A Review by Wendy
4 My Addiction to Tessa Bailey Stars
* * * *
I have an addiction to Tessa Bailey. She writes books which just hit all the pleasure points I have.
Do I like a plot, Yup.
Do I like a Manly Guy...not metro sexual, Yup.
Do I like it when said manly guy is confident in his manliness and everyone knows it, Yup.
And do I like a dirty talker... not cheesy but just one who knows exactly what to say at exactly the right time to cause my brain to react in just the right way....Damn Straight, Yup.
And then on top of all this yummy goodness.... do you want to have a heroine who can hold her own with this sexual magnet, yes please. I have to live through someone in order to get that expert dirty talking...He can't do it in a vacuum...
So, I know when I read Tessa Bailey she will give me three dimensional characters mostly involved in an intricate plot...and this one was involving criminals, cops, undercover activity and secrets. She brought in past characters from other books but we didn't need to have read them to understand this book. This also was the first book of a new series which led to the need for more... more set up, more intensity and more layering. Most of the time it was fine...but there were a few periods when I could have done with less...
Because I wanted more Bowen... he is a very complex character; locked into a world not of his choosing... his father made those choices. He has his relationship of his half sister, Ruby, at stake... she means everything to him. This puts him in a position where he has to be something alien....He has to look out for an undercover cop who has gone rogue on her own...and once he sees this picture of this woman... so fresh, seemingly pure and innocent...he just knows he will figure out a way to protect her.
The object of this interest is Seraphia Newsom...she was a nurse...her brother was a cop and then while on the job was murdered by the North Brooklyn Crime boss Hogan. Seraphia left nursing; became a cop with the only goal of bringing down Hogan. She has gotten herself in... there is a ledger with all the evidence she needs to bring this scum down...she just needs to figure out when to nab it and get out.
Bowen Driscol is now the head of the South Brooklyn Crime family; he doesn't wish to be... but it is what it is...This leads him to be able to interact with Hogan as they have a deal pending. At the bar where Seraphia is "working as Sera", Bowen makes himself know...visually tags Sera and the story takes off from there.
Bailey sets all of this up with very steamy interaction between these two...the build up is insane.... they are frothing at the mouth in how much each of them want each other...and so is the reader...This part of the story works full blast.
There were a lot of moving parts. It is important to pay attention to all of them... I did see a key player and I knew exactly what was about to happen... however it did not deter...The only downside for me was a bit of the pacing in the last quarter or so of the book.
This addiction to these types of stories is not a bad thing... in my book. I am fortunate because Ms. Bailey has created the next book and it will be equally as good.... for it takes place in Chicago.... and one of the characters we get to have another taste of is....
The original Dirty Talker himself, the fantastic Derek Tyler!
Yes, my man from His Risk to Take will be in the next book...not the main character but any amount of him is delicious and oh so fulfilling. I can breathe easier...I know my next fix is not far away.
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