Dare to Lie by Jen McLaughlin – Review, Guest Post & Giveaway

 

 

Dare to Lie
Sons of Steel Row series – Book #3
by Jen McLaughlin
Release Date: February 7, 2017

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / BAM / Book Depository

Description:
As an undercover DEA agent in the most powerful gang in Boston, Scott Donahue accepts the risks of living a double life. But when Tate Donovan, leader of the Sons of Steel Row, assigns Scotty to take his place in a bachelor’s auction sponsored by his sister’s sorority, he’s exposed to a whole new level of danger. Even though Tate makes it very clear—Skylar is off limits—the second Scotty sees her, he’s a goner. But how does he tell Sky she’s falling for a man who doesn’t exist?

Sky can’t resist Scotty’s cool confidence or the raw, edgy power oozing from his perfect body. She’s always been the good girl, but he brings out the bad in her. And even though she knows so little about who he really is, Sky’s willing to take the biggest risk of all. But putting her heart on the line is no guarantee that Scotty won’t slip through her fingers…

 

Review:

Dare to Lie by Jen McLaughlin is the 3^rd book in her Sons of Steel Row series. As noted in my previous reviews, I love this series; as it has everything you would want in a romance suspense.  Dare to Lie grabs your attention from the start and doesn’t let go until the very end.  The story is action packed, exciting, and a great couple, with sizzling hot chemistry.  I also loved the epilogue at end.  Thank you, Jen McLaughlin for another wonderful story in your Sons of Steel Row series. 

We have been following Scotty Donahue since the first book, which revolved around our then hero and Scotty’s brother, Lucas.  We have all been waiting for Scotty’s story, knowing that his life was hanging by thread, since he was an undercover agent for the DEA.

Skylar Daniels, our heroine, is the sister of Tate, the leader of the Sons of Steel Row gang. She is in medical school, and her brother helps support her; but Skylar knows nothing about Sons of Steel Row.  Scotty has been assigned to replace Tate at a charity event , which was run by Skylar.  Almost immediately, you can see the sparks flash between them, but Scotty wants nothing to do with his boss’s sister, as he was already warned to keep his hands off her.  Skylar felt the attraction right away, and during the auction, she won a bid for dinner with Scotty, which started off badly, as he was very rude.  But the chemistry between them had sparks flying off the wall, and soon both of them would act on their lust for each other. Scotty doesn’t see himself in any kind of long term relationship, since he feels he isn’t a good man, and his life would put anyone close to him in danger. 

What follows is an exciting adventure of gang land wars that was very suspenseful; I could not put the book down.  A rival gang has been attacking Scotty, Chris (previous book hero), and killing off some of the gang members.  Scotty will work behind the scenes with the DEA to help them capture the rival gang.  When the war escalates to attacks against the women/family of Sons of Steel Row members, an all out bloody war ensues, which also puts Skylar’s life in danger and Tate finding out about the relationship between his sister and Scotty.   Scotty must put aside his feelings for Skylar to not only protect her, but Lucas, Heidi, Chris & Molly, too.  Will Skylar & Scotty find away to stay together?  Will Scotty survive his double life?

Skylar was such a great heroine, being smart, savvy, tough, independent and stubborn.  Scotty was pretty great too, but his life was filled with so many secrets and living a double life, which put him at risk always. In reality, I can see why Tate did not want Scotty to have anything to do with his sister.  Dare to Lie was another wonderful exciting and romantic story in this fabulous series.  I suggest you start this series with the first book, Dare to Run, and enjoy the writing of Jen McLaughlin.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

Sons of Steel Row

Hello, everyone! Thank you for having me here today! I’m Jen McLaughlin (though I also write as Diane Alberts) and I’m here today to talk about books, antiheroes, heroes, and the challenges all those things represent. My latest book, DARE TO LIE, is the third book in the Sons of Steel Row series. The series itself revolves around a gang in Boston that sells guns illegally, and the heroes in the books are anything but hero material. They’re liars. Killers. Criminals.

Yet we all fall for them anyway.

Everyone has their favorite type of books or heroes to write, and I have to say, writing the Sons of Steel Row guys has been one of my favorite moments in my writing career. It’s easy writing heroes who are likeable when they’re…well…likeable. But to take men who are criminals, men who kill for a living, and somehow turn them into characters that a reader not only will root for, but will fall in love with? Yeah, that’s frigging amazing.

And a huge challenge.

A challenge I (gladly) accepted. I thought it would be fun to look at the three heroes in the Sons of Steel Row series, and to talk a little bit about the challenges they represented.

Our first hero, Lucas Donahue, is fresh out of jail, and looking to mind his own business in DARE TO RUN. No one else is doing the same, though, and it’s not long until we find out he has a price on his head. I think the hardest part about writing Lucas was his undying loyalty to his family—aka his brother, Scotty. No matter what happens, or who tried to kill him, he refused to turn his back on his brother, and for a guy who killed for a living, this was hard to portray at times.

Then our second hero…ah, our second hero. DARE TO STAY with Chris O’Brien. It’s hard to say why he was such a challenge without creating spoilers for people who haven’t yet read the series, but the biggest challenge with him was making readers like him. Everyone went into this book hating him, and fully prepared to continue doing so, but by the time they finished the book, a lot of readers wrote me and told me he was their favorite hero—above even Lucas. I could easily say that he was my biggest challenge ever, and he’s my favorite, too.

Last, we have Scotty Donahue, in DARE TO LIE. Oh, Scotty is and always has been more of a hero than an antihero like the other two men in this series. He’s got a good heart, despite his actions, and this has never been a secret. The biggest challenge with him was making him toe the line between both of his worlds (again, no spoilers!) without ever having him wonder if he was doing the right thing in his one world. His faith in himself and his cause had to be one hundred percent true and real, and he couldn’t afford to slip up.

Is there a certain type of hero that you love to read about, that no matter how many times you’ve read a book with this type of hero, you can’t resist picking up another, and getting sucked into the story of how he becomes who he is meant to be, with the help of a heroine you can’t help but envy?

For me, it’s the bad boy with a golden heart that’s buried way, way, way deep down, under lots of armor and weaponry. I just can’t get enough of them, and watching them soften.

You?

 

Jen’s publisher is offering a paper copy of DARE TO LIE to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe

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7. Giveaway is open to USA only

8. Giveaway runs from February 8 to 12, 2017