Review: Four Seconds to Lose by K.A. Tucker

17571140Four Seconds to Lose
(Ten Tiny Breaths, #3)
By: K.A. Tucker
Publisher: Atria Books
Published: Nov. 4, 2013
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:
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Owning a strip club isn’t the fantasy most guys expect it to be. With long hours, a staff with enough issues to keep a psych ward in business, and the police regularly on his case, twenty-nine-year-old Cain is starting to second guess his unspoken mission to save the women he employs. And then blond, brown-eyed Charlie Rourke walks through his door, and things get really complicated. Cain abides by a strict “no sleeping with the staff” rule. But being around Charlie challenges Cain’s self-control…and it’s been a long time since any woman has done that.

Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Rourke needs a lot of money, really fast, in order to vanish before it’s too late. Taking her clothes off for men makes her stomach curl but Charlie tells herself that at least she’s putting her acting and dancing skills to good use. And though her fellow dancers seem eager to nab their sexy, sophisticated, and genuinely caring boss, she’s not interested. After all, Charlie Rourke doesn’t really exist—and the girl pretending to be her can’t get distracted by romance.

Unfortunately, Charlie soon discovers that developing feelings for Cain is inevitable, and that those feelings may not be unrequited—but losing him when he finds out what she’s involved with will be more painful than any other sentence awaiting her.

 

1thoughtsI’m not going to lie, when I saw that K.A. wrote her hero as a strip club owner, I just about fell out of my chair with excitement. I’ve never read a book where the main character is a strip club owner, while still managing not to give me the creeps. I’m sorry but, you own an establishment that exploits women. However, Caine didn’t give me the heebie jeebies. I wouldn’t say that I was totally head of heels in love with him but he wasn’t a total sleazeball.

I liked that the author tied a great background story to Caine that gave him some noble qualities to his job. The fact that his sister was a stripper and was doing extra on the side to earn money was what fueled him to open his own place. He wanted a club that women in that profession could find a safe place to do their business, while he offered as much help to get them on their feet. For instance, there was a scene with a stripper and her abusive/drug dealing ex-boyfriend. Caine takes it upon himself to protect the girls who work for him, and that means keeping them clean, helping them get the education they need or helping them break free from bad relationships. The fact that Caine is a stand-up guy who is only interested in being a safe haven for those who must go into the business to support themselves was quite noble of him. However, the fact remains that he owns a strip club.

“I want to help out every woman who feels she needs to take her clothes off to survive but I’m only on man, and not every woman is strong enough to avoid the pitfalls of this industry.”

What would a good romance be without a little conflict. Charlie is everything that Caine stands against. Her stepfather forced her into a life of crime. She’s a heroine peddler, Caine lost his whole family to a drug related crime. Charlie doesn’t enjoy her job at all but anytime someone has crossed her stepfather or attempted to get out, they wound up dead. So she bides her time while in Miami with a “job” stripping in Caine’s club in the hopes of earning enough money on the side to run away and disappear. Some of the things that happen to her while at these drops definitely had me on the edge of my seat. This was definitely a gritty romance all the way around.

I liked that even though this was a romance, the author always made sure to keep the stepfather in the picture. Whether it was interactions via phone between Charlie and him, memories of her life before he had her working for him, or the drops that Charlie was doing, the suspense was always there. Sometimes the romance overrides that suspense but the author always kept the danger lurking the background the entire time.

Even though I couldn’t really get over the fact that Caine was the owner of a strip club, no matter how noble his reasons were, I still liked that he was a strip club owner. He was different from your average hero. Owning that club set him apart from every other male lead I’ve read. He wasn’t your typical alpha male with a bigwig job. No, he was an alpha male who took it upon himself to watch over women who would otherwise be prostituting to make a living.

This was a great story that was both gritty and steamy at the same time. I wasn’t able to put the book down. There were so many things going on that I just had to know what would happen next. I was slightly disappointed with the ending. I felt like it was all a little too coincidental. Maybe it’s just me but that did earn a slight eye-roll from me. However, the entire story was pretty awesome. I cannot wait to read the next story in Ten Tiny Breaths.

 

1favequote“I don’t know how the monks survive. Probably not by watching  live strip shows daily.” -Caine

kRISTIN

One Thought on “Review: Four Seconds to Lose by K.A. Tucker

  1. I’ve had this book on my list for awhile. The whole strip club owner thing is a bit of a turn off to me – but I’ve seen this book get a lot of great reviews. Going to have to give it a try! Great review!

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