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STEAL ME
New York's Finest #2
Lauren Layne
Releasing Nov 24th, 2015
Forever
IN HOT PURSUIT
Being a cop might be in Anthony Moretti's blood, but protecting and serving the city of New York has always been more than just the family business. If that means his love life stays locked up, well then that's just another sacrifice made in the line of duty. That is, until he sets eyes on the gorgeous new waitress at The Darby Diner and suddenly Anthony's morning coffee is leaving him a whole
lot more hot and bothered than usual.
Though waitressing at The Darby isn't exactly Maggie Walker's dream job, it pays the bills and gives her time to work on her novel. Now if only she could stop fantasizing about gorgeous Anthony Moretti every time he sits down at her table, she'd really be in great shape. But when he needs her help identifying a criminal threatening The Darby—and Maggie recognizes her ex-husband—she fears her fresh start might be a pipe dream. Faster than a New York minute, Maggie and Anthony find themselves in one perilous pursuit that only gets hotter with each and every rule-breaking kiss.
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Anthony “Anth” Moretti is as prickly as a porcupine – he's
also 6' 4'' of Italian deliciousness. He's the eldest of Tony
Moretti's boys and the one carry the burden of following his father's
footsteps to become a future police commissioner – a goal he's
motivated to achieve but begrudges the personal sacrifice he expects
to make for his dream to become a reality.
Maggie Walker moved to Brooklyn after divorcing her layabout husband.
She's independent and has embraced her new found freedom, happy to
blend into her surrounding. She may be a waitress, but she has
ambitions to be a writer. Her easy charm has made her a favourite
within the Moretti family when they all get together for brunch on a
Sunday. This irks Anth because Maggie is useless at her job as she
somehow manages to spill something on him each week. He's grumpy,
but Maggie isn't phased. A sassy remark to the 'Captain' is all it
takes for Anth to be smitten. Not that he'll admit it.
What endears Anth to me the most are his imperfections. His
character is flawed and that makes him even more intriguing and
irresistible. He tries to apply his police training to solve his
personal life issues and fails. If only he'd listen instead of
presuming the worst...at times he is his own worse enemy! It's
heartbreaking that he can't get over how things ended with his last
girlfriend and the tragic consequences it triggered. If only he'd
pay attention to what is right in front of him. However, despite his
gruffness, he's nurturing, caring and selfless...oh and incredibly
sexy! Of course, there are his parents, siblings and Nonna to tease
and call him out too. At times he reminded me of Atlas – carrying
the world on his shoulders.
Maggie isn't the quiet mouse type he thought and shows she can
quickly stand her ground when necessary – at least with Anth. Her
quick witted retort fires up a desire in Anth that he didn't see
coming. However, she still struggles when her father and brother are
leeching for her hard earned salary, when she's barely keeping her
head above water herself.
I liked Frisk Me, but loved Steal
Me so much more. The slow-burn build up of Anth and Maggie's
relationship is palpable and
captivating whilst the chaos that is the Moretti family swirls around
them...Nonna, never
stray from the road of growing disgracefully! I
can't wait to see how Vincent and Jill's relationship pans out.
5 stars
***arc generously received from
publisher Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via NetGalley***
“So
what did you mean, you don’t want to talk about it?,” Tony
Moretti repeated, glancing down at Anthony’s plate, and scowling to
see the bacon supply completely depleted.
Anthony
scooped a mouthful of Swiss cheese omelet into his mouth before
sitting back and reaching for his coffee. “It means that Ma doesn’t
like cop-talk at the table.”
“Riiiiight,”
Elena Moretti said from Anthony’s left side. “Because you
guys always respect
Mom’s no-cop-talk rule.”
Anth
took another sip of coffee and exchanged a look and a shrug with Luc
across the table.
Their
sister made a good point.
In
a family where four out of five siblings were living in New York, and
three out of those four
were with the NYPD, cop-talk was likely.
And
when the family patriarch was the recently retired Ppolice
Ccommissioner?
Cop-
talk wasn’t just probable, it was inevitable.
Still,
it was worth a shot to throw up his mother’s token rule of “no
cop- talk.” Especially when he didn’t want to talk.
About
any of it.
It
had been a long time since he’d been the one in the hot seat, and
he wasn’t at all sure that he cared for it.
Scratch
that. He was sure.
He hated it.
But
his father could be like a dog with a bone when it came to his sons’
careers. And today, like it or not, it was Anthony under the
microscope.
He
surrendered to the inevitable.
“Dad.
I told you. It’ll get handled.” He went for another cup of
coffee, only to find it was empty. Diner fail.
He
scanned the dining room for the waitress, partially because he wanted
more coffee, partially because he wanted a distraction. Partially
because—
“You’ve
been saying it’lls getbe handled for
weeks,” Tony said, refusing to let the matter drop.
“Yeah, Captain.
You’ve been saying that for weeks.” This from Anthony’s other
brother Vincent. Two years younger than Anth, Vin was a homicide
detective and the most irritable and irreverent member of the family.
And the one least likely to kiss Anth’s ass.
If
Anthony was totally honest, he was pretty sure that most of his
younger siblings respected him, not only because he was the highest-
ranking active family member, but simply because he was the oldest.
He was the one they’d come to when they needed to hide that broken
vase from Mom, or when they were scared to death to tell Dad about
that D in Cchemistry, or in the case of his brothers, when it was
time to learn their way around the female anatomy.
But
Vincent had authority issues and was always the first to jump at the
chance to gently mock Anthony’s status as Captain.
A
title that had been hard -earned, and still felt new. As though it
could be ripped away at any time.
Which
was exactly the
reason his father was on his ass right now. Anthony had passed his
Ccaptain’s test three months ago, and his father had every
intention of him climbing the ladder all the way to the top.
The very top.
It
was a path Anth had never questioned. A path that, up until recently,
had been remarkably smooth.
And
then…
And
then Smiley had
happened.
Lauren Layne is the USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance.
Prior to becoming an author, Lauren worked in e-commerce and web-marketing. In 2011, she and her husband moved from Seattle to New York City, where Lauren decided to pursue a full-time writing
career. It took six months to get her first book deal (despite ardent assurances to her husband that it would only take three). Since then, Lauren's gone on to publish ten books, including the bestselling Stiletto series, with several more on the way in 2015.
Lauren currently lives in Chicago with her husband and spoiled Pomeranian. When not writing, you'll find her at happy hour, running at a doggedly slow pace, or trying to straighten her naturally curly hair.
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