(Take It Off #6)
Author: Cambria Hebert
Release: February 16, 2014
Love can play tricks on your heart… After serving several years in the United States Marine Corps, Sergeant Tucker Patton decides to hang up his uniform and go to work at a private investigative firm owned by his buddy. His boxes are packed and he’s got one foot out the door when a phone call changes everything.
Instead of going to North Carolina, he heads to New York City to literally step into the life of his twin brother, who died under suspicious circumstances. But pretending to be someone else isn’t easy.
Especially when the person you’re supposed to be is wanted dead.
Not only that, but he’s going from being blissfully single to living with his brother’s woman. An uptight, no-nonsense lawyer.
Charlotte Rose Carter doesn’t have time for fun and games. She graduated with honors and made all the right moves fresh out of college to jumpstart her career as a successful young lawyer. She even snagged the most eligible bachelor in New York City’s corporate world.
So what if her and Max’s relationship isn’t burning up the sheets? So what if their life doesn't read like a chapter from a sizzling romance novel? This is the real world, and in the real world that stuff is just fantasy.
Until it isn’t.
Suddenly, just the slightest touch or a single glance from Max has her heart doing somersaults. Suddenly, the lackluster relationship begins to spark, and Charlotte finds herself tied in a knot of desire.
But she has no idea about the tricks being played right under her perky little nose.
Instead of going to North Carolina, he heads to New York City to literally step into the life of his twin brother, who died under suspicious circumstances. But pretending to be someone else isn’t easy.
Especially when the person you’re supposed to be is wanted dead.
Not only that, but he’s going from being blissfully single to living with his brother’s woman. An uptight, no-nonsense lawyer.
Charlotte Rose Carter doesn’t have time for fun and games. She graduated with honors and made all the right moves fresh out of college to jumpstart her career as a successful young lawyer. She even snagged the most eligible bachelor in New York City’s corporate world.
So what if her and Max’s relationship isn’t burning up the sheets? So what if their life doesn't read like a chapter from a sizzling romance novel? This is the real world, and in the real world that stuff is just fantasy.
Until it isn’t.
Suddenly, just the slightest touch or a single glance from Max has her heart doing somersaults. Suddenly, the lackluster relationship begins to spark, and Charlotte finds herself tied in a knot of desire.
But she has no idea about the tricks being played right under her perky little nose.
(Take It Off #6)
by Cambria Hebert
Published: February 16, 2014
My rating: 5 of 5 ⭐️
Ex US Marine, Tucker Patton, on his way home from an anonymous one night stand, is intercepted on his doorstep with news that shakes him to his core. His twin brother Max, whom he had not seen in quite some time, had apparently been killed while involved in some kind of investigation. Being an identical twin, Tucker could quite easily take his place and find out what and who got his brother murdered. But no one bothered to tell him, that when taking over his brother's life, he would also be taking on his live-in girlfriend....
With her life working out according to plan, Charlotte Carter could not complain. She was steadily climbing the ladder at her law firm and life with Max was.....well, it was comfortable and good. They didn't see each other that often, since both were working all hours of the day and night, but they got along really well and had the same drive and dedication. Surely passion was overrated. But something has changed since Max came home unexpected, she can't stop watching him.
Whatever caused the change has Charlotte quite worked up. Every gesture, look or touch of his sets off a response in her body unlike anything she has experienced before. But it isn't until she gets a glimpse through an open bathroom door, that she realizes something is very wrong.
Tucker did not expect his brother's uptight girlfriend to harbour such a simmering fire under that buttoned up exterior. Nor did he expect to respond to her with such a fierce and protective need. Knowing he had put himself and possibly Charlotte in danger only fuelled his instincts to stay as close to her as possible, but it made keeping her in the dark difficult.
In a decision to share whatever information he has, Tucker leaves Charlotte shocked and torn between guilt and happiness.
*****
I swear the books in this series keep getting better and better!!
Each book is easily read as a standalone and although there are brief references to characters or events from previous stories, they do not have any true impact on the current book.
Cambria Hebert once again reaches a fantastic balance between a scorching hot romance and a wickedly sleek suspense novel. Add to it a dollop of heart-felt emotion, and you have the recipe for a fabulous page-turner!!
Tucker is absolutely scrumptious from tip to toe..... A 'bad boy' with morals and principles, who simply has never met the right woman to make him even think of more than a passing fancy. Until Charlotte, who is absolutely everything he never thought he'd ever want.
Living according to a well-planned out script, created to achieve maximum approval, Charlotte is intent on doing everything right. But she never really stops to think what it is she wants. She simply assumed those things were one and the same. Until Tucker shows her that she has had blinders on for most of her life and too much has been left unexplored.
The contrast in characters and yet the perfection of their fit, is phenomenal. Both are intelligent enough not to let first impressions rule their opinions of the other for too long and discover a treasure of depth and context hidden underneath the thin layer of initial observation.
Ms. Hebert's writing becomes more smooth and easy with each subsequent book, flowing so natural and effortless, it is a pleasure to read. Although sexual tension is present throughout the story, sexual situations don't overcrowd it but enhance the intriguing tale. And most importantly, the actual story line that brings the two protagonists together is not forgotten at any time, in favour of the developing romance, something that unfortunately I see happen all too often. Ms. Hebert stays true to and follows through on the full scope of the story, which gives us some high intensity action as well.
