By: Lauren Layne
Releasing
March 29, 2016
Forever
Vincent
knows he's not the most charming of the Moretti brothers. He prefers brooding
to flirting, reading to talking, and he sure as hell isn't about to give into
his mother's insistence that he 'settle down with a nice girl.' Luckily,
Vincent's gig as one of the NYPD's top homicide detectives keeps him busy. As
does his long-time partner, Jill Henley–a tough-as-nails cop with the face of
an angel and smart mouth that makes Vincent crazy in all the worst ways.
After six
years of working the homicide beat with the tight-lipped Vincent Moretti, Jill
figure she knows him better than anyone. Which is not at all. But when their
most recent case points to a potential serial-killer situation, the higher-ups
send them on a rare undercover mission to a place no NYPD officer dares go: the
Upper Eastside.
Now the
bureau's most antagonistic set of partners is posing as Mr. and Mrs. Brooks of
Park Avenue. Spending 24/7 in the suspect's territory brings them closer and
closer to their killer . . . and closer to each other. Soon Vincent and Jill
are playing good cop/bad cop in and out of bed, and Jill's falling hard. But
can she convince Vincent to give her a shot as partner in life, as well as at
the bureau?
So
we are back with my new favorite cop family; The Moretti's! And I'm super
excited to jump back in all the craziness! Especially with Nonna.
Detective
Vincent Moretti is the surliest member of the Moretti family. When most of his
communications tend to be through scowls and grunting it is honestly amazing
that anyone out side of the family can put up with him. But his partner of 6
years Jill Henley, is the one person that was always by his side…mainly because
she is the only one that can put up with him.
But Vin is not as gruff as he comes across, he is shy and doesn't know
how to express his feelings, but after missing Jill for the past 3 months,
while she has been in Florida taking care of her mother, Vin has finally decided to take a step
towards expressing his tightly kept feeling by asking Jill on a date. But when
Jill comes home engaged to another man, Vin feels confused by his own hurt
emotions.
Despite
what is going on in their personal lives, Vin and Jill have a murder to solve,
but will Vin be able to get through the case and Jill's engagement and not
reveal how he feels?
I
am going to start by saying …I really loved this book! I love the family, the
characters! The plot! Simply everything about this book is delicious. I loved
Vin's character so much! His shyness makes him just so endearing to me. I
struggled a little with Jill's character a couple of moments in the book, but I
did love the way the author made the characters realize their flaws; without
that I honestly don't this that this book or this series should be as amazing
as it is! I only have one retreat with this whole series, that I didn't
discover this series till book 2! But I'm thrilled I found it and I honestly
can't wait for the next book in the series.
So
let's get the the basics of this book, the writing, plot and characters are
fantastic and as far as I can see it is without plot holes and smooth to
read.
I give Cuff Me 5 stars!
Vincent was damn good at his job. It
was why he’d been assigned a trainee during Jill’s leave of absence despite the
fact that his lack of people skills was as legendary as his ability to sniff
out even the most clever of murderers.
In truth, Vincent had been dreading
his three months with the near-rookie, but it had been less painful than
expected. Dansen was a good cop. A little green, but when Dansen was assigned
his new partner tomorrow, Vin had no doubts that the guy would be able to
handle whatever came his way.
And then Vincent’s life would
finally get back to normal.
Not that these three months without
Jill had been abnormal, precisely.
He still worked the same
backbreaking schedule. Still saw death more days than not.
Still went to breakfast with his
family after Mass every Sunday, and argued with his brothers and occasionally
with his sister during said breakfast.
He still watched sports most
evenings, still worked out most mornings.
So really, his life wasn’t different
without Jill at all. Except that it was. Wildly, horribly different.
He glanced at his watch. Two hours
until her plane landed. Three hours, maybe four until he’d see her again. Not
that he was counting.
“So you’re good from here?” Vincent
asked. “If you need anything, I’ll be ...”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll call ya. You never
did tell me where you were going.”
“Probably because it’s none of your
Goddamn business.”
Dansen put a hand to his chest.
“I’ve come to love these heart-to-hearts of ours. The way we count on each
other. Confide in each other—” “My cue to leave,” Vincent grumbled.
He started to get in the car, when
Dansen called his name again.
Vin shot him an impatient look and
was surprised when the usually confident Dansen looked away briefly before
meeting his eyes.
“Hey, I just wanted to say.. .”
Dansen cleared his throat from across the hood of the car, and Vin tensed,
knowing what was coming.
God, he hated shit like this.
“You can drop the detective,”
Vincent said roughly. “Just call me Moretti. Or Vin. Whatever.”
Dansen’s smile flashed white across
his dark face. “Do you know how many cops dream of the day when they’re given
permission to call one of the members of the royal family by their first name?”
“Oh Jesus. Don’t start that again.”
For the most part, Dansen had done a
remarkable job of not irritating Vincent to the extreme over the past three
months. But Dansen’s ridiculous hero worship of Vincent’s last name grated on
his nerves. Yet another reason he couldn’t wait for Jill to get back.
Jill, who’d never cared that
Vincent’s father was the recently retired police commissioner. Or that his
older brother was a captain. Or that his younger brother was the NYPD’s most
famous officer.
Or that his grandfather had been a
cop and his mother had been a police dispatcher.. .
Okay, so maybe Vincent could sort of
understand where Dansen was coming from. The Morettis were kind of NYPD
royalty.
And Vincent was proud to be a part
of it. Proud to carry on the legacy.
He just got damn tired of the ass
kissing.
“Seriously though, thanks,” Dansen
said. “Couldn’t have asked for a better detective to show me the ropes. A nicer
one, sure. A better-looking one, definitely. And you can be a real—”
“Asshole, I know,” Vincent said.
Dansen held up a finger. “Not what I
was going to say. I think that’s the first time you’ve tried to finish my
sentence and gotten it wrong.”
“I’m never wrong,” Vin said out of
habit.
“Fine.” Dansen rolled his eyes.
“You’re an asshole. Happy?”
Vin didn’t bother responding, just
lifted his hand in a final farewell to Dansen before the younger man could say
whatever it was he’d wanted to say, and lowered himself into the car.
Vincent slid on his aviator
sunglasses as he fastened his seat belt.
Vin kept his face perfectly blank
until he’d pulled away from the curb and merged into traffic.
Only then, only out of sight of
prying eyes, did he let a smile overtake his face. A smile that quickly became
a grin as he headed toward his longtime barber for a very overdue haircut.
He told himself that his decision to
get his hair cut after weeks of putting it off had absolutely nothing to do
with the fact that he’d be seeing Jill in a few short hours.
Vincent had never really given two
thoughts to what Jill Henley thought of his looks.
But then, he and Jill had never
spent three months apart. He’d never had a chance to realize just how much he’d
. .. missed her.
Not that he’d be telling her that.
Lauren Layne is the USA Today
Bestselling author of more than a dozen contemporary romance novels.
Prior to becoming an author, Lauren
worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. A year after moving from Seattle to NYC
to pursue a writing career, she had a fabulous agent and multiple New York
publishing deals.
Lauren
currently lives in Manhattan with her husband and plus-sized Pomeranian. When
not writing, you'll likely find her running (rarely), reading (sometimes), or
at happy hour (often).
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