Cover Me (Donovan Family, #5)

by Margaret Watson

[chymerra]

Before I start my review, I would like to thank Margaret Watson for allowing me to review Cover Me.

**All opinions stated in this review are mine and mine alone. I received Cover Me from Margaret Watson for free for my honest and unbiased review**

Now, onto my review:

Cover Me (The Donovan Family Book 5) by [Watson, Margaret]

Format read in: Kindle

Author: Margaret Watson

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of Publication: April 28th 2015

Where the book can be found:

Amazon (Kindle and Paperback)

Number of pages: 364

Part of a series: Yes

What series: The Donovan Family

Love Me – The Donovan Family, Book 1

Watch Me – The Donovan Family, Book 2

Find Me – The Donovan Family, Book 3

Trust Me – The Donovan Family, Book 4

Cover Me – The Donovan Family, Book 5

Protect Me – The Donovan Family, Book 6

Save Me – The Donovan Family, Book 7

See Me – The Donovan Family, Book 8

Book synopsis (via Goodreads):

Chicago cop Brendan Donovan loves the adrenaline rush of his role on a tactical team. So when he’s assigned to an undercover job to ferret out the supplier of a new and deadly sex drug, he’s thrilled. His partner is Cilla Marini, a detective he’d met recently during a traffic stop. He’s intrigued by Cilla, but his sister told him that Cilla doesn’t date cops. Which is exactly what they have to pretend to do. Brendan loves a challenge.

Cilla is shocked to find out that Brendan is her mystery partner. After an incident that forced her to transfer from her district and isolated her from her fellow cops, Cilla knows relationships with cops are off the table. But she’s spent far too much time thinking about Brendan since he pulled her over for speeding. Now, not only are they working together, they have to pose as a couple to find the source of the sex drug that’s already killed several men.

As the action heats up, Cilla and Brendan don’t have to pretend they want each other. But when secrets put them both in danger, will they have each other’s back? Or will their quarry divide and conquer them before they can find their way to happily ever after?

My review:

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. As you all know from previous book reviews, I really, really, really don’t like reading books out-of-order in a series. Usually (but not always), they are hard to read because there are references to the other books that have come previously in the series.

But not this book. You can read Cover Me as a standalone book (Hurray!!). I mean, there are references to the other books but (and stress but) they are for the story only. Which is another reason why I really liked this book.

We first meet Brendan Donovan as he is sitting outside a drug house, doing surveillance. When a vintage Mustang goes speeding past him, he assumes that it was stolen and being driven by a gangbanger. So he gives chase and pulls the car over. Imagine his surprise when not only does he pull over a woman….but she is a cop and a hostage negotiator on her way to a scene. Her name….Priscilla (aka Cilla) Martini. A cop that is shunned because of an incident that happened in her old district with another cop. If you want to read more about what exactly that is….read the book.

Brendan and Cilla meet again, but this time they are partners and they are looking for the dealer(s) of a deadly street drug that has killed 5 people. This drug is used as a sexual stimulant….similar to Viagra. Cilla is going undercover as a keyboard player at a pub where the drug seems to be dealt at and Brendan is going as a pub regular who starts to have a relationship with Cilla after meeting her there. Also, Cilla got a heads up about a serial rapist that is striking the local clubs/pubs in the area and to just keep her eyes open.

The sexual attraction and the heat between Brendan and Cilla was unfreakinbelievable. The fact that Cilla could get aroused from just a look from Brendan and Brendan from Cilla was awesome. And when they finally do have sex, it rocketed off the page.

But what I loved about this book was that the sexual tension and all that was second fiddle to the story and the author used the sex scenes as delicious interludes to Brendan and Cilla’s police work. People, this is how a romance is supposed to be. Storyline and then sex. Not sex and then storyline!!!

I did get kinda frustrated with Cilla and her not wanting to have a relationship with a cop….based on her aunt’s experiences. Yes, her aunt’s experience was really bad but it is something that shouldn’t have been reiterated to a child over and over and over again. I also didn’t like that Cilla was the fixer for her family. Every time someone had a problem, they called her. Like small children. And her mother acted like a small child when Cilla kept telling her to go see her Uncle Donny to get her brakes fixed. Ugggh. Made me want to reach through the book and smack both Cilla and her mother.

I will say that I did figure out who the serial rapist was pretty on in the book. No fault of the author but the fake name (and Cilla’s reaction to it) was a dead giveaway. I did like that it lead into another storyline and that one was left open-ended at the end of the book.

Now, I will say that I don’t understand why ratting out a fellow cop for doing something bad is such a bad thing and I won’t even pretend to understand it. But the way Cilla handled herself when meeting Ward was very classy and NOT the way I would have handled myself. Also, Brendan and Connor’s defense of her was great too.

The ending was great and I was really taken by surprise at who the dealer was. Like really taken by surprise because I honestly didn’t think it was who I thought it was.

Oh and I just want to say…..I love Australian shepherds. Hehe. Want to know why I put that in….read the book.

How many stars will I give Cover Me? 4

Why? This is a well written romance with a big heap of mystery/suspense in it. There were a few parts that did frustrate me (see above) but over all, I loved it. And as a 5th book in a series, this is definitely a standalone book.

Will I reread it? Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends? Yes

Age range: Adult

Why? Lots of hot, steamy sex. Drug use. Violence and one scene of an attempted rape.