REVIEW: Reckless Deceptions by Karen Rock

Reckless Deceptions (Dallas after Dark #3) by Karen Rock is the third book in her Dallas After Dark series. I have read the two previous books in this series and enjoyed them and also enjoyed how the club was the backdrop for the stories.

Ex CIA agent Erica Keeley has a new job, one quite a bit different from her previous one. After being let go from the CIA she is now a bartender and premier headliner at the burlesque show at Dallas Heat. Her routine there has all the men in the club all ga-ga. The night Ryan Arnell, CIA agent and Erica’s ex-partner as well as ex-lover, stops in at Dallas Heat finds Ryan no less enthralled by Erica’s routine. Plus he has the advantage of having touched and enjoyed the beautiful lady to add to his enjoyment. But that’s not what he is there for. His boss has sent him there to follow-up after a phone call from Erica informing her former boss that she overheard a conversation that has her believing there is a domestic terrorism plot afoot. Erica was shocked to see Ryan there since, as far as she knew, he was still in Syria trying to track down Khalid Mohammad-al-Harbi, the head of the Jabhat-al-Nusra terrorist organization. He’s the last person she wants to see after he refused to stand up for her at her CIA hearing following an operation that went terribly wrong. But as the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers” so she has to work with him.

In this book the club, Dallas Heat has only a minor role in the story but it served its purpose by being the perfect place for Erica to go underground. Erica may not be a CIA agent anymore but she didn’t stop trying to complete her original mission – find Khalid Muhammad-al-Harbi. There’s lots of action and twists and turns in Karen Rock’s storyline.

I really liked all that action but I also really liked how she developed the renewed relationship between Erica, who is all gut instinct and, yes, somewhat reckless and Ryan who is very by-the-book at all times. She writes a very realistic path to their renewed relationship. This is an exciting series and I recommend this book as well as the two before this one.

Book Info:

Publication: December 18th 2018 | Lyrical Liaison | Dallas after Dark #3

DESIRE WITH NO LIMITS

Erica Keeley has always been willing to break the rules to catch a criminal, until her unorthodox tactics get her booted from the CIA and betrayed by the man she trusted. Now, gone rogue to stop a terrorist group, she’s working undercover at Dallas’s top male strip and burlesque club, dancing alongside sexy, sculpted men. Not that any of her co-workers give her the adrenaline rush she got from her former life. Erica hits the jackpot when she overhears her targets discussing a homegrown terrorist plot. But her last shot at redemption means getting up close and personal with her traitorous ex.

Control is what CIA officer David Arnell values above all things. Yet he was irresistibly drawn to Erica’s impulsive, uninhibited nature in the field—and in bed—until her bull-headed tactics risked the agency’s mission. Teaming up to stop a deadly attack, he’s falling again for this spontaneous, high-octane woman. And with Erica’s ties to the terrorists proving closer than either of them expected, the riskiest mission of all might be this second chance at love . . .