Stripped

3.75 stars--STRIPPED is the first instalment in Tara Wyatt’s contemporary, adult Blue HEAT erotic, romance series focusing on the men and women who work for HEAT (High-Risk Evaluation and Action Team) of Atlanta, Georgia. This is Detectives Sawyer Matthews, and Brooke Simmons’ story line. Told from dual third person perspectives (Brooke and Sawyer) STRIPPED is a forbidden romance story line focusing on the building relationship between APD’S undercover police detectives Sawyer Matthews, and Brooke Simmons. Brooke is the HEAT rookie, having risen to the position due to the murder of Sawyer’s last partner and best friend Ryan Walker-a murder Sawyer, and his fellow undercover operatives are having a difficult time to overcome. Sawyer doesn’t want a new partner but things go from bad to worse when Sawyer discovers his new partner is a one-night stand from days before. Setting plans into motion to take down the Baracoa Cartel and the men responsible for destroying so many lives, Brooke and Sawyer must go undercover at a local strip bar with connections to the drug cartel, wherein Sawyer becomes the nightly entertainment as they struggle to uncover and take down the people behind the murder, and the influx of a new designer drug hitting the streets. What ensues is the building but forbidden romance between Sawyer and Brooke, and the potential fall-out as their undercover operation begins to implode. Brooke Simmons, as the newest member of Atlanta’s HEAT, knows she has to prove her worth but the battle is only beginning when Sawyer Matthews begins a personal campaign against the woman with whom he will fall in love. Sawyer doesn’t do relationships, and getting involved with his partner and fellow detective is a sure fire way to get kicked off the job. Unable to concentrate on the task at hand, Sawyer begins to make life a living h*ll for his new partner. The relationship between Brooke and Sawyer is one of immediate attraction that begins as a one-night stand wherein neither one was willing to go beyond the here and now. Sawyer’s attraction to Brooke is palpable but his less than mature behaviour post hook-up, and his actions scream childish and adolescent; the sexual chemistry is off the charts. The sex scenes are erotic, intense and provocative. We are introduced to Sawyer’s fellow detectives Jack Ward and Amelia Perez, as well as their captain DeMarcus Hill, and Brooke’s best friend, homicide detective Dani Harris, and Brooke’s grandmother Nan. The requisite evil has many faces. Jack and Rachel’s story line is next in SCHOOLED. The world building focuses on the take down and on-going investigation of the Baracoa Cartel, justice and revenge, and the battle between the heart and the job when lives are threatened in the line of duty. STRIPPED is a sexy and flirty, character driven story line about forbidden love. The premise is engaging and edgy; the characters are energetic; the romance is sensual and intense.

steamy