Karma

Karma is the 3^rd book in the fabulous Serendipity series from NYT bestselling author Carly Phillips. From the back cover.~

Officer Dare Barron has had a crush on Liza McKnight ever since he was a teenager. But despite his lifelong attraction, the closest he's ever come to interacting with her is watching Liza regularly bail out her brother at the station.
 
Dare's dark past with Liza's brother, Brian, has always kept him from pursuing her. But suddenly Liza finds herself in need of protection and Dare appoints himself as the man for the job.  And while the sizzling attraction between Dare and Liza draws them together, the past that Dare and Brian share threatens to keep the two apart forever.

I’ve been waiting for Dare’s story since I first met him in Serendipity. Not to take anything away from Ethan or Nash, but there was just something I loved about Dare from the start. When he shared a secret with his brothers in Destiny, I knew it would end up being a major part of his story. I’m going to try to avoid spoilers as much as possible with this post, and I apologize for any I inadvertently reveal.

I loved Dare and Liza’s story. It wasn’t really easy for either of them. Liza has trust issues because of the way her family has always treated her. She has never been able to depend on anyone other than herself. Her brother Brian has always been there, but he has been a source of trouble every since the party he threw in high school. Dare has been attracted to Liza since they were in high school, but has tried to stay away from her since he was at Brian’s party in high school. He knows facts from the party that would hurt Liza to no end if she were to find out.

Since Brian continues to get into trouble, Dare and Liza run into one another on a regular basis. Dare and Liza are attracted to one another and even Dare’s past with Brian isn’t enough to stop him from acting on his attraction. The chemistry between Dare and Liza is sizzling. Because of Liza’s past, she isn’t looking for a relationship, but both promise to only be with one another while they are together (sounds like a relationship to me). Things are going pretty well in their relationship until Dare’s half-sister Tess is hurt at a party and he acts like a jerk to Liza and takes out his anger on her. Liza is already dealing with the fact her brother has messed up and drug her into his mess to clean up. She thought Dare was finally someone she could depend on and then he acts like a jerk. Dare must prove to Liza that he is willing to stand by her no matter what to make things right.

I loved how Dare proves himself to Liza. They are both such strong people, and really only become stronger together. I also love getting to spend time with the entire Barron family in this book. I loved watch the brothers together. I also loved how quickly Kelly and Faith accepted Liza as one of them. Liza really didn’t have any close girlfriends until Kelly and Faith, and I loved how they stood by her.

I’ve said all along Dare is my favorite Barron brother and his story was more than worth the wait. Carly gives her readers another winner with Karma, and I can’t wait for my next visit to Serendipity. I love visiting with the residents of Serendipity and am happy to say we get more books in the series. The Serendipity series will continue with the cops of Serendipity in The Perfect Trilogy. Up first will be Perfect Fit in February 2013, followed by Perfect Change in September 2013, and Perfect Together in February 2014.