Dash of Peril by Lori Foster (Love Undercover #4)
Contemporary Romance
March 25, 2014
Harlequin

Reviewed by Helyce

From Goodreads: To bring down a sleazy abduction ring, Lieutenant Margaret “Margo” Peterson has set herself up as bait. But recruiting Dashiel Riske as her unofficial partner is a whole other kind of danger. Dash is 6’4″ of laid-back masculine charm, a man who loves life—and women—to the limit. Until Margo is threatened, and he reveals a dark side that may just match her own.

Beneath Margo’s tough facade is a slow-burning sexiness that drives Dash crazy. The only way to finish this case is to work together side by side…skin to skin. And as their mission takes a lethal turn, he’ll have to prove he’s all the man she needs—in all the ways that matter.

I’m using the blurb so that I can just dive right in to the review portion of this book.  Ms. Foster has been teasing us with the sexiness that is Dash Riske throughout this series.  He’s been an important secondary character, being Logan’s brother, our hero from book one.  We’ve gotten to know him a little bit as he seems to have come to the rescue quite often in the previous books.  But what has been very clear throughout, is that he has the hots for Lt. Margaret Peterson.

I was not a big fan of Lt. Peterson’s character in the previous books. And to be honest, when it became clear that there was chemistry between Dash and Margo-as he calls her, I wasn’t thrilled. She was uppity, cold and just a downright hard ass. However, I soon realized that as a female Lieutenant, who had tough male detectives reporting to her, she’d need to be a strong woman who didn’t take any shit from anyone.  And it should be mentioned that her character had come into a department that had widespread in-house shenanigans of the very illegal kind forcing her to make difficult changes that involved a major house cleaning with long time officers forced out.  We learn some interesting details about all that in this book.  More on that in a bit.

We see a totally different side of Lt. Peterson in this book.  Continuing the human trafficking theme of this series, Lt. Peterson has taken it upon herself to go undercover in the seediest bars-using herself as bait, hoping to infiltrate the ring.  But after months of this, there have been no hints, no bites-nothing.  Until one night, on her way home from another unsuccessful attempt to bait herself, when her car is rammed into and she is shot at.

Once this happens, her life clearly in danger, Dash is no longer happy to stay in the background, waiting for Margo to notice him and accept that there is something between them.  He takes on the role of protector, and he does so by moving in and taking care of her after the accident. This allows them some very intimate contact and Margo is in no way able to fight off the attentions of Dash in her slightly concussed, drugged state.  It is here we see a softer side of Margo, the woman; soft, vulnerable, sexy and Dash is there for all of it!

Ms. Foster expertly weaves multiple storylines here.  While Margo is on temporary leave, she’s not really off the case, of course, and some interesting things come to light regarding some possible connections between the force and the trafficking ring. We see closure to certain story lines and come connections are made that smooth out some questions we were left with before.  It is here that we see all the parts of Lt. Margaret Peterson come together as she is forced to reconcile some horrific information regarding the force, friends and family members.

The impact of these revelations could easily have taken down a person who is already in a vulnerable state.  But in here, we are given a character whose strength shines through.  A professional who is forced, once again, to make difficult decisions with people who she should have been able to trust.  In this time, however, with everything going on around her we also see Margo’s walls come down.  We see great character growth for her in that once she realizes that it’s okay to let go of the control she’s forced on herself for years, that she is still a great cop, a woman who deserves to be loved and she can do it all without losing any of the respect from her staff.

I realize I’ve focused on Margo here and that’s not to take away from Dash at all. While he is definitely there as Margo’s protector and champion–for me the focus was really on the changes and growth of Margo.  She really does deal with quite a bit in this installment.  While the romance between these two is there and these two are meant to be together what I loved about Dash was the way he just knew what Margo needed.  He’d always wanted Margo, but he knew that she would only allow him into her life in her own time. Like it’s part of some unwritten rule in romance books, our couple does go through a bit of time apart; this separation a bit predictable and unnecessary in my opinion, but it’s Dash who once again, makes the first move-to smooth the waters and get Margo to admit they belong together.

If you’ve read this series, you’ll be happy to know that all previous characters are involved herein.  This is yet another reason I tend to enjoy Ms. Foster’s series-she has a wonderful way of including previous couples. While still secondary-they flow easily throughout the story-important but supportive and not taking any focus away from the main couple.  In this one, we get the bonus of an introduction to a spin-off series coming soon which will take the character of Cannon-a young MMA style fighter who is one of those secondary characters I mentioned that’s already made a big impression on me. I always knew Cannon would get a story-but she’s commingled characters from her beloved SBC Fighters series here…I just can’t wait! SQUEEE!

Rating: A

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