leelu92
Written on Feb 16, 2016
Nico Rosso is a completely new to me author and I believe the first male romantic suspense author I've read. To be honest, I wasn't really sure how it would all play out but part of the reason I read it in the first place was to experience a new voice. The cover hooked me initially and was the main reason I was drawn to it, then I read the synopsis and I was REALLY interested.
Rosso connects Art and Hailey immediately upon meeting each other, kind of a lust at first sight thing. Don't assume though that Hailey isn't wary of Art, the sees him for what she knows of him to be at the time, a Russian mob guard. For me, once Rosso makes that connection between the two, it continued to flow easily.
Due to Art's attention to her outside his Russian boss's club, Hailey gets caught up in the Russian mob web that she really has no business being in. All Hailey wanted to do was sell some Pelmeni, make money so she can support her mother and one day, open her own restaurant. Instead, she gets roped into being the chef at a big mobster meeting in the middle of the desert.
Hailey has no idea that Art is much more than a Russian goon and she tries to tamp down her attraction to him due to her assumption. Not only is Art responsible for setting up a major Russian mob takedown, now he has to factor keeping Hailey safe. Hailey is the master of her domain in the kitchen and she operates in it as if she was wearing her own version of kevlar. She makes it clear to the Russian mob goons that the kitchen is hers and that she is in charge. She is an extremely enjoyable character to read because of this. Hailey needed Art's protection in other ways but she held her own where her job as the chef was concerned.
Art would only be a possibility in a very different lifetime. No matter what she saw in the depth of his eyes, he was on the payroll of a bad guy.
But he wasn't a bad guy. He'd fought Garin. He'd kept watch on her. Even now, she knew he was sending a message by sharpening the knife on the floor where her room was. He protected her door.
As for the passion and sexytimes? I wasn't sure how that would flow from a man's writing perspective (a short-sighted assumption/concern on my part) but I really liked the way he wrote those moments between them. There wasn't too much inner monologue that droned on and on and it was sexy as hell. The quiet and close moments between them are not hurried, Rosso takes his time with those.
They were so close, and barely had to move for their lips to meet. The kiss was a shock. Gentle. Hesitant. As if to test and see if all the tension that had been growing between them was real. And how much potential charge remained after the initial touch.
The kiss deepened, revealing their connection went beyond what she'd imagined.
Amidst all of the cloak and dagger going on, Art and Hailey simply cannot resist each other. I'll admit that I had to wonder how would their "relationship" play out in the regular everyday world once/if they got out of their current predicament alive. The one quote from the movie Speed kept humming through my brain:
[after surviving the bus explosion]
Annie: You're not going to get mushy on me, are you?
Jack: Maybe. I might.
Annie: I hope not, 'cause you know, relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last.
Jack: Oh yeah?
Annie: Yeah, I've done extensive study on this.
Once I started it, it was very difficult to put down. All I wanted to do was read and find out how Art was going to accomplish his mission to take down the mob while protecting Hailey in hopes of having a chance at a future wth her. I'm very glad I took the chance on this new author and I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series, One Minute to Midnight.
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Copy for review provided by publisher