Sandy M’s review of Sworn to Love (Hot Cops, Book 5) by Karin Tabke
Contemporary Romance published by Pocket Star 3 Mar 2015
Being married to a cop has given Karin Tabke that specific insight needed to write such realistic books when it comes to her Hot Cops. The love and romance is definitely there, but she makes her characters work for it. Big time. To the point you wonder if they will get the happily ever after we crave as romance readers. They get there all right, but be prepared to go through hell with them on the way.
DEA Agent Matthew Kane is known on the streets as Mateo Juarez, who is known as The Widow Maker. His brother was killed by the feared drug cartel lord Alexander Dumas, and Mat is primed for revenge by bringing the man and his entire business down. The way to spill Dumas’ blood is through his youngest and last child, Sophia. Mat is ready and willing to do whatever is necessary to achieve his goal. What he doesn’t expect is Sophia being the exact opposite of what his intel led him to believe.
Having been sheltered her entire life, living in her father’s home and having every aspect of daily living under a microscope, once in a while Sophia Dumas rebels. Thus is the night she sneaks out for a good time at a dance club with a friend. There she meets Mateo, a dominant male she shouldn’t be attracted to. One of those in her life is enough, but this man pushes all the right buttons, and just when it gets hot and interesting between them, her father’s men intervene and drag her home.
The surprises keep coming, however. Mateo barges into the Dumas compound, demanding he be given everything due the man he just eliminated, the one who Sophia was being forced to marry. I have to say, Ms. Tabke knows how to write a hero with huge cojones. Mat looks danger in the eye without blinking, confidence radiating from every pore, and that’s what keeps him alive when he issues his demands to everyone, including Dumas himself. Mat also doesn’t blink when making the difficult decisions, even when it comes to Sophia.
This couple is a great match. She’s nearly as fearless as he is, especially when it comes to her father. Good thing she truly doesn’t know what happened to her siblings when they decided to rebel without someone like Mat in their corner. She’s a strong character, though, and stands up to Mat time and again until she recognizes what is truly between them and what a life with him will be like. Something so very different than that she’s lived so far, as she eventually discovers from her father.
Ms. Tabke doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to undercover work and the world of drug cartels. Kill or be killed if you want to play with the evil boys, and Mat does so brilliantly that you wonder if he’ll be okay in the future after living such a horrible life in the name of justice. Though Sophia has been shielded from most of the blood and gore surrounding Dumas and his men, some leaks through to her and she does handle it well after a bit of emotion escapes. So I can see their life together, helping one another get through, seeing and living the same things from different perspectives. If you’re into realism in your romance, though even if you’re not, this book has it all from action, fast pacing, sizzling romance and so much more on the way to happiness. Though it is Book 5 of the series, reading the others before it is not necessary. I never felt lost or confused at any time and I enjoyed getting that vengeance right along with Mat.
Grade: B
Summary:
Sometimes going after the bad guy you find the good girl…
When DEA agent Mateo Juarez is given the mission to infiltrate the Dumas drug cartel’s compound and erase the entire organization, he doesn’t count on falling for Sophia, the head honcho’s daughter…
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
