UNDERCOVER ATTRACTION (The O’Malleys #5) by Katee Robert-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 28, 2017

Scandal. Wealth. Power. Seduction. Welcome to the world of the O’Malleys.

Ex-cop Charlotte Finch used to think there was a clear line between right and wrong. Then her fellow officers betrayed her, and the world is no longer so black and white. Especially when it’s Aiden O’Malley, one of the most dangerous men in Boston, who offers her a chance for justice. The only catch: she’ll have to pretend to be his fiancée for his plan to work.

Aiden can’t afford to let anyone see the man behind the mask. To run the O’Malley empire, he has to be cool and controlled at all times. But the moment he meets Charlie, they’re playing with fire. Her slightest touch is enough to send him over the edge. At first their “engagement” was a way to eliminate his enemies. Now he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe– even if he has to destroy his own family to do it.

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REVIEW: UNDERCOVER ATTRACTION by Katee Robert is the fifth instalment in the author’s contemporary, adult THE O’MALLEYS erotic, mafia, romantic suspense series focusing on three warring underground families of the Boston’s Irish mob (O’Malleys, Hallorans & Sheridans), the Russian mafia run by the Romanov family, and new contenders for the Boston territory Alethea and Mae Eldridge. This is the head of the O’Malley clan Aiden O’Malley, and former police officer Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Finch’s story line. UNDERCOVER ATTRACTION can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion as there is a continuing theme running throughout.

Told from several third person perspectives including Aiden and Charlie UNDERCOVER ATTRACTION follows the fake engagement /fiancée trope between former police officer Charlotte Finch, and the acting head of the O’Malley family Aiden O’Malley. Charlotte Finch knows pain, and the fall out of coming clean to the people in charge but vengeance against Dimitri Romanov of the Boston Russian mob has our heroine agreeing to play ‘fiancee’ to the alpha leader of the O’Malley clan. While Aiden appears to disregard his family’s advice, our hero struggles to set into motion a plan to take down everyone threatening the people he loves and management of the territory the family controls. What ensues is the building love and relationship between Aiden and Charlie, and the potential fall out when Charlie is taken hostage by the new players in town.

UNERCOVER ATTRACTION follows several paths including the fractured dynamics of a once proud and controlling Boston mafia family. The inter-family pairings finds allegiances changing but love for one another causes rifts in an already crumbling foundation. Aiden’s announcement of a quick engagement threatens the ever-changing O’Malley control but our hero keeps secret the truth behind his hasty involvement with the woman that will soon call to his heart.

There are a large number of secondary and supporting characters including most of the O’Malley clan: Teague and Callista O’Malley (The Marriage Contract #1): James Halloran and Carrigan O’Malley (The Wedding Pact #2); Olivia and Cillian O’Malley (An Indecent Proposal #3) and their long, suffering sister Keira O’Malley who struggles with demons of her own; Russian mobster Dimitri Romanov whose need to seek vengeance against the O’Malley and Halloran clans quickly shifts as the Edridges seek to destroy them all; hired men Mark and Liam Neale; Charlotte’s father FBI agent John Finch; and the return of the O’Malley patriarch Seamus O’Malley and his wife. Keira and Dimitri’s story is next in The Bastard’s Bargain.

UNDERCOVER ATTRACTION is a story of suspense, family, revenge and love. The premise is intriguing, captivating and engaging; the romance is seductive, erotic and intense; the characters are expressive, charismatic and compelling. UNDERCOVER ATTRACTION looks at the tight knit families of the Boston mob, and the power they exert over the people they love.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Marriage Contract
The Wedding Pact
An Indecent Proposal
Forbidden Promises
Undercover Attraction

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Katee Robert, learned to tell stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her favorites then were the rather epic adventures of The Three Bears, but at age twelve she discovered romance novels and never looked back.

Though she dabbled in writing, life got in the way—as it often does—and she spent a few years traveling, living in both Philadelphia and Germany. In between traveling and raising her two wee ones, she had the crazy idea that she’d like to write a book and try to get published.

Her first novel was an epic fantasy that, God willing, