Sandy M’s review of Don’t Mess with Texas by Christie Craig
Contemporary Romance published by Forever 1 Sep 11

I always have the best time when I read a Christie Craig book. I constantly smile, sometimes laugh, and usually sigh quite a bit over her heroes. In this new trilogy she’s given us three very drool-worthy men who have been betrayed, nearly lost everything, and are now doing what it takes to help people who find themselves in the same predicament they were in at one time, when those who should have stood by them instead turned their backs and left innocent men to suffer dire consequences. You can just imagine what kind of scars that left on our gentlemen.

Nikki is contemplating getting back together with her cheating ex-husband. She needs financial help, you see. Otherwise, there’s no reason for her to give up her current life to go back to the old one that didn’t work for the longest time. But she’s promised her grandmother she’ll have cable in her room at the seniors’ home. So Nikki is meeting the ex for dinner to talk. Thank goodness on seeing him she realizes she can’t go through with her crazy idea. However, she’s determined to get a meal out of it. Things never progress past their first few words to one another and Nikki stealing a shrimp from Jack’s plate, because Jack is in the middle of a phone call that doesn’t sound good at all. He walks out of the restaurant to finish his call, leaving Nikki to pick up the check. Pissed and ready to kill the jerk, what she’s not ready for is finding him really and truly dead. In her trunk.

Taking on cases in which he and his partners, all of them ex-cops, just know the suspect is innocent is how Dallas, Austin, and Tyler make sure others don’t spend time in jail wrongly accused of a crime. Sixteen months behind bars is no picnic, and if they can stop that from happening to someone else, they’ll do whatever they have to to keep injustice at bay. Nikki is now one of those people, and Dallas is immediately taken with this woman who barfs all over him. Twice. And the laughs begin. If you’ve not read a Christie Craig book before, you’re in for a delightful time on top of the mystery of who killed the ex and the fun times in the bedroom.

Though Dallas’ brother, Tony, the cop, keeps looking at Nikki as his prime suspect, despite Dallas’ involvement in the case and with her. And speaking of Tony, we get a lovely secondary romance with him and his estranged wife, LeAnn. They’ve suffered a horrendous loss which drove them apart, and Tony’s tired of LeAnn still pushing him away. So he takes his homecoming into his own hands, moves back home, and drives the woman crazy with his sexy antics. But LeAnn gives as good as she gets, turning the tables on Tony quite nicely. There are other secondary characters who are loads of fun too: Nikki’s grandmother and the old-timers running around in their Annie Oakley get-ups, and even Bud the bulldog, who loves his coffin for sleeping, gets into the picture, falling in love with Nikki too. He’s not as slow as Dallas. Good dog.

Dallas has his reasons, though, for being slow. He’s kept the ladies at bay after some lovin’ and he likes it that way. Though since he’s met Nikki, he’s not sure why. And he’s not sure about the feelings that have cropped up whenever he’s near her. Nikki does acknowledge her growing feelings for Dallas to herself at least, knowing it’s best to leave now and not let things go any further, especially when the man concentrates on the here and now and not the future. But every time Dallas looks at her, touches her, kisses her, everything else falls away and he talks her into one more day.

The dialogue is snappy and fast, so pay attention. Everyone gets into the fray at one point or another, free-for-alls that are hilarious. We get to know Austin and Tyler a little, and I enjoyed their relationship with Dallas. Going through their unjust incarceration, losing the support of those who should have stood behind them, well, it definitely brought them together in more ways than one, and I’m looking forward to their books.

I thought twice about not mentioning the stupid and frivolous lawsuit the Texas Department of Transportation brought against Ms. Craig for an injunction to stop this book’s release, claiming the title infringes on their logo for their anti-litter program. But, nah, their overzealousness and overreaction (“The book,” TxDOT’s suit says, “contains numerous graphic references to sexual acts, states of sexual arousal, etc.” Please!) has been the best advertising on the planet for Don’t Mess with Texas. As a retired court reporter, I’m glad the judge is one with good sense to see the case had no merit. You don’t always see that in the legal system, which plays into the pages of this book so nicely. So if you’ve just thought about buying DMwT and haven’t yet done so, get out there and pick it up now. You’ll have a great time reading, you’ll be supporting one of the genre’s best authors, all the while sticking your tongue out at injustice of all forms. Never thought you could contribute so much by being a romance reader, huh?

Grade: B+

Summary:

Nikki Hunt thought her night couldn’t get worse when her no-good, cheating ex ditched her at dinner, sticking her with the bill. Then she found his body stuffed in the trunk of her car and lost her two-hundred-dollar meal all over his three-thousand-dollar suit. Now not only is Nikki nearly broke, she’s a murder suspect.

Former cop turned PI, Dallas O’Connor knows what it’s like to be unjustly accused. But one look at the sexy-though skittish-suspect tells him she couldn’t hurt anyone. The lead detective, Dallas’s own brother, has the wrong woman and Dallas hopes a little late-night “undercover” work will help him prove it . . .

Read an excerpt.