Washington Lovers — John Boyle

Ruth Miller, now a cabinet member's deputy in the Department of Agriculture, knows she doesn't think like other women. The gene-altering procedure she underwent as a child gave her savant-like ability in physics and math, but only a vague understanding of how to function in the real world. When the President fires her boss, the stanch and upright, Daniel Underhill, he learns his only friend in the world is Ruth. He finally admits how much he's attracted to her, and for one night, Ruth's world seems perfect. But their love affair is off to a rocky start. Can two people from the opposite ends of a segregated society form a lasting relationship? And can either of them, knowing the terrible secret the administration is hiding, ignore the coming catastrophe, and watch their families suffer and die as the synthetic food industry implodes?