Boiling Point by Tessa Bailey Series: Crossing the Line #3
Series Rating:
Published by Entangled: Select Suspense on January 25th 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 352
Format: eBook
Source: Entangled Publishing
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Falling for a con man is the most dangerous game of all...
Con artist Austin Shaw's been in disguise so long he's not sure where his fake identities end and he begins. Now that he's been strong-armed into working for a specialized undercover unit working with the Chicago police—criminals with unique “skills”—the last thing he needs is to risk his iron control. Especially when it comes to a certain stunningly sexy hacker who tempts him with every look of disdain.
Polly Banks will never, ever trust a con man. On the trail of a ruthless crook who destroyed the only family she's ever known, Polly is unnerved by the shadow who follows her every move. The one who makes her pulse pound and breath short with lust. Austin. He's infuriating, enigmatic, and pure sex appeal, and she's determined to resist him.
But an untrustworthy man of disguise can become anyone he wants... including a man that Polly must trust if she's to escape their dangerous game alive.
I struggled with this one more than I struggled with previous books in this series. There was something about Austin that really squicked me out. He was introduced in the previous book, but we didn’t spend a lot of time with him. This is the first chance we really have to get to know him, and he’s… intense. For lack of a better word. The book opens with him waiting for her in a bar, disguised so she won’t know it’s him. So he can watch her and try to get an idea about what she’s doing and make sure she’s ok. Later he goes to another club in a different disguise and actually ends up making out with her, never telling her who he is. It’s a little disturbing.
Polly is the dominant one in the bedroom, but that wasn’t it. I enjoy seeing the swapped D/s relationship. I think part of what bugged me about it was Austin’s reasoning for being so submissive. He didn’t do it because that’s just what flips his switch. He used it as a way to atone for past sins and deal with his own self-loathing. Which isn’t sexy to me. Polly seemed to enjoy her role in a way that Austin didn’t, and that really set the balance of power off to me. Balance of power is a big button for me. It’s one of the reasons I don’t really enjoy the CEO and the intern trope. It’s just super gross to me for one person to have that much more power than the other.
Beyond that, though, there was just something about this one that didn’t do it for me. I can’t even put my finger on it. I didn’t find myself engaged in the revenge story, and had to really push to finish it. I love Tessa Bailey and I still want to read everything she puts out, but this one just wasn’t my favorite.
About Tessa Bailey
Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans and laptop, driving cross-country to New York City in under four days.
Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.
She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband of eight years and four-year-old daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love
