Steal Me by Lauren Layne

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Title: Steal Me
Author: Lauren Layne
Series: New York's Finest #2
Published by: Forever
Release Date: November 24, 2015
Format: eARC
Pages: 352
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Source: NetGalley
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

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.

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

3.5 stars — Unlike the first book, this one started off with more of a bang but the energy seemed to peter out a bit for me in the ending.  I’m also not sure I’m a “man in uniform” kind of girl, so that doesn’t automatically win points with me…I needed something more.

I initially really enjoyed our heroine, Maggie.  She was spunky yet sweet, and I felt for her and her circumstances.  And then I turned into a callous person apparently, b/c I just couldn’t empathize with her continued enabling of her father.  It seems like she was supposed to have gone under this change after leaving her husband, and yet it didn’t cross over even remotely to her family.  I wanted to see a bit more backbone a bit earlier in that part of her life.  Maybe I’ve just lost my empathizing gene, but it didn’t fit her character for me.  And in a similar vein, as we got further along in the book, I started realizing I didn’t really have a good grasp on who she was…like there were all these facts about her, but I couldn’t tell you what she was really like.  But maybe I was just missing my normal reading verve or something.  We’ll see if this trend continues.

Anthony…well, I don’t know.  I guess I couldn’t really get a good grasp on him either.  Maybe I’m not that big into the scowly types.  Maybe I just felt like his issues were just a slightly different version of Luc’s issues (some past instance that makes them believe they can’t do the job and have a girl).  So it just felt a bit regurgitated.

Wow, now that I’m writing it out it sounds really bad.  But it wasn’t!  It just wasn’t as compelling as I’m used to from Ms. Layne.  I think this series just isn’t my style.  Which is too bad, b/c my silly mind is curious about what Vincent and Jill’s story is going to be about….

As with the first book, the true gem of this story was the secondary characters of the Moretti family.  Whenever there’s a scene with even one of them involved, I find myself more invested.

So yeah…I’m a bit baffled.  I’m not sure if it’s me or what.  I guess I’ll continue my search for that next book hangover.