Steal Me by Lauren Layne (New York’s Finest #2)
Released: November 24, 2015
Contemporary Romance
Forever

Reviewed by Mandi

Anthony Moretti loves being a cop. More specifically, a captain in the NYPD. He has siblings as cops, his father was the chief of police – it’s in his blood and it’s his passion in life. So when a burglar who has been hitting random homes in New York City continuously escapes capture, it really irritates Anthony. This burglar has been named Smiley, because he leaves a yellow smiley face sticker in each home he breaks into. Stealing random things – sometimes valuable, sometimes just trinkets, the press has picked up on the Smiley case, and Anthony is getting heat from his boss to find this guy.

Anthony is very close with his parents, his siblings and his Nonna. Side note: Nonna has some hysterical lines in this book. A grandmother who loves to drink, have sex and talk about wangs to her grandsons. It’s good stuff.

Anthony and his family meet every Sunday at a local diner after church. And every Sunday, the same waitress serves them. Maggie divorced her scum of a husband two years ago, and has put in a lot of hours at the diner to keep her finances barely floating above red. Her secret passion in life is to become an author, and she spends her nights writing her first book. She looks upon the Moretti family fondly. She wishes she has a family this close to hang out with. Her father and brother are both alcoholics who beg money from Maggie consistently. They always promise to go to rehab, so she sends money – but rehab never sticks. It’s an endless cycle and one Maggie doesn’t know how to escape.

So she loves the time spent with the Moretti family ever Sunday – except for Anthony. He is surly, and intimidating, and for some reason, Maggie always ends up spilling food or drinks on him by accident, causing even more dirty looks and strife between them. One day when Maggie was waiting on Anthony during a working lunch, she happens to see a sketch of Smiley – and her world turns upside down. The sketch of Smiley looks exactly like her ex-husband. Clinging to his only lead, Anthony starts working with Maggie to see if they can track down her ex – and those surly looks become sexy dirty ones.

What a fun story. Anthony is a big, tall, intimidating captain. He has a hard time separating work and pleasure, especially because most of his family are cops, so down time always involves work talk.  His family makes this story so rich. Very close with his brothers, their banter made me smile. Constantly ragging on each other, but having that love deep down. His family adopts Maggie, and surprisingly to Anthony, he starts to get jealous how close they are with her, when he is left behind. But that grumpy nature and hard stares draws Maggie in. He knows he shouldn’t get involved while his case is going on, but a kiss happens, and then other things happen, and Anthony starts to fall hard.

This is the second book in the series, Anthony’s brother having his HEA in book one, but it read great as a stand alone. The suspense with Maggie’s ex is done really well too. Great banter, hot romance – I had so much fun reading this one.

Grade: B+

Goodreads l Author Website l Series

Kindle l Nook