Love Me if You Dare

Rafe Mancuso and Sara Rios used to be partners for the NYPD. Rafe was engaged at the time but was drawn to Sara so he switched jobs not be tempted. Now both of them are single and Sara asked Rafe if he was interested in working security for The Lancaster Foundation's fundraiser where they would be auctioning off jewelry for their cause. What they both thought would be an easy night, turns into mayhem when Rafe takes a bullet meant for Sara. This earns Rafe the title of New York City's most eligible bachelor. Trying to escape the craziness, Rafe heads to his other house in Hidden Falls, NY, where he grew up. Back in New York City, Sara is being threatened because she is a key witness in a murder trial. To escape the threats, Sara heads to Hidden Falls with the hope of staying with Rafe for awhile until the trial starts. With both of these two living in the same house, things quickly turn romantic. Rafe realizes he wants a real relationship with Sara, unfortunately Sara only wants a friends-with-benefits type relationship. As they spend more and more time together, Sara realizes that she really likes Rafe's big, large, crazy family and maybe being in a real relationship might not be so bad. Too quickly Sara is spooked and runs away just as dangerous situations are closing in on them. It takes a lot of soul searching for Sara to realize what she really wants in life, but eventually she decides to take the leap. Both of these characters were fun and quirky. Their love story with a little of bit of a mystery thrown in was fun and entertaining. I just adored Rafe's entire extended family! Gotta love big Italian families! Overall, this was a fun story to read.

Love Me If You Dare was another winner from Carly Phillips. I really enjoyed this book when it was originally released and enjoyed it just as much when reading the updated version. I adored Rafe and Sara as a couple, even though they aren't more than ex-partners and friends when Love Me If You Dare begins. I have to say I kinda love that Rafe believes in love more so than Sara and it totally made me fall for him pretty quickly. I somewhat understood Sara's hesitancy when it came to relationships, but not entirely. I loved how Rafe's family immediately accepted Sara into their world and their family pretty much from the moment they met her. I honestly felt like Sara fell in love with Rafe's family right along with falling in love with him, since it had pretty much just been Sara and her dad for so many years. I really loved that Rafe and Sara had such a hard time keeping away from each other. They had really wonderful chemistry. Their love making was sexy, sweet and at times down right funny as they both were recovering from injuries and had to work around his chest wound and her bad knee. I love a smoking hot sex scene as much as the next person, but sometime the funny sex scenes just add something to the realism of a story. Love Me If You Dare was a wonderful read. If you love a romance filled with family, laughter, love, and even a bit of suspense, this is the book for you. Rating: 4 Stars (B+)

Sexy, Sweet, Entertaining, Emotionally thrilling romantic adventure with two people that have been fighting an attraction for far to long. Rafe Mancuso is all sexy, hot alpha male with a need to protect. He is a hostage negotiator and NYPD officer Sara Rios's former partner. Sara is a sassy, sexy and independent female not really looking for forever but might have just stumbled into it anyway. Loved all the heart pounding action and emotional twists. Was a greatly entertaining afternoon in the backyard sipping a cold beverage (or two) reading.