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Blurb
When valuable Civil War era art is stolen from a popular New Orleans gallery, NOPD Lead Detective Montgomery “Beau” Bissonet and his partner set out to solve the crime. When the gallery’s insurance company sends Tollison Cruz to the Big Easy to conduct their own independent investigation, personalities clash and battle lines are definitely drawn.
The heist quickly becomes a politically driven high profile case, and Detective Bissonet is furious when he’s ordered to work along side Investigator Cruz to assure a timely arrest. The heat index soars to new levels when the two investigators discover they have a lot more in common then originally thought.
With the tension between them temporarily sated, Bissonet and Cruz finally start to work together, on more then just a professional level. But everything comes to a screeching halt when Beau discovers his cohort in crime has been withholding information regarding the investigation and has been concealing a very questionable past. What happens next rivals the scorching summer heat.
Morgan’s Review
Beau works for the NOPD and Cruz works for Lloyds of London. Both guys are trying to find two missing paintings. It’s made clear that it’s likely an inside job (either the original owner, his family, or someone the original owner hired) but things are now complicated because someone got killed while trying to steal the paintings.
Beau immediately hates Cruz. Which sucks because now they have to work together. Beau’s recent ex boyfriend is also involved in the case, and they have a contentious relationship as well. (Beau can be an asshole!) So Beau is basically feeling sorry for himself all around.
However, there is something else going on between him and Cruz as well – sexual tension. Both guys are really attracted to one another in addition to truly “hating” the other.
The case leads them to cross state lines and they end up sharing a hotel bed. You guessed it, the sparks flying between them eventually catch fire, have some angry sex and it’s H.O.T! But… they still don’t like each other.
They grudgingly agree that they make a good investigative pair as they get closer and closer to solving the case, but something about the other just sets them on edge. Since they’re spending so much time together they decide to go for a no-strings-attached affair, since it’s convenient and all. *wink, wink
When it looks like the case is on the verge of being solved, and it begins to look like the couple may be more than just a quick fling, Cruz is seen corroborating with one of the main suspects and Beau throws him under the bus, immediately thinking the worst.
Fortunately, Cruz is a reasonable guy and the two of them talk it out, realizing that secrets have been kept on both sides. When they finally lay things out of the table, the case finally gets closed and the two realize they mean more to each other than a short-term affair.
But… they live in different cities. Cruz travels all over the world for months at a time. Beau is stuck in New Orleans. It takes some creative thinking, but they do find something they think will work. It’s going to take a big leap of faith and a lot of love to make it work, but I think they have what it takes to make for a very HEA.
**
The bulk of the story really is about solving the crime. That being said, the love story is super sweet and the sex is really hot. I found it fascinating how much the ex played a part in this story and I figure he’s maybe got a book of his own coming up. I’m not sure if this is just being nit picky or what, but there were tons of strange names in this book and it got distracting.
All in all I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. 4 of 5 hearts
