
Series: Love Undercover #3
Published by HQN on September 24, 2013
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 440

Amazon
Goodreads
An alpha hero's attraction to the one woman he can't have could draw him into a killer's snare in the sizzling new novel fromNew York Times bestselling author Lori Foster
Charismatic bar owner Rowdy Yates isn’t the kind of man women say no to. So when he approaches waitress Avery Mullins, he fully expects to get her number. However, the elusive beauty has her reasons for keeping her distance—including a past that might come back to haunt them both.
Avery spends her nights working for tips… and trying to forget the secret Rowdy is determined to unearth. But when history threatens to repeat itself, Avery grows to rely on Rowdy’s protective presence. As the sparks between them ignite, she will be forced to choose between the security she’s finally found… and the passion she’s always wanted..
Ah! Finally to the book that spurred my read of this series. Rowdy Yates. He has been portrayed as the fast playboy in the previous two books and it was fun to see him get hit by the love train. We knew from reading Run the Risk that he had a fascination with Avery Mullins, and he knew he wanted her, but I think he figured once he had her he could get her out of his system and move on.
I am used to reading books where the male protagonist feels compelled to monogamy once meeting their “mate”. It kind of felt funny to have Rowdy continue on his rascally ways even after he felt that connection to Avery. It made his devotion to her a little questionable for me. When he is at the receiving end of a little using, he does not react well and he kind of gets an awakening. Not so fun to be on the other side, and it made me feel like he actually had feelings inside that playboy exterior. His humanity is revealed even more after an unsavory character makes a visit to the bar demanding repayment for the previous bartender’s debts.
I was on the fence with Avery’s character. From the beginning she has been this tough, deal with anything chick but once we find out her backstory, she kind of seems soft. Maybe being out in the world on her own had toughened her, but facing those people from her past seems to revert her to what I can only call a little mousy. I didn’t really like her “wait him out” strategy on Rowdy. It didn’t seem like a tough girl way to tame a bad boy. I wanted her to fight more for what she wanted from him.
The suspense started out fairly well, but by the ending I was all confused. I don’t want to reveal anything, but the villian reveal had me shaking my head. I did like that Pepper was in the final scenes and played out to be as cocky as her brother and kept her head together enough to make it all work out. I really liked Pepper in this book. She is so much more than that withdrawn, scared girl she was in book one. Love and freedom from fear has truly made her blossom.
I did enjoy this installment of the Love Undercover series. I thought it leaned more on the romantic side and less on the suspense than the previous two did. Now you must satisfy your curiosity of the taming of Rowdy!
Read for: Book Club
Challenge: 2013 E-book Challenge