5 Royal Stars

3.5 Mischievous Stars

As much as I loved the first three books in the series this one fell a little flat for me. It makes me a little bit sad to read a story of an author YOU KNOW is fantastic and has been able to enchant you with her stories.The one factor who saved this for me was Lee. He was such a charmer.

Lee Cross is a thief. As a teenager he and his brothers were left by their mother to fend for themselves. Lee, the second oldest of the bunch accepts the responsibility to care for his family. Living on the edge of society he does the only thing he can do to guarantee his and his brothers' survival: he reaches out to a crime boss and starts to work for him.

Karla is a police officer. Her parents are a disaster - I don't think I can add anything else to this other than that her father is a prick and also with the police. She is upstanding, honest and loyal. At least she tries to be all that. 

When these two meet sparks fly and not just the good ones. Karla was flat and one-dimensional and only started to shine in the last 20%. I really tried to love her and ended up only liking her, wondering all the time why Lee would be so head over heels for her. She lacked the brilliance Alexis had in King of Hearts. She had edges I didn't expect and in the beginning it felt a bit as if she considered herself to good for Lee.

“Take your hands off me right now or I’ll arrest you,” I ordered, my tone harsh.Seconds passed, like he was deliberating over what to do. Then he released me, but not before delivering a final statement. “One day, Karla, you’ll understand that me having my hands on you is never a bad thing.”

This is one of the most unlikely pairings you can imagine. The idea was the reason why my expectations soared. I thought I was in for a treat and ended up a little bit disappointed. As mentioned in the beginning Lee made it worthwhile. He was mischievous and a sweet talker and given the chance he would have talked himself into my panties right from the start - law be damned.

“I just really, really like you. I like the things you do to me, and I don’t want to lose them.”Feeling his jaw move, I thought he might be smiling. “If it’s any consolation, I really like the things I do to you, too. Actually, I fucking love them. And you won’t lose me, so long as you make the choice to be with me.”