Review : Staking His Claim by Tessa Bailey

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Staking His Claim (Line of Duty #5)
Author : Tessa Bailey
Publication Date : February 3rd 2013
Publisher : Entangled : Brazen
Goodreads - Amazon - Barnes & Noble

He wants her. All of her.

NYPD sniper Matt Donovan is in Hell. Instead of driving his best friend’s little sister home from college, he’s stuck with her roommate—a fresh-faced ray-of-sunshine with a body that makes grown men weep. There’s no way he’ll allow himself to taint the little vixen, no matter how hard she tries to tempt him, so he resigns himself to the longest—and hardest—drive of his life.

Matt’s obvious attraction suits grad student Lucy Mason just fine. She had no idea her brother’s best friend was so deliciously hot. Knowing he’d never have his wicked way with his buddy’s sister, she lies about her identity and seduces him. But Matt’s no fumbling college boy. His desires run deep—and dark—and he wants to teach Lucy what wicked really means.

Matt’s demanding appetites only make Lucy want more. But when her cover's blown, he’s furious—even as his hunger for her becomes insatiable. Matt can’t trust anyone, least of all himself. And he knows all too well that darkness always destroys the light…

 Personal Thoughts

If you haven't read a Tessa Bailey book, then you are missing out. Her stories are short, fun and most importantly super sexy.

The men in this series are seriously hot! They are all these tough policemen who are true gentlemen and sweethearts on the inside. In Staking His Claim, we are privy to Matt's thoughts. Matt has always been the broody quiet one in the previous books, and to be honest, not someone I thought who would be able to live up to the previous guys, but boy was I wrong! Matt might have been quiet, but he turned out to be quite the beast. He's controlling and bossy, but at the end of the day he's a sweet guy who would do anything to protect the woman he loves. He had a sad past that I wished was explored a little bit more, so I could understand where he was coming from a bit better, but anyways, I just read this book because I needed a romance. His leading lady, Lucy, was a nice main character as well. She was a sweet and likeable girl. She was also not afraid to speak out her thoughts without any hesitation. I liked that she wasn't exactly special or anything. It made it much easier to connect with her character.

Matt and Lucy had great chemistry together. Whenever they were together in a scene, sparks flew all over the place. While I enjoyed the chemistry the two of them shared, I did wish that there was more of a build-up when it came to the actual romance. Tessa Bailey's books are really short, so a lot of times the romance does feel a bit like insta-love and this was the case with Matt and Lucy too. I thought they declared their love for each other way too early.

Overall though, this was fun, entertaining and had me fanning myself multiple times. I would recommend it if you're looking for a short read in between dark and long books. 

Rating

Cover : 3/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 3/5
Writing : 4/5

Thank you to Entangled Brazen for the e-ARC of Staking His Claim.