Even if you have read any of the previous books in this series, read this one! It is absolutely worth it!
✨This is sharp, steamy, sensational romantic suspense!!✨
**ARC provided in return for an honest review.**
Chapter One – Tucker
My mouth felt like it was packed with cotton. You know that dry but slightly sticky feeling? My tongue moved and it brushed against the roof of my mouth, and the cotton came with it.
I grunted and opened my eyes, only to immediately shut them again. I wasn’t ready for morning. Shit, how much did I drink last night? My body was still heavy with sleep, my limbs not wanting to cooperate.
One of my arms was flung wide and I pulled it in to rub a hand over my sleepy face, hoping it would wake me up a little more. I knew I needed to get up… I just couldn’t think of the reason.
Something shifted beside me and I felt the covers lift and drop. The soft sound of footsteps reached my ears. It wasn’t a something. It was a someone.
I went home with someone last night.
Opening my eyes again, I glanced to my left in time to see a woman wearing nothing but a pink thong step into the adjoining bathroom and quietly close the door. Well, now I remembered the reason I went home with her.
Her ass was luscious.
Vague memories of last night filtered through my hazy, beer-soaked memory of skin against skin and a low seductive laugh. What was her name again? Veronica? Violet? Shit, I hadn’t a clue.
Tossing away the covers, I swung my legs over the side of the mattress and looked down. I was buck-ass naked. I looked around for my clothes, which were lying in a pile near the door of the bedroom.
Must have been in a hurry to get naked. I smirked. I was always in a hurry to get naked. Especially when I was with a woman with an ass like that.
I glanced back at the closed bathroom door as the toilet flushed and the tap water turned on. That was my cue to leave. I had on my boxers and jeans before the door opened.
Rushing out the door with shirt in hand seemed a little immature, so I turned. And, man, did I get an eyeful. There was no way in hell her boobs were real. They were too perfect. Large round, creamy globes sat high atop her chest. They gave way to a flat stomach with a light-reflecting stud in her bellybutton. The pink thong was still in place but left little to imagination, and her long, tan legs stretched all the way to the floor.
Her hair was dark, her features exotic, and her lips were full.
Even drunk, I had great taste.
I motioned with my chin, a little what’s up gesture, and draped my T-shirt over my shoulder.
“Leaving so soon?” she asked, padding across the carpeting toward me.
I didn’t even pretend to not look at her chest. Shit, this had been a one-night stand. She could think I was a dog all she wanted. Hell, she’d be right.
‘Course, she clearly wasn’t the type of girl to be offended by my wandering eyes. She walked right up to me, wound her arms around my bare waist, and pressed those perfect tits right up against my chest. Then she rubbed around like she was a cat and I was her scratching pole.
“Don’t you want to stay for breakfast?” she purred.
“Much as I’d like to, I can’t. Got somewhere to be.”
The woman whose name might or might not be Veronica pulled back and sashayed her ass across the room to a wooden nightstand by the bed. She bent at the waist, giving me the perfect view of said bottom as she scrawled something on a piece of paper.
I considered staying longer, but if I did that, she’d think this wasn’t just a one-night stand. Girls were complicated like that. If our night stretched into morning, they got ideas. Ideas that maybe they would be the one to capture the guy no one else could. They would read something more into morning sex than the sex that occurred late at night when both our tongues tasted of beer.
I might sleep around, I might like a variety of ladies, but I never gave false hope where there was none. I might be a dog, but I wasn’t an ass.
Sweet cheeks (I had to call her something) swayed her hips back across the room and held out a scrap of paper to me. “Call me,” she said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder.
I glanced at her chest one more time, then stuffed the piece of paper in the front pocket of my jeans.
She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine, slipping her tongue between. I kissed her back quickly and then slowly pulled away. Reaching around, I palmed her ass. “Thanks for last night,” I said and walked out of her bedroom without even looking back.
By the front door, I found my shoes and leather jacket and quickly finished dressing before stepping out into the cold morning air. I wasn’t going to miss this cold. I was actually looking forward to moving on, trying something new.
A thin layer of frost covered the windshield on my truck. Instead of getting out and scraping it, I blasted the heat and let the engine idle, letting it melt on its own. While I waited, I pulled out the already crumpled piece of paper I was just given. Smoothing it out, I looked down, my eyes skimming over the number I was never going to call to look for her name.
I laughed and crumpled the paper back up and tossed in on the floor of the truck.
Rachel.
Damn. I hadn’t even been close.
Cambria Hebert is the author of the young adult paranormal Heven and Hell series, the new adult Death Escorts series, and the new adult Take it Off series. She loves a caramel latte, hates math and is afraid of chickens (yes, chickens). She went to college for a bachelor’s degree, couldn’t pick a major, and ended up with a degree in cosmetology. So rest assured her characters will always have good hair. She currently lives in North Carolina with her husband and children (both human and furry) where she is plotting her next book. You can find out more about Cambria and her work by visiting http://www.cambriahebert.com
TORCH (Take It Off #1)
TEASE (Take It Off #2)
TEMPT (Take It Off #3)
TEXT (Take It Off #4)
TIPSY (Take It Off #5)
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