But First, Coffee

by Sarah Darlington

Goodreads / Amazon

She’s the boss.
I’m only a barista in her company.
I really don’t give a f**k about her one way or the other.And then there’s Doug Maddox, a man with a lot of power over me. He’s blackmailing me. Making me spy on her. I’m supposed to find her weaknesses and destroy her. But the closer I get, the more the lines between us start to blur.She’s sweet. She’s kind. She’s sexy as hell.
Why am I the only man who see’s this?

So now I’m stuck—between keeping my sister safe against Doug, because that’s what’s really at stake here, and these feelings I can’t deny for a woman who shouldn’t mean anything to me.

I know what I have to do. I’ll destroy her.
It doesn’t matter if I have to destroy my own heart in the process.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Joe Coffee. His name sounded like a cartoon character from the 1990s.

I gave up on the possibility of love and romance years ago. My last encounter with a man had been a blind date, set up by my mother, where I drank too much wine and ended up crying on my date’s shoulder by the end of the night. Needless to say, I never heard from that guy again. Until I saw him, awkwardly enough, at my parents’ Christmas Eve party last year. He avoided me like I had a highly contagious flesh-eating virus while I ended the night trying not to get too drunk off the eggnog in my parents’ basement. The eggnog won that battle.

I was hanging out with the most gorgeous man on Earth, and I looked like someone had thrown me into the washing machine. Wasn’t that the way things always went? Wear your baggy sweatpants with holes in them onto an airplane, and you’ll be seated next to some hot celebrity. Wear your makeup and your best outfit, and you’ll be seated next to a grandma who needs your help giving herself an insulin shot halfway through the flight.

My Review:

For some reason, I was expecting a steamy NA romance, what I found was an engaging, well-crafted, and addictive novel of romantic/suspense with clever twists and turns and a smokin’ love story. The intriguing storylines were seductively laced with blackmail, corporate espionage, manipulation, coercion, guilt, long-held grudges, scheming, steamy sensuality, addiction, wry humor, and a blossoming and transformative romance. The enticing characters of Joe and his immature and irresponsible sister Kitty held questionable motives and veracity, yet they tantalized me. I felt conflicted in wanting to trust the alluring and captivating Joe as his complex issues and personality fascinated me.

Narrated from a dual POV, the writing was smartly plotted, easy to follow, well-paced, and continually plucked at my curiosity. I have read just a few of Ms. Darlington’s irresistible and titillating stories and have enjoyed each one. I definitely need to shuffle my overstuffed TBR to include more of them.

About the Author

Website

Twitter @sadarlington

Goodreads

Sarah Darlington grew up traveling the United States (Navy Brat)—although, she’s called Virginia home for most of her adult life. She’s the proud mom of two beautiful children on the autism spectrum, who makes every day an adventure. She believes in true love, soul mates, unicorns, rainbows, and that Hogwarts really does exist. Before having kids she worked as a flight attendant. And when she’s not writing, she’s busy plotting her next grand adventure (aka vacation).