Thursday, April 17, 2014

REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY: DASH OF PERIL by LORI FOSTER




Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the Dash of Peril Blog Tour, hosted by Media Muscle. My post includes a review and giveaway.



Dash of Peril (Love Undercover, #4)Series: Love Undercover #4
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Publication Date: 3/25/14
Format: ARC
Pages: 475
Source: Publisher
Rating: 3 stars

A no-nonsense female cop reluctantly teams up with the one man who makes her lose control in a deliciously sensual new novel from New York Times bestselling author Lori Foster...

To bring down a sleazy abduction ring, Lieutenant Margaret "Margo" Peterson has set herself up as bait. But recruiting Dashiel Riske as her unofficial partner is a whole other kind of danger. Dash is 6'4" of laid-back masculine charm, a man who loves life—and women—to the limit. Until Margo is threatened, and he reveals a dark side that may just match her own.

Beneath Margo's tough facade is a slow-burning sexiness that drives Dash crazy. The only way to finish this case is to work together side by side…skin to skin. And as their mission takes a lethal turn, he'll have to prove he's all the man she needs—in all the ways that matter.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13562593-dash-of-peril?from_search=true

Last year I was introduced to the Love Undercover series with Getting Rowdy. With it's broody, swoony hero, the romance and suspense, I found it to be a fun read. The end of that book began leading us toward Dash of Peril, so I obviously wanted to get to know the yummy Dash.

Dash of Peril picks up four months after the end of Getting Rowdy, with that minor arc picking up again and leading this story. With a Lieutenant heroine and a civilian hero, Dash of Peril has an interesting dynamic, a true reversal of typical gender roles, particularly in romantic suspense. Here we have Margo trying to protect Dash and becoming frustrated when he doesn't listen. And Dash is frustrated bc he wants to help Margo, but she's worried about his safety. He finds it a bit annoying and offensive, but knowing that she is the boss (in this case) he goes along, has Margo's back, and lets her take the lead.

Margo is truly a strong heroine, knows who she is, and how to get her job done. She is prickly in the beginning, and sometimes her defensiveness irked me. But there is a reason for her harshness, she comes from a law enforcement family, with a nice enough brother but complete jerks for parents. They've made it plain that wish they'd had another son instead, belittle her when she's injured, and are simply awful. It's no wonder Margo is so rigid and afraid of being less than perfect. Tough and in control Margo also has a secret: she likes it when a man takes control in bed, and typically engages in anonymous sex so it doesn't affect her "real life".  It is very hard for her to reconcile her two sides, especially with a man whom she knows, and that leads to her reluctance with Dash.

Dash Riske was a great hero. By most accounts, he's pretty alpha, but I was happily surprised to see that he didn't jump into Margo's life and work and force her to do things his way. Knowing that respect in her job depends on her strong demeanor, he was careful to not undermine her. That was so great! But, one place Dash was the boss was in the bedroom. Margo's desire for submission, to let that control go, feeds into Dash's need to be super bossy in the bedroom.

As far as the suspense part, with Dash of Peril picking up a few months after Getting Rowdy, we immediately learn  Margo is back undercover trying to busy a kidnapping/porn ring. I like that Margo is proactive and tenacious. What I don't like is continually having the tough, smart heroine making reckless decisions. For example, continuing to go undercover against her boss' orders, and doing it alone. What part of going to bars very late at night, pretending to be drunk, having a few drinks, is supposed to be smart? Reckless is the better word here. I will say that as the story progresses, Margo does begin to make better choices. I would just like to have seen her be a bit more rational in the beginning. And the bad guys? They were idiots. They did everything the hard, stupid way. At one point, one of the good guys even mentioned how stupid they were. Give me a smart bad guy to fear and I will be on board.

Dash of Peril is a long book, four hundred, seventy-five pages. Sometimes, more is necessary, but in this case, the book could've easily been seventy-five pages shorter. We had a lot of repetition between Dash and Margo, and much set-up for the next book in the series.

Despite my irritation, I did find this to be a good story. If you're a fan of the Love Undercover series, I think you will enjoy Dash of Peril.


Favorite Quote

  When she didn't pull away, Dash leaned in again, nudging her lips apart with his own. She relaxed at the damp touch of his tongue, first tracing her lips and then dipping inside.
  God, he tasted good, like a man should. Her heart pumped faster. More so than the average guy, Dash was muscular from work in his construction company. Tall, handsome, friendly...and sexy.



