Books & Spoons Review for CAUGHT BY YOU by Kris Rafferty

17/3/2018

It takes a specialized task force to bring down the most notorious criminals, FBI agents with the guts to go for the glory, and the smarts to know what rules to break—for justice and for love . . .

Avery Coppola is a woman on the run—not from the law, but from the lawless. Her ex-husband, mafia boss Dante Coppola, never forgets or forgives, especially since Avery stole incriminating files from him. For now, she’s found sanctuary in the North Country of New Hampshire, working as a waitress to support herself and her
ten-year-old sister. But not only are Dante’s men on her trail, so is the FBI . . .

Special Agent Vincent Modena is at the end of his rope. After a year-long attempt to infiltrate the Coppola organization, his only chance to ensnare the crime lord now lies with the ex-wife. After locating her,
Vincent makes contact, unafraid to use his good looks to capture Avery’s attention. But she turns the tables on him with an intoxicating combination of innocent beauty . . . and the mind-blowing skills of a stone-cold killer.

On the run from Dante’s hit men, Avery takes Vincent on a wild ride of danger and deceit, hiding a secret that could destroy Vincent’s trust in her—and in himself . . .

This story was a triple treat for me starting with the author's voice and style to tell a story. It was flowing, smooth, and engaging, it pulled me into the story and held my interest throughout. The storytelling was intense and sharp mixed with a little drizzle of delightfully dry humor, and sort of delicate, graceful, lightness like life itself is.
The suspense and the whole high-speed chase, the case the FBI is working on is a twisted twine of lies, doubts, and mistrust. Nothing is as it seems to be, the truth is an evasive abstract character in the tale, the one that is impossible to catch. The action is at times brutal, at times breathtaking, and always fierce.
Avery Coppola and Special Agent Vincent Modena had a chemistry that was off the charts. They clicked, they got each other, they saw the true self in each other despite all the lies and half-truths, the misguided loyalty and fears. The bond between them was tight from the start, the attraction was burning hot as well, yet the mental tie was as big of a force as the physical one was.
Avery had so much to lose, the things she had had to face, she had had to do, to learn just to protect herself and her sister were heartbreaking. Yet she owned it like a true queen, like a survivor who knows she did what she had to even though not all of it was completely above the law. She is fierce, smart, capable, a true heroine, and I admired her.
From the first moment, Vincent had seen Avery's picture he had felt a kindred spirit towards her. The first face to face meeting confirmed that she was everything he thought she would be. I loved Vincent's ability to put himself completely into the situation, and his willingness to protect Avery, even if she didn't need it, no matter what.
Fantastic, intense, sharp romantic suspense from a new author to me, and I am enamored with the characters, with the perplexing case, and with the smooth yet fierce storytelling.
~ Five Spoons!

Kris Rafferty was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the youngest of four in a rambunctious Irish-American family. She became obsessed with books early on, and remembers her first library adventure. She wrote her first story when she was six and never stopped. She received her BA at U/Mass Boston, married the love of her life, has three perfect children, and earned her third degree black belt in Parker American Kenpo Karate. She plays classical piano, loves road trips, and is a fanatic for warm water ocean. If she's not writing, she's reading all sorts of romance. Ms. Rafferty lives happily ever after in North Carolina, writing.