Love Me if You Dare - by Carly Phillips

 When hostage negotiator Rafe Mancuso takes a bullet to save Sara Rios, his former partner, his actions make him a bona fide hero—and New York City's newest most eligible bachelor. Then Rafe admits that Sara is much more than just another woman he's rescued. Suddenly, a firestorm of gossip turns him into exactly what he doesn't want to be: the Bachelor Blog's newest hot topic. His only solution is to leave town and get himself out of the spotlight…and sexy, jaded Sara out of his mind.

NYPD officer Sara Rios has Rafe to thank for saving her life, and Rafe to blame for the media chaos surrounding her. She wants to throw herself back into duty at full throttle, but until her injuries heal, she's on leave and in search of her rescuer. From the moment she finds Rafe and meets his large, boisterous family, she's hooked. But mutual attraction doesn't always mean happily-ever-after, and these two have a long way to go to find their fairy-tale ending… (comments via Amazon)

A sequel to Kiss Me If you Can - also reviewed by us - Carly Phillips gives us the fresh love story with a mysterious plot.  This book was fun, sexy, steamy, and interesting.  While it's out of my normal fave genre, I like to bring in some new blood once and awhile :).

We met Sara in the first book, she's a strong female cop, from a family of cops.  Her character had great development in Kiss Me if You Can, so I rolled into this one and learned how gorgeous she could be.  Rafe is her former partner and we definitely learn more about him.  He's devoted to his family although he stays away when he can.  Sara NEEDS him and once she's found him, she's got to remind herself she needs to leave.  I loved the family interaction in this book, just classic.  Humorous but not over the top.  Of course, then we get to the passionate romance.  Nothing was missing, that's for sure.  Tossed in was a little mystery in the family and one outside of it.

I enjoyed this book, as well as the first.  I'm thrilled that I found Phillips on one of our blog friends sites.  I have a few others of hers on the way.  

4 slices