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Review
4.5 stars!
This was such a great read! Gritty and intense, yet funny, sweet, super sexy and romantic with wonderfully developed characters and lots of emotion. I was captivated by the story, which was profound and so well written (hence my massively quote-whorey review), and I loved it!
Rowdy is a police sergeant in Charleston. He lost his best friend in the line of duty and though he remains a dedicated police officer, he keeps his personal life on lockdown, staying distant and unattached. Michelle is a 911 dispatcher and is the voice on the other end of Rowdy’s radio. She has crushed on him ever since she arrived in town a few years ago, but Rowdy doesn’t get involved with people he works with… until their mad chemistry and physical attraction becomes all too much and then all bets are off.
“I’m going to be the one to make you come.”
“Pardon?”
“You heard me.”
…“I warn you now, though. I’m fucking filthy.”
Oh holy hell, this book is hot! Rowdy and Michelle are sizzling together and though they agree to one encounter, it’s not enough, and they soon find themselves coming back for more – but keeping it strictly physical.
“I don’t fuck and fall in love, no matter how good it feels.”
Rowdy and Michelle are both wonderfully developed characters. They are smart, brave and strong, and Michelle’s bold, confident and hilarious in-your-face manner contrasts sensationally with Rowdy’s cold broodiness, creating a wonderful dynamic. They tease and banter, and their conversation is quick, witty and flirtatious and I loved their playfulness.
“I don’t care how many women you’ve taken here.”
“Good.”
“That many?”
“I like the part where you didn’t care.”
“I was just curious.”
“Stay curious.”
“You really are an asshole.” She gave me a wink.
Their sexual connection is explosive, and only strengthens with each and every encounter. The sex is hot and filthy with lots of dirty talk and a bit of kink, and it makes everything between them incredibly intense. And the emotion is so well written that you can feel everything that they are feeling as, against all of their intentions, their emotions for each other deepen.
Our bodies moved in sync, our breaths shaky. It was an undeniable connection and I never ever wanted it to end. We remained that way as he took me to a place where only bliss existed, and we were perfectly right.
We were locked bodies and scarred souls completely exposed. And it was okay because I wanted him to have a piece of mine.
And I gave it to him.
But at the end of the hot and steamy summer together, they both find themselves way over their heads, and it’s a surprising, emotional journey as they figure out what they want and what their future will hold.
You can begin again anywhere you want to in life, but you can’t recreate your past or the way it shaped you.
This is such a well-written book. The mix of drama and love story is really well done and the story has quite an emotional impact as you feel it all from the dual perspectives of Rowdy and Michelle.
I loved the detail given with the 911 calls that Michelle takes, and that Rowdy responds to. I was surprised at the emphasis that was put on their work, but it’s such a huge part of who they are and what they have to deal with in life, and it adds to the depth and development of their characters. And the fact that most of the details in the book are based on real-life cases just makes it all the more realistic. One scene in particular had tears in my eyes!
“The shit wasn’t a game of cops and robbers anymore. It was a game of agendas and forgotten morals, and we were all lost. There was no more black and white, no right or wrong. There was only gray. And how the fuck were we supposed to navigate our way through that?”
I particularly appreciated the way that the relationship between officer and dispatcher was written. If you’re not working in those fields, it’s not something you would ever think about, but being given a glimpse into this world was so intriguing, and I certainly have a lot more respect for the people who put their hearts, and lives, on the line to protect a devastatingly ungrateful public.
Crazy never explained itself and human nature was the most fucked up beast imaginable.
And the way that their work impacted their lives was so well written. Rowdy and Michelle deal with so much, and of course it has a run-on effect on into their personal lives, both pushing them together and pulling them apart, and adding a great dynamic to their story.
“Why are you here?”
He let out a breath and looked at the floor between us. “Because you’re calm water and I’m thirsty as hell.”
Rowdy is fantastically complex. His battle to make sense of his career broke my heart, and it tied in wonderfully with his growing feelings for Michelle that he had no idea how to cope with. His struggle and his growth throughout the book are really well written, and I loved him as a character.
She wanted to know me.
I loved it.
I hated it.
I had nothing to offer.
I didn’t need commitment, but I wanted her. She was making it easy, but for how long?
And Michelle totally gets him. She understands what he’s going through, and she sees his struggles, but still she holds nothing back from him – even knowing how it will all inevitably end.
I knew enough to fall in love, I felt enough to stay in love, but I wanted more of him and always would.
I love Michelle. She truly brought Rowdy back to life, and I loved the way she pushed him to live outside of his comfort zone and start to enjoy himself again. And it’s especially impressive as her full backstory is revealed. My heart ached for her, but she survived something awful and she came out stronger and I love and admire her strength and resilience, and I was so damn proud of her for the way she handled herself throughout this entire book.
Selfish or not, I came first … I would let love rule in my heart and take a piece of my soul, but I would never let its loss destroy all of me.
I really enjoyed this book. It’s raw, intense, interesting and emotional. I loved Rowdy and Michelle, and thought that they had an amazing connection – though as much as I enjoyed their connection, at times I felt they were a little too in-sync, because I would have to reread their dialogue to catch up to where they had already gone in their conversation. But that’s a minor issue, and overall this was a great read, and I loved it.
4.5 stars.