by Tara Wyatt
Series: Blue HEAT #1
Series: Blue HEAT #1
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: May 15th 2018
Source: ARC received for review
Rating: ★★★1/2
Detective Sawyer Matthews isn’t just having a bad day—he’s having the worst day. His hunt for the criminal who killed his team member has stalled and now… he’s got to play nice with his new, totally unwanted partner. It’s not that she isn’t qualified, or that he doesn’t like her—it’s because he knows what she looks like naked. So very, very naked.
Brooke Simmons finally landed her dream job working for H.E.A.T, an elite undercover detective squad, and she’s not giving up simply because she had a one-night-stand with her sullen—but undeniably sexy—new partner. They’ll just have to keep it professional. Easier said than done, considering their first case requires Sawyer to infiltrate a drug cartel operating out of a male strip show. Watching him do his best Magic Mike impression every night isn’t just hot—it’s torture.
Sawyer doesn’t need any distractions, yet his attraction to Brooke is explosive and he can’t resist going for round two. Or three. Or four. But as their investigation progresses and danger mounts, they’ll have to put their jobs, hearts, and lives on the line to fight… for each other, for survival, and for justice.
Stripped opens up with the hero, Sawyer, and the heroine, Brooke, having a steamy one-night stand after a date gone sour for Brooke. The next morning, when Brooke checks in to her new dream job, she's shocked beyond belief to find out that her new partner is no one other than her hot one-night stand. Talk about awkward! Brooke though is determined to not let the awkwardness and Sawyer's annoyance with her get in the way. I liked Brooke a lot. She was sassy and fiery and very headstrong. She didn't allow Sawyer to walk all over her and didn't mince her words. Sawyer, on the other hand, could be a bit of an ass. He was dealing with the grief of having recently lost his partner and was acting out on Brooke. Still though, his behavior was a little irritating at first, and it took me some time to warm up to him. Brooke and Sawyer had phenomenal chemistry together. These two were steamy AF. Though they immediately jumped into bed, their relationship did take a while to develop from animosity to more.
Plot-wise, I wasn't entirely into the criminal story. I just didn't find it as captivating of a case as it could be. I also felt like the romantic and sexy times elements took over the crime aspects, so it didn't feel like the case was as fleshed out as it could have been. The stripping parts of Stripped came when Sawyer went undercover as a male stripper for the case. I'll admit that they were gold and they certainly got me interested in reading more books where stripping is involved - LOL I realize this makes me sound like a perv. :D I also quite enjoyed the secondary characters and their relationships with Brooke. I'm hoping some of the new friends Brooke makes will also get books of their own.
All in all, this was a decent start to a new series from Tara Wyatt. Though I was not a complete fan of the hero, I found the book and the romance to be entertaining.
Do you have recommendations for me for books with male strippers?
Let me know in the comments below!
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