REVIEW: Lay It Down by Cara McKenna

In Lay It Down (Desert Dogs #1) by Cara McKenna, when Vince’s friend Alex dies in a supposed accident, Vince is the only one who thinks there might have been more to it. After his last phone conversation with Alex, Vince is determined to find out what really happened. Rough around the edges and driven, Vince is not someone to mess with, but he needs to be careful since he’s also on parole.

Kim, suddenly single and finally doing what she wants to do, has arrived in Fortuity, Nevada to take photos for the new casino’s brochure. One of the first people she meets is Vince. Neither of them are each others types – Vince doesn’t do relationships and she’s just out of one. Vince can’t get her out of his mind, and she can’t stop picturing his hard body on his motorcycle. Vince thinks she might be able to help him, and she thinks she might like to take a wild ride with him. As the heat between Vince and Kim builds and they sizzle together, there is more than one mystery lurking. When Kim is unwittingly drawn in deeper than either of them imagined she would be, she’ll have to trust in Vince to keep her safe. As the threads of part of the mystery start to unravel, Vince and Kim become closer…but can they have a future together in this desert town of Fortuity?

Lay It Down is a strong start to the Desert Dogs series. I loved the main characters, especially Vince. He is so hard and rough on the outside, but as I got to know him more he is also protective, loyal and has a bigger heart than he’d lead you to believe. It’s all of these characteristics that lead him on the path he’s on right now, wanting to get answers about Alex’s death. Cara’s description of Vince is perfection – I can clearly picture him in my mind! Kim is finding her way again, doing what she wants to do instead of what someone else wants her to do. I loved her for this and for giving it right back to Vince when the situation called for it! Kim usually plays it safe and doesn’t take risks, but Vince make her body hum and want to take risks with him. I loved the interactions between the two of them, how open, honest, and at times raw it was. Vince and Kim are a believable couple. They unexpectedly fit well together, and the sex is explosive! Cara writes this well into the story though and it all fits well with the plot and the characters. I found the characters in Lay It Down engaging from the start and couldn’t wait to see where they’d go.

Cara lays the groundwork well for the Desert Dogs series, introducing many characters smoothly without convoluting the plot. Vince has a strong back up team when things get rough, and the start of the Desert Dogs motorcycle club is born. Cara really drew me into the secondary characters and I can’t wait to read their stories. I have suspicions about Casey (Vince’s brother) and can’t wait to see how Duncan factors into the future of the Desert Dogs.

Cara gives a great description of the desert town of Fortuity…the dust, the heat and the cold nights. I could easily have been there!

I liked how Cara left parts of the mystery unresolved, but not so much that I felt let down at the end of Lay It Down. It is not a cliffhanger!

I will definitely be reading more of this series and would recommend Lay It Down to romantic suspense readers who like things very intense.

Book Info:

Published August 5th 2014 by Signet Eclipse | (Desert Dogs #1)

Backbreaking days, wild nights, and the hard hum of steel between your thighs…

That’s a life well lived, according to the Desert Dogs—four friends who call Fortuity, Nevada, their badlands home.

Vince Grossier is the self-crowned outlaw king around here. But when Fortuity’s slick new mayor invites a casino development to town, greed isn’t far behind—and it claims Vince’s good friend as its first casualty. With the law turning a blind eye to the mysterious death, Vince must seek his own brand of justice. The pretty photographer hired by the developers might be the key to uncovering the truth. And she’s a temptation too good to pass up.

Finally free of a controlling ex, Kim Paget’s not looking to be taken for a ride—not on the back of some tattooed roughneck’s bike and definitely not in his bed. But when she uncovers evidence supporting Vince’s suspicions of murder, Kim must entrust her safety to a man whose body threatens danger of a whole different kind.