ARC Review: Cuffed By His Charm by Stacey Kennedy (Dirty Little Secrets)

Title: Cuffed By His Charm

          (Dirty Little Secrets )

Author: Stacey Kennedy

Release Date: November 14, 2017 (ARC)

Publisher: RandomHouse – Loveswept

Category: Contemporary Romance

Type: Digital

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Stacey Kennedy Website

Blurb:

A tabloid scandal unites a powerful mogul and a woman from the wrong side of the tracks in this tantalizing novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Bound Beneath His Pain and the Club Sin series.

Spoiler alert! The following reveals crucial plot points from Restrained Under His Duty.

The multimillionaire owner of a chain of successful Irish pubs, Gabe O’Keefe loves being in the spotlight almost as much as he loves women. But when all his secrets are exposed in a shameless tabloid, his glistening reputation takes a hit. What hurts most is learning who sold him out: sweet and sensual McKenna Archer, his own employee. Gabe thought he could trust her. But now he’s got bigger problems than keeping his hands off McKenna.

After putting a difficult past behind her, McKenna would never betray Gabe. But she knows someone who would: her brother, a compulsive gambler who owes money all over town. To make things right, McKenna will have to set aside her feelings for her boss. Easier said than done. Gabe oozes pure temptation. But when they team up, McKenna sees that he isn’t the manwhore she always thought. He’s strong. He’s real. And the heat between them is the only thing that makes sense anymore.

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age.

If you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.

Favorite Line(s):

“You do have me.” His hands tighten around my face, the hard planes of his body quivering against mine, voice lowering, “For Christ sakes, McKenna, if you want me, take all of me.”  ~  Gabe

Excerpt:

I grab my phone from my pocket and press my finger against the 9 button, when Gabe asks with a frown, “What are you doing?”

I press 1. “I’m going to call the police so they can help me find my brother.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Gabe says, hastily striding forward and plucking the phone from my hand.

Hand still extended, I raise my eyebrows. “And why is that exactly?”

“Believe me, McKenna, I’m doing this to protect Evan, not hurt him. You’re emotional right now.” His eyes are soft, looking a lot like the Gabe I know. Gentle, sweet, all types of warm and charming. “We need to get a better understanding of what’s going on here before you involve the police. You say that your brother is often in trouble. Well, darlin’, bringing in the police might backfire entirely.”

“As if I care about that,” I retort, waving my hand. “Right now, the last thing I’m worried about is him getting arrested for gambling or whatever.”

Regardless of what I’ve said, Gabe tucks my phone into his pocket, then steps closer to me; those warm eyes of his are so easy to get lost in. I put up my guard, protecting the heart he’s already shattered once today. “I’m not concerned about Evan,” he says, voice soft. “I’m concerned that whoever did this”—he waves around the apartment—“will not be happy that we’ve involved the police. I’m concerned about you.”

My heart wants to tug a little. I force it not to. “Then what do you suggest we do?”

“I suggest we let Ryder do what Ryder and his team do best.” Gabe turns to Ryder, who’s watching us quietly and closely. “Your team can start on this?”

Ryder nods. “We’ve already started.”

The rest of what he says drifts away because I can’t even make sense out of what I’m feeling. It’s like I’m falling, drowning in a sea of all the things I can’t control. So much has happened in . . . what, a couple hours. So much has changed. Emotion tightens my throat, and I need to get away from it all and into some fresh air. I hear Gabe’s curse follow my quick exit. I run out the door and down the staircase, going as fast as I can toward the front door of the complex.

The second I reach outside, “McKenna, stop,” blasts through the air I desperately need to inhale.

I freeze on the sidewalk, staring at the cars whizzing by, my chest rising and falling quickly, my eyes struggling to stop the tears from spilling over.

“Look at me.”

When I don’t turn, Gabe adds, even softer now, “Please. Look at me.”

I shut my eyes, gathering strength, then I turn to him, and say, “I’m sorry Evan did this to you. Is that what you want to hear?”

“No, McKenna, an apology from you is not what I want,” is Gabe’s hard reply.

There’s so much there burning between us now, I can’t even understand all that’s happened, and all that’s gone wrong, or how to fix any of it. We’re raw, and it hurts so fucking much. “In two hours my life has crumbled.” I admit the truth since I think that’s all that can save me now. “I need to pick up the pieces but I don’t even know where to start.”

He flinches at my words and stays far enough away from me. I can tell he’s fighting against wanting to touch me and not wanting to hurt me any more. “We need to take this one step at a time. The first step is finding your brother.” 

The door opens again, and over Gabe’s shoulder, I spot Ryder striding out of the apartment building. He doesn’t pay us any attention; he’s talking on his cellphone and walks right by.

When I look at Gabe again, his eyes are still fixated on me. He leans in closer, and I don’t back away when his warm breath brushes across my face. “Be mad at me, hate me if you must, but please, McKenna, let us help you.”

Right then and there, with cars and pedestrians passing us by, I see the thing he’s kept hidden up until this point, but suddenly he lays it bare for me to see. He’s broken, destroyed in ways that I understand because I’m destroyed in those same ways.

