia]]

Update:
OK BUT THE COVER!!!!!!! THANK U G-D IT MATCHES THE SET I HAVEEEEE

Preread:
WHAT DO U MEAN MY ALL TIME FAVE SERIES IS ADDING A BOOK??????




what do u mean its lwk a Christmas romance 😭😭😭 as long as there’s an unsub tho…gah







ig…well…just…get…it…and…withhold…judgement…till…after…reading…it



The name tho 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️ I cannot WAIT for the cover 🤭

[nadine]

screaming. crying. pre-ordering.

[annotated by Noi (in & out)]

I’m sorry?! What’s this??? I'm probably hallucinating as it's currently 4 AM

[Belle₊˚⊹♡ (for keeps ∞♡)]

🧩Prerelease:

OH WE ARE SO BACK. WE’RE GOING BACK TO MY ROOTS AND I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE MY FAM
AGAIN 😭✊🏼

[Essie ౨ৎ]

AAAAAAAAAAAH IM SO EXCITEDDDD dont let me down jennifer 🥺🥺🥺

[Manahil Sultan]

MY LIFE IS OFFICIALLY COMPLETE.

[lana ౨ৎ ( semi ia )]

no fucking way omg i need this

[vivi]

pre-read:
IT'S OUT EVERYONE RUN

~ pre-release ~
there are no words to describe how excited i am for this.

[Meerah]

OH MY GOSH NO WAY IM SOOOO EXCITED!!!!

[Cassie Hobbes (Iris's Wifey)]

This was such a fun time......and while Dean was crazy to say yes and not side with me......I'm kinda glad he did! I can't wait for everyone to read this! <3

[➺ kath [ia]]

god fobid that when you crack open my heart and do a dissection of it you'll see the naturals in my left atrium ;; BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR YEARS AND WE'VE FINALLY GOT IT !!!!

[soleil.]

i'm gonna cream

[yvette ★ · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

I regret binging this in a few hours. Though I loved every second of it🧍🏻‍♀️