The Girl She Used to Be

After twenty years in witness protection, a woman finds she can't resist the Mafioso hired to kill her in this "compulsively readable debut" ( Booklist). "Riveting and remarkable. . . . I didn't want the book to end. . . . With a poignant and literary flair, this novel fixed my jones for The Sopranos." —Lolly Winston, New York Times–bestselling author When Melody Grace McCartney was six years old, she and her parents witnessed a brutal act of violence—and then were lured into the Witness Protection Program. And so Melody lost her identity, her home, her family, and ultimately her innocence. She's been May Adams, Karen Smith, and countless others. But the one person she has always longed to be is Melody Grace McCartney. New, twenty years later and still on the run, she's stunned when a man calls her by her real name. Jonathan Bovaro, the mafioso sent to find her, knows her, the real her. It's a thrill Melody can't resist, and she goes with him willingly, defying the feds. To the Justice Department, she's just a pawn in their war against the Bovaro family. But as dangerous as Jonathan is, he gives Melody the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to embrace her past and present, and choose a future all her own. "Something special." — New York Times Book Review "Cristofano's intense romance debut . . . [and] mad love scenario sizzles like garlic in hot olive oil." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)