For that reason, and for other reasons that I don’t fully understand, I move to his car and slide into the back behind the driver’s seat.

Gabe joins me not a second later, getting into the driver’s seat. After he shuts the door, his strong gaze meets mine in the rearview mirror. “We find him, then?” he asks.

I nod. “We find him.”

Dialogue Highlight:

Bumper to bumper traffic isn’t unusual on a Saturday night in the downtown core of San Francisco, but it made the drive to Afterglow slow. Far slower than I intended considering McKenna’s sitting next to me, her eyes glued on her cellphone.

Regardless that I’m less than pleased with her reading material, my gaze falls to her arm where a Band-Aid rests over the crease where Ryder’s team drew blood from her. There’s nothing about any of this that I like, and the silence is killing me, making my car feel small and lacking in air. “Is it really necessary to read those articles?” I ask.

“Oh, yeah.” She grins. “Totally necessary.” Her finger scrolls down the glass as she reads that damn article in Gotcha! outing me as Afterglow’s owner. The same article that had stolen the last strands of my control.

Stuck behind the wheel of my Audi, I bite the inside of my cheek and tap my finger staring out into the sea of lights. We’re only a few blocks away from the club, but I’m as impatient to get there as I am to stay away. I never intended to show McKenna this world; I’m not sure what she’ll think.

 She finally exhales deeply, obviously done reading the article. “How did I not know this about you?” she asks.

I give her a quick look, trying to gauge her mood, and fail miserably. She’s locked her emotions up tight. “You didn’t know about it because no one except a few trusted people knew this about me.” I pause then snort. “Until the media got ahold of it, of course.”

“I see,” she says, nibbling her lip, watching me closely.

The air in the car feels thick and dry, and I shift against my seat as she suddenly begins to chuckle.

“And there’s that laughter again.” I sigh.

“I’m sorry,” she says, failing at fighting her grin. “I never would have thought you were kinky. I mean, alpha? For sure, but kinky . . .”She smirks. “I can’t picture you in leather chaps.”

“Leather chaps?” I slam on the brakes to glare at her, causing a horn to blare behind us. “I do not wear leather chaps.”

“Totally kidding,” she says and winks. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”

Not amused in the least, I glance in the rearview mirror, watching the man behind the wheel shake his fist at me. “Consider it lightened,” I tell her, driving forward.

“You know,” she adds, voice soft, “you can relax about all this. I see you over there all tense, looking about ready to jump out of your skin. But this is fine. I don’t care at all that you own this club. In fact, I’d say I’m intrigued by the idea.”

I glance sideways, finding her cheeks flushed, a telling sign she’s more interested than offended. The cars in front of me begin moving faster, but for this second, I focus on her torso, watching her breathe, seeing her chest rise and fall quickly.

Excited, hmmm?

“You should go,” she says, pointing to the front window.

I take note of the heat in her eyes before I put my attention back on the road, quickly getting the car up to third gear. Silence falls between us again, until we’re a block away from the club, and I can’t stand the quiet. “What’s on your mind?” I ask her.

“I’m wondering what your mother thinks about you owning this club.”

“I told her the story was fake.” I downshift into second gear, the engine a low purr.

“She believed you?”

“Why wouldn’t she?” I downshift into first gear and then slow to halt at the red light. From our spot, Afterglow’s bright neon lights glow into the night. “She has no reason to doubt me.”

McKenna gives me a questioning glance. “You’re not one to lie. Why the dishonesty?”

“Because it’s an unnecessary fact that my mother doesn’t need to know.”

McKenna’s brows pull together, shoulders curl. “It’s a fact that the world doesn’t need to know.”And my brother is the one who told your secrets is what she doesn’t say.

Regardless that I’m uneasy about bringing McKenna to the club, relief that we’ve arrived fills me as I pull over to the curb, stopping in front of the valet. Not because I want to avoid quiet time with her, but because my shame for how loyal she’s been to me is overwhelming. Never once had McKenna read a tabloid article, nor did she listen to a word of gossip; I’m seeing her loyalty toward me in ways I never saw before, and it solidifies my loyalty to her.

I roll down my window before the valet can open my door. “We’ll be just a minute.”

“Not a problem, Mr. O’Keefe.” The valet backs away, standing with hands laced behind his back.

McKenna chuckles. “Mr. O’Keefe.” She stares at the valet before she smiles at me. “Sometimes I forget how much of a big deal you are in San Francisco.”

“That’s what I like about you.” In fact, that’s what originally drew me to her. The way McKenna sees me is very different than the way the rest of the world does. She makes me feel like the guy who worked behind a bar and loved it enough to make a career out of it, instead of a multi-millionaire. “Any other questions before we go in?”

Her eyes search mine. Then, “Why do you keep this part of your life a secret?”

The answer could backfire in epic proportions. But trust needs to rebuild, so I refuse for there to be lies between us. “When I bought the club in my twenties, I used it as a place to meet women who enjoyed sex.”

“In a manner that you controlled, you mean?”

She never did miss a thing. “That’s right. My terms. My house, so to speak.”

