Maggie Reads Romance

4,75 stars

The book I've been waiting for ever since I finished CUP OF SUGAR is finally here! The book about the main couple from COS's siblings: Curtis, the hero's tattooed hot cop brother and Sara, the heroine's free-spirited, defiant sister.

I don't even know where to begin about this book. This is one of those books that I just want to yell at people to go buy and read. The mix of emotion, conflict, heat and humor was perfect. Karla Doyle is a master at combining these for elements into books I can't stop reading and when I have to, I can't wait to get back to them. Her writing always, ALWAYS hits the mark with me and every book seems to get better and better.

The chemistry, connection and vebal sparring between Sara and Curtis was off the charts! Sara is a smart-mouthed spitfire and Curtis is a dirty-talking alpha cop. I loved them both as individual characters with their issues and hang-ups and as a couple that slowly but surely made the journey from one-night stand heat to something meaningful and lasting. Sara doesn't want love as it leads to loss and Curtis doesn't believe in love and HEAs. The sexy scenes were panty-melting hot and my only very minor complaint is that I would have loved to have more of them in the book. On the other hand I understand that the pages were needed for the emotional story arc and that always trumps sexy scenes in my book.

Again I not only loved the main couple of this book but also the secondary characters, who formed an awesome supporting cast. In particular Jake Campbell, Curtis's partner grabbed my attention from the minute he appeared on the page. Teasing and baiting Curtis about Sara. I hope he's getting a story of his own too in the future. I also really liked Lindsay even though she was a bit bitchier than in the first book! Saw her book is up next and I can't wait!

Memorable Scenes:
- the one in Curtis's hotelroom after the wedding > sweet lord, any hotter and my e-reader would've exploded!
- the one with the proposal > I got all teary-eyed and it's my favorite scene in the book

Favorite Quotes:
“Just making sure everything goes smoothly for my brother. And your sister.”
She yanked, and his fingers tightened around her wrist. “By handcuffing me to six feet of good behavior?”
“Six-two. And babe, if and when I put the cuffs on you, you can count on my behavior being very, very bad.”

She stuck out her tongue, revealing a small white candy. “What can I say, I’m a fan of fresh breath.”
“Then I hope you have more of those candies for later.” He pulled the cash from her fist and flicked it aside, then guided her palm to his fly. “I’ve got plans for that smart mouth of yours, and they involve several four-letter words, none of which are ‘mint.’”

“I like these,” he said, depositing the stilettos on her lap as he filled his side of the car with his big frame and even bigger presence. “Put them back on.”
“Ooh, are we going to role-play ‘dirty cop fucks a call girl’? I like that one.”
“I don’t role-play.” The look he gave her while bringing the car rumbling to life would have made an erupting volcano seem frigid. “I don’t need games to make sex exciting.”

“All I want from you is a record-setting number of orgasms.”
“What’s the number to beat?”
“Depends. Who you want to compete with—a human, or my vibrator.”

A thousand miniature suns must be racing through his bloodstream, because he felt like he was going to explode. If he didn’t get inside her soon, he just might. All over the mattress.

There was no good way to answer. Jake was a buddy as well as a damn good cop. He’d know if Curtis fed him a load of bull, and he’d have far too much fun with the info if Curtis told him the whole truth. Best he could do was shoot for the middle and hope a partial version floated like shit from a high-fiber diet.

In the middle of the most serious conversation of his life and she managed to make him chuckle. “Stay here and figure it out. With me. Let’s find out how many ways you can make me crazy. How many ways I can piss you off and calm you down. I want to count how many times you call me ‘dude’ before admitting you’re in love with me too.”