Pages: 400
Series: Crossing the Line #1
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: Amazon
Also in this series: Raw Redemption
Also by this author: Thrown Down, Too Hot to Handle, Raw Redemption, Worked Up, Disorderly Conduct, Too Beautiful to Break, Follow, Indecent Exposure, Mouth to Mouth, Sink or Swim, Reborn Yesterday, It Happened One Summer, Window Shopping
Goodreads
NYPD detective Seraphia Newsom will avenge her brother’s death at any cost. Even if it means insinuating herself into a rough, Brooklyn street gang and going so far undercover, she’s not sure she’ll be able to get out. Every minute she spends in their midst means the clock ticking down on her life, especially when she overhears something that could get her killed.
Bowen Driscol is the heir to a crime enterprise. He never asked for the job, but with his father behind bars, he has no choice but to step in and keep the operation running. But when the NYPD blackmails him with a piece of damning information in exchange for aiding an undercover cop, he finds himself on the other side of the law for the first time in his life.
Bowen knows the danger Sera is in, and keeping her safe trumps saving his own ass. The problem? She can’t know he’s on her side. And there's the matter of the seriously inconvenient heat sparking between them that's incinerating his resistance. But Sera only sees Bowen's past, and men like him are the reason her brother is dead. If they're to get out alive, he'll have to risk exposing the man beneath, and hope to hell he doesn't blow the whole operation in the process.
Risking it all is the classic tale of opposites attract with the delicious Tessa Bailey spin of dirty talking alpha male! Seraphina Newsom is the most wholesome character in all of NYC. If she curses, she makes the sign of the cross. She was trained as a nurse, but then her brother (an NYPD officer) is killed on the job. She is determined to go undercover and find out what happened and make sure that the man responsible pays. But, like I said, she was a nurse, not a cop. So she is in over her head in the underworld of loan sharks, drug dealers, and street thugs. The cops recruit another underworld leader in the city for help getting Sera. Bowen rose to a power position due to the death of his father and he hates every minute of his new ‘job’.
This is a great blend of opposites attract, romantic suspense, and seedy characters. Bowen is certainly a dirty talker and paired with Sera’s virgin, pure life, they are quite the duo to behold! Sera is obviously in over her head with her ill thought investigation, and Bowen is obviously in over his head with Sera. I always adore Tessa Bailey’s characters because they are so dynamic. Not purely one character trait, they are a conglomerate of many things and all those things are interesting. Bowen and Sera play well off each other not just because they are opposites, but because they are smart and dedicated (I mean, they are dedicated to different things, but dedicated none the less!)
The miscommunication trope is a bit prevalent in the story but I did expect that when a character is an undercover cop. Their distrust is understandable and expected, so I while I normally hate miscommunications, it actual made perfect sense for this story. The only thing that sort of bothered me was the Romeo/Juliet tragic love turn the story takes towards the end. Bowen becomes so despondent without Sera that he is willing to die. We all know how that turned out for Romeo…I wanted him to FIGHT.
Like all Tessa Bailey men, Bowen is a seriously bad boy in the bedroom. Talk about dirty talker! This was certainly a 4 flame story!!
There is a lot of action and danger throughout the story (Sera is still determined to infiltrate Hogan’s operation and get info to implicate him) but its more than just the action. Bailey balances the sexual tension with the plot tension seamlessly and you find yourself reading long past your bedtime because you just can’t put the book down!
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: no
- Trope: opposites attract, secret identity
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: stand alone
- Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
- HEA: View Spoiler »
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The Enforcer by Helenkay Dimon, Shattered by Cynthia Eden, Kill Without Mercy by Alexandra Ivy…then you will probably like Risking it All!
oh this book just sounds pretty fantastic here. I do like this author, and I have such a weakness for opposites attract. I just love seeing a couple finding a balance in the relationship with their personalities being so different from each other.
I love Tessa Bailey!