Books & Spoons: Force of Attraction by D.D. Ayres

The only thing more powerful than fear is desire…

A seasoned K-9 officer with the police in Maryland, Cole Jamison has left her old life behind her. With a new home and a new partner—a protective canine named Hugo—Cole is ready for fresh challenges. A crucial position on an important drug task force is exactly what she wants…until she discovers her gorgeous, infuriating ex-husband will be the DEA agent in charge.

FORCE OF ATTRACTION

Agent Scott Lucca may be a pro when it comes to undercover assignments, but this job is daunting even for him. Posing as a happy couple on the dog competition circuit means he and Cole need to get a lot closer than they’ve been in years. Playing a live-in couple should seem like a walk in the park compared to tracking a brutal criminal, but suddenly nothing could be more dangerous than the passionate fire they’ve rekindled…

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Review

Intense second chance on a relationship mixed with undercover police work, and one very dark and edgy villain after the agent and anyone he cares about.
The feelings Nicole and Scott have for each other are powerful, vivid and intense. And two years apart hasn't changed much of those feelings. Nicole walked out of their marriage after a night gone to hell, and Scott let her go. But those feelings didn't let go, and now he is willing to do anything to get her back, to fight for her this time around, and not let go.
As Scott and Nicole are preparing to go undercover together as a couple, they get a change to get to know each other again, learn to work as a team, and exist in the same space without snarling at each other. The desire for each other is burning hot, and it doesn't take a long time for them to act on it.
Nicole, or Nikki, or Cole, or Noel... She had many names, and only one of them was her undercover name. She was not an easy person to 'get to know', she seemed to change with each name she was called. She also pulled hot and cold with Scott constantly, understandable at the beginning from the hurt before, but I think it was played a bit too long.
Scott was weary, his past undercover work wasn't the only thing eating him up, also the guilt from the failed marriage, as well as the rejection he felt from his parents, the feelings not measuring up, constantly on his mind.
There's more built up in the story than action itself. The undercover operation is left on a sideline and not completely solved. The major conflict in the story comes from Scott's former undercover assignment, but that as well is quickly solved, after the action starts. The main focus of the story are the dogs, and the second chance at the relationship between Nicole and Scott. The heated love scenes are detailed, and hot.
Several times during the story scenes were cut short, and the story would continue from later on, with no real sense of the timeline, or what took place after the cut off. I lost count, how many times went went back a page to see if I accidentally flipped two pages, but no. I don't know if this would have bothered me as much, if the book wouldn't have been brimming with details at times, that had nothing to do with the plot, or contributed to the story otherwise.

Overall, the second chance between Nicole and Scott was interesting,  the development of the characters was clear, and the conclusion real and solid. The action  at the end of the story was tense and raw, even with the fast and known conclusion, had a chance to build up fear, bringing the score just at
~  Three Spoons