I see her mind working in the amazing way it does, while she’s figuring me out. She doesn’t judge. She wants to understand. It’s a beautiful trait.

She finally asks, “Because you were worried that your active sex life would get out in the public?”

“The world loves a scandal, doesn’t it?”

She snorts a laugh. “It certainly does.”

I glance at the front door, watch a couple gain entrance before I address her again. “Have you ever been to a sex club?”

“No.”

I can’t ignore that fact. “Perhaps it would be better if you wait here.”

She barks a loud laugh, hand on the door handle. “Yeah, right, O’Keefe. As if I’m not going in there with you.” Then the door is open and she’s getting out of the car.

Review:

McKenna Archer has been working for Gabriel as a bartender for a year. The entire year they have been walking a fine line between flirtation and caving in to smoldering desire, but Gabe refuses to cross that line. He does not date employees and so they continue their dance of temptation, which is quickly becoming sweet torture. But Gabe is suddenly on a rampage and something has shifted – he’s crossing a line he never has before, which is a dream come true. Except he’s calling her a backstabber. A traitor. She has no idea what is happening, but it’s bad and now her only course of action is to prove her innocence and help Gabe set things right. Unwittingly, she has played a hand in this scandal and she can’t move on with Gabe until this situation is resolved. However, familial connection isn’t an easy cord to sever and the actual offender might cause too much damage for Gabe and McKenna to be able to rally back from.

Gabriel O’Keefe is out of his element. He’s wanted McKenna since day 1 and now he’s found out what a beautiful liar she is. He has to have her before he throws her away, which is a feat much more difficult than he anticipated, even knowing the extent of her deceit. Except things aren’t as he had believed and suddenly they are thrown into a game much more dangerous than initially assessed. As Gabe’s trouble grows, McKenna finds her safety at risk and the deeper the trouble, the higher the risk. After the tangle of lies and deception are unraveled, Gabe an McKenna will have a lot of choices to make, but saving their fragile relationship might be off the table completely with too much damage done during the course of their investigation.

If you guys haven’t read any of this series, there is a warning that some critical plot points are revealed in this book for one (or more) of the previous books in the series. I haven’t read the rest of the series and this is book 4. While I didn’t have any difficulty following along and was sure that there were things mentioned that would have to do with a previous book or three, nothing that blatantly interfered with my reading enjoyment occurred. I don’t feel like anything too life-shattering was mentioned but having not read the previous books, I am in no way an expert. That said if you don’t want to risk any spoilers, it might be safer to read this series in order.

I really enjoyed both Gabe, McKenna, and all of the supporting characters – with the exception of the evil goons, of course. McKenna is a strong character who has been through a lot and has made her own way. With the exception of her tunnel-vision regarding her brother, she was a likeable character. I wanted to slap her regarding the enabling qualities she possesses with Evan and, even though we were prepared for her next moves in Evan’s case, I found that habit annoying. But when put into perspective, you can almost understand why she does what she does concerning her brother Gabe is that quintessential alpha male billionaire. He’s got money and power, but he’s an average guy who prefers working behind the bar, to the daily monotonous CEO grind. Ha! Who am I kidding? No billionaire is an average guy despite his dislike for corporate life. 😊 He’s connected and he and his self-made billionaire buddies are all at the center of some serious scandal which apparently spans the length of the series. I have to say that even though these guys are crazy intuitive, it was a quite a refreshing change to see them make a mistake and accuse the wrong person initially. Alphas making a massive mistake isn’t a common component. All of Gabe’s friends very obviously had their own back stories and the more they were involved, the more I liked them. I would definitely read the series in its entirety based on these charming characters; each bringing a vital piece to their life-long friendship. I’m looking for a story for Alex, Ryder’s hacker, next. Hopefully there are plans for her. Supposedly it’s the end of the series, but you never know … And since I’m speculating, there are a couple of other “potential couples” mentioned in the epilogue, so I’ll hold out for the next installment – or a spin-off … 😊

Overall, this is a great book with a little bit of everything – brooding hero, strong female lead, loyal friends, an annoying mother, suspense, betrayal, hackers, redemption, a titch of BDSM, bars, sex clubs, billionaires and the women who have captured them, crazy hot sex … Yep, a bit of everything! I do have one compliant – the villain didn’t get his in my opinion. I feel like there could still be an axe to grind and if he’s the same scoundrel from the previous books (which I am not sure of), then really? That’s all? But technically there are two scoundrels and I felt like they could have dealt with that one just a bit more severely as well. Granted, they are upstanding guys that have been wronged, and wouldn’t stoop to the level of their temporary oppressors, but dang! If it truly is the end of the series, get it handled! And here is where I feel like Alex would come in nicely. Just saying. I’m pretty sure fans of the series would have no objection to visiting these characters again. But either way, fans of romantic suspense will find this read (and most likely the series) fascinating and engaging. The evil-doers will piss you off, the sizzling romance will excite you, the captivating plot will thrill you, and the emotionally charged characters will charm you. All in all, an enjoyable read!

Kindle version provided by RandomHouse Loveswept/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.