Stars and Smoke

Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu

This is one of the better books by Marie Lu. Winter Young is a huge Chinese-American pop star. He gets recruited by the Panacea group to help bring down a crime boss, Eli Morrison. The Panacea group takes the jobs that the CIA can't take, and has been after Morrison for years. Now they think they can infiltrate by having Young play a concert at Morrison's daughter's birthday party. Young is reluctant at first. However, he later learns that his deceased brother, who he thought was doing peace corps missions was actually working for the Panacea group. He is teamed with agent Sydney Cossette who poses as his bodyguard. Of course there is some chemistry between them. There is also some with Young and the crime boss's daughter. Young notices there is some "fake" behavior going on with her and her relationships. He then gets shot and discovers that the daughter is behind a scheme involving the death of her father and taking over the money from the empire. In the end he goes back to his pop star world and Sydney gets a promotion. In an epilogue they meet up again - and it seems a new mission is in the works. The book moves quickly and does not get bogged down with two much world building or romance.