UNDER THE SURFACE (ALPHA OPS #4)

Welcome to Eye Candy, the East Side’s hottest nightclub where the bartenders are hot, the cocktails are fancy, and danger lurks just under the surface…

Eve Webber, the gorgeous and savvy owner of Eye Candy, knows better than anyone that growing up on the wrong side of the tracks comes with certain complications. Determined to run a clean business and fix up the East Side, Eve’s plans get temporarily stalled when a potential new hire walks into her bar. The sexual chemistry crackling between them is a potent distraction…even if she refuses to mix business with the promise of pleasure.

Detective Matt Dorchester lives by strict rules that have kept him alive in impossible situations. When his latest undercover assignment has him playing a bartender, his desire for the passionate owner has him breaking every single one. Eve is in danger and her life depends on his secrecy. But once their attraction reaches a climactic conclusion, Matt must make a desperate choice: Tell her the truth about who he really is―or risk a once-in-a-lifetime love to save her life?

Release Date: May 31, 2016

Romantic Suspense

St. Martin’s Press

The Alpha Ops #4

Review copy provided by publisher

Nikki’s Review:

I still remember the first, Anne Calhoun book I read a few years ago, Liberating Lacey. It was exhilarating! It was fast paced and filthy in the best kind of way, from the start. I adored that book the whole way through. I was hoping to be ensnared by this book as well, but that never happened.

Matt Dorchester is an undercover cop working in a bar. He's there to protect, Eve Webber, the bar owner. I liked Eve from the get go. She's feisty and strong. But Matt was just, I don't know, meh at best. He was boring. He wasn't the right hero for the heroine. She needed someone who wasn't into his head all the time and wishy washy. The wishy washy drove me nuts! I'm ok with some internal conflict, but it got old in this book. 

I was probably 50% of the way through the book when things finally picked up. Even then, it moved like a turtle instead of a snail. I found myself begging the book to just speed up, and for Matt to get a personality. I didn't feel the chemistry between them. Sure, Eve was all over, Matt and very clear that she wanted to have hot monkey sex, but once again, Matt was stuck in his head. Jesus, he needed to stop that! 

The plot had so much potential. I love a good undercover cop story mixed in with hot romance. The lack of love towards the hero just pulled me out of everything else. I honestly didn't care what happened to anyone. I was so disappointed; I wanted to love this book. It just didn't work out for me. I will read future, Anne Calhoun novels. I like her writing style. This book just didn't resonate with me.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (C+)