Love Undercover Series
 
Run the Risk (Love Undercover, #1) Bare It All (Love Undercover, #2; Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor, #5) Getting Rowdy (Love Undercover, #3) Dash of Peril (Love Undercover, #4)

(covers lead to GoodReads page)
 
 
 
 
 




Purchase Links
 Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  iBooks





GIVEAWAY
One winner will receive a copy of Dash of Peril.
Must be 18+ years of age; open to US only.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

About the author
Since first publishing in January 1996, Lori Foster has become a Waldenbooks, Borders, USA TODAY, Publishers Weekly and New York Times bestselling author. She also received the Romantic Times “Career Achievement Award” for Series Romantic Fantasy and Contemporary Romance.

Lori believes it is important to give back to the community as much as possible, so she routinely arranges events among authors and readers to gather donations for various organizations.




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28 comments:

  1. I saw these at the used book store by my house. I thought about picking them up but I didn't because the old bitch behind the counter gave me the stink eye for being in the "adult" section. I do look like a giant child so maybe she thought I wasn't old enough to read about S-E-X. Nazi c*nt

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  2. I like it because it either keeps me guessing and make the story more enjoyable than just a simple romance.

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  3. I really enjoyed this one. I think because of Dash. He's the one I was so waiting for. It was LONG though. Holy cow. Glad you enjoyed it even with the bits that bothered ya.

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  4. I like that you mention there is gender role reversal here, I always love when authors switch that up. Glad you enjoyed despite some hang ups. Great review!

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  5. Heroines like Margo who are strong but repeatedly make stupid mistakes really do bother me for some reason. It's frustrating to watch them make mistakes.
    475 pages? Woah! I don't know if I have the courage to read a romance book that this that long. I feel like romantic suspense books should be kept on the short side so that they are more enjoyable.
    Great review, Andrea!

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  6. I like that it keeps me on my toes. The added element of suspense mixed with a love story is a favorite of mine.

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  7. Keeps you on your toes and is a page turner :)

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  8. I am drawn first to the romance. The its the pull of the suspense, that feeling that you just cannot put the book down!

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  9. Any type of romance is my favorite genre. Romantic suspense always has just enough excitement to make you want to keep reading all the way to the end. It is a page turner that just won't stop you even into the early hours of the morning.

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  10. I gotta agree with you on those long books. I don't think contemporary romance should be this long. I love this cover and I was very tempted by it but I'm gonna pass.

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  11. I love romantic suspense mostly because you don't always have one hero..it could be her or him saving the day!

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  12. the suspense :) Thanks for s haring!

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  13. Four hundred and seventy pages is a little long and it does sound like this story would've benefited from some editing down, especially if you have a frustrating heroine.

    Coincidentally I just started the audio book of the first book in this series, and I'm really enjoying it! It does seem a little on the long side, I think it's over 12 hours which most romances are no more than like 10 hours. Rowdy is the older brother of the heroine, Pepper and so far he's a complete jerk! I'll have to check you precious review out even though I think I already read it when you posted it sometime ago. Wonderful review, Andrea! :)

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  14. Well if something you and Kim will make me read this series soon enough. I knew it was a good story but I had no idea it was this long. I'm not happy about it as I like my books to be page-turners. Great review, Andrea :)

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  15. I enjoy reading about the tension between the couple, and trying to figure out who the bad guy is.

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  16. Because when you're being chased it gives a sense of urgency to everything :)

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  17. The chase!

    I love romantic suspense and a lot of people have recommended I try her series. Maybe if I win I'll finally get to

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  18. I like romantic suspense because it plays on so many different emotions.

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  19. I love the energy of these stories.

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  20. woah, that is one long book! That's good you liked the book overall.

    -Lauren

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  21. The suspense just seems to make for a more well rounded story. I love the romance, I just think the two together make for a great read.

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  22. I love Romance and a good mystery, so romantic suspense is basically those two genres!! A love story has to have some suspense in it or it will not sound real!!

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  23. I think it's hard to reconcile a smart, strong heroine with making the reckless decisions...smart should equal not reckless, right? I'm glad you liked it overall, Andrea.

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  24. I like it because I love to try and figure out who the bad guy is.

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  25. I love the way suspense summons the heroes' Alpha instincts. I don't like too much suspense and avoid thrillers.

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  26. The twists and turns help make the plots more of a page turner than a simple romance

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  27. Having a book draw me in and I just want to never stop reading it.

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  28. I have a few of these. I should really try to read them sometime.

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