Blurb:
It’s
been a lot of years and another lifetime since Dax Trevino was a
playboy detective for the Franklin Police Department. He’s been through
hell and back, and now he just wants to be left alone, so he can cuddle
his otters.
When
two of his babies are kidnapped in the middle of the night, and Claws
and Effect Pet Detectives are called to the rescue, quiet, broody Dax
never expects to be tackled and handcuffed by the only woman he ever
regretted being a douchebag to all those years ago.
Harley
Blake has spent her entire life taking care of her accident-prone
father with a fondness for dead animals, and her forty-year-old brother
who refuses to grow up. The last thing she needs is another complication
in her life, and Detective Douchebag is at the top of the list.
Dax
might not be a cop anymore, and he might have outgrown his one-and-done
player status, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to get burned a second time and fall for his charms. The infuriating man already branded a
mark on her heart years ago, making sure she’d never forget him.
Besides, she has a case to solve for the guy, and this is just business.
But
the sarcasm starts flying, there are a gaggle of adorable otters who
need to be cuddled, a Bandit Von Trash Panda who just wants to play
poker, pot brownies, and squirrels dressed for a wedding... at a
funeral. Things are heating up—and not just from the small tree fire
after the grenade went off—and this man is suddenly simplifying her life
instead of making it worse.
Harley knows she won’t escape this time without being Otterly Scorched.
Amazon: mybook.to/
Nook: https://bit.ly/
Kobo: https://bit.ly/
iBooks: https://bit.ly/
Bookbub: https://bit.ly/
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/
Review:
I've waited a LONG time for this story, and it did not disappoint.
This is the one character who first appeared in the romantic suspence Ignite trilogy (that really became a duet) when the third book was never released. Dax was the sexy copy friend to the main characters in the second book in this series (DJ the firefighter), and everyone who read these expected that Dax would have the third book....but then he didn't. And us readers waited. And waited. And waited. And waited.
Fast forward nearly six years later, and he appears in a totally different series!
Glad that Dax and Harley had their story - it starts with them meeting at a bar one night, only to discover that they're coworkers. Fast forward many years and they meet again, only Dax has secrets from his past and daddy issues, and Harley is called in to help him recoever stolen otters. What ensues is the typical snark, hilarity and swoon worthy scenes you'd expect from Sivec.
This one is not to be missed!
Thankfully, Tara Sivec outlined the road to this book so I didn't have to!
“A gentleman should be polite and courteous on a date, while being firm and manly by listening to what his date would like to eat and then ordering it for her,” Dax informs me, holding his pointer finger up to the waiter while he grabs his water glass and chugs half of it before setting it back down on the table.
“Why are you talking like this?”
“Like what?”
“Like... you’re Google, and I just asked you how to go on a first date. In 1952.”
Dax quickly picks his menu back up and looks down at it.
“Chicken parm sounds good.”
A few more previously dead brain cells join the smart living one, and I tell the waiter to give us a couple minutes. The confused young man walks away, and I lean forward to rest my elbows on the table, take the menu out of Dax’s hands, and set it down on the table off to the side.
“Dax Trevino. Did you google how to go on a date?” I ask softly, never knowing before this moment that my heart could actually feel like it’s melting in my chest.
Dax sighs, leaning forward in his chair to cross his arms and rest them on the table with me until our faces are a few inches apart.
“You’re goddamn right I did.” He nods with conviction, all of the nervousness finally gone from his face now that the truth is out. “Harley, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here either. I’ve never dated anyone. I’ve never wanted to date anyone, or make them feel special or like a princess on a date. I know you’re not really the princess type, but I want to do this right, and I’m fifteen steps into Twenty-Five Ways to Date Like a Gentleman. I’ve had my car detailed, I’ve taken extra time to properly groom myself, I’m wearing an outfit that gives me confidence, I’m maintaining eye contact, and I’ve prepared a list of topics for us to discuss in case there’s an uncomfortable lull in dinner conversation.”
Dax reaches over, grabs my fingers, and tugs my hand to his mouth, kissing the top of it.
“Now, let me order dinner for you without you stabbing me, and then just sit there like a good girl and let the nice man I paid play the violin right next to our table and make it super awkward while we eat the main course.”
No comments:
Post a Comment