Cold Truth Romantic Thriller

Rowena Smith is a librarian and amateur sleuth who has been tracing her biological father. Her research leads her to a bloody crime scene, where she finds the card of FBI Supervisory Special Agent Kurt Montana. She phones him for help.

Kurt leads an FBI Hostage Rescue Team and is about to fly home after an undercover operation that failed. Rowena's voice on the line stops him from boarding. Minutes later his flight crashes and everyone aboard dies, so he knows she has saved his life.

The two flee across southern Africa, pursued by powerful enemies nobody has identified, who want the truth to stay buried. To stay ahead of them, they pose as a couple. The chemistry between them is real.

This is a romantic thriller with an age gap between the leads, a fake relationship, a grumpy hero and a sunnier heroine, and a single shared bed along the way. The pace is fast and the suspense stays high while secrets come out. Rowena's search for her father is what put both of them in danger.

The book is a standalone with a happy ending, set in an interconnected world of Toni Anderson's romantic thrillers.