Book Review & 10s list: Officer Off Limits by Tessa Bailey

Officer Off Limits by Tessa Bailey

Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Imprint: Brazen

Publish Date: June 10, 2013

eBook, 250 pages
Fiction, Contemporary Romance
 ISBN: 9781622662197

Today I welcome Tessa Bailey as part of the Officer Off Limits blog tour.  She'll be sharing with us a special 10s list.  Then check out my review!

Ten Things that make Forbidden Romance HOT

Hi Crystal, thank you so much for having me. I’m very excited for my latest release, OFFICER OFF LIMITS. Below, I list the ten reasons forbidden romance is so hot, but I want to clarify that I’m not talking about cheating! LOL. In my book, Story is the daughter of Daniel’s mentor who has forbidden him from pursuing her. That kind of forbidden romance is what I’m referring to J

1.      Stolen Moments – They’re passionate and rushed because you never know how long you have together. The lack of opportunity increases the appeal and the intensity.

2.      Being Bad – We all like to rebel a little once in a while, break from our normal routine. Maybe even surprise ourselves. Forbidden love is definitely a rebellion and the threat of getting into trouble is incredibly sexy.

3.      Loosened Inhibitions – You’re already doing something considered wrong, so why not take the extra step and try new things? In Officer Off Limits, Daniel and Story have a penchant for public lovin’. They’re forbidden to be together, so why not break a few laws while they’re at it?

4.      You’ve got a Secret – There’s something about keeping a secret to yourself that no one else knows. It makes everything more interesting when you’ve got something delicious bubbling inside you but don’t share it with anyone.

5.      Naughty Phone Calls – You know the ones. Where you say the things over the phone that you’re too shy to say face to face. They make you desperate for your next time together.

6.      Risk – It’s sexy. The risk of being caught. The risk of being hurt. Just risk.

7.      Anticipation – The pulse-pounding lead-up to your next meeting, where you imagine how the other person will feel, smell, look. What you’ll do together. How long you’ll be able to hold out.

8.      Makes you feel Sexy – Knowing someone else wants you bad enough to take the risk with you definitely increases your self-confidence and makes you feel desirable.

9.      You Might Surprise Yourself – When we step outside our comfort zone, we tend to learn new things about ourselves. How far we’re willing to go to get what we want. Or who we want.

10.  It’s Worth It – If you and someone else are willing to go to all this trouble just to catch a few moments together, there’s a reason. They’re worth the trouble and they feel the same about you.

My Review:
Can I just say this book is scorching!  Forget 50 Shades, this book is real and hot.  I'll just say that Tessa definitely has chemistry down to a science in this book and move onto my thoughts on characters and plot.

Characters:
Let's start with Story, Story comes to NYC from a broken engagement and she's trying to make sense of life on her own and she runs into Daniel, who is sex-on-a-stick.  The chemistry is immediate for both her and Daniel and she can't get him out of her head especially after that chemistry explodes between them.  I like Story, she's very relatable.  She's a teacher off work for the summer so it explains why she can drop everything to go see her father. She's sarcastic and she doesn't want to be ruled by a man.  Yet she comes to understand love very slowly and starts to understand what a man truly caring for her means.  In the meantime she is having quite a bit of fun with Daniel and again this is scorching!

Then there is Daniel, Daniel has secrets and scars.  He's the ultimate bad boy with more notches on his bedpost than Story can even think about.  Yet he's perfect for Story.  He starts to fall for her and realizes that he doesn't want to be a mindless romp for women or even Story any more.  He wants more meaning and he wants it with Story.  Watching him fall for story and understand his life and himself better was nothing short of amazing.  I am pretty positive any woman reading this will want a Daniel after this (I have to admit I have one, though he's not a scarred bad boy).  And the sex, again did I mention scorching?  Daniel, ahem, has such a way with words . . .

Plot:
The forbidden love plot works great in this book.  Daniel isn't supposed to be around Story as declared by her Dad and his mentor, but somehow he can't help the attraction.  Story can't help the attraction either though she feels she should really be on her feet more after her broken engagement before entering a relationship.  I loved watching these two fall for each other slowly (at least slowly in the course of the book).  And I loved the heat they generated, yet you could really tell they were falling for each other and it wasn't purely physical.  I somewhat saw the ending (not the happy-ever-after, that's a given) but there were still elements that surprised me.  So I was thrilled with how the plot ran from beginning to end. 

Officer Off Duty moves fast, holds your interest and has you cheering for Story and Daniel from their first encounter at the snack machine.  I loved the characters and I loved how the plotline unfolded.  If you haven't read Tessa I suggest you give her a try and have a fan nearby. :)


My Rating: 5.0/5.0


About the Book:

Story Brooks’ fiancé just called off their wedding two weeks before the happy day. As if that isn't bad enough, her semi-estranged father, an infamous NYPD hostage negotiator, has suffered a heart attack. Not wanting to examine her lack of emotion over the broken engagement, she hops on a plane to reconnect with her father before it’s too late.

Playboy hostage negotiator Daniel Chase has never, not once, been refused by a woman, so when a debate over hospital snack foods with a delectable kindergarten teacher ends in flat-out rejection, he makes it his mission to seduce her. His only obstacle? She’s the daughter of his mentor who implicitly forbade Daniel from pursuing her.

Despite her father’s warnings and Daniel’s troubled past, Daniel and Story can’t resist their intense attraction to one another. But when the reason for her fiancé’s abrupt wedding cancellation comes to light, can Story and Daniel's already forbidden relationship survive?

About the Author: 

Tessa lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and young daughter. When she isn't writing or reading romance, Tessa enjoys a good argument and thirty-minute recipes.

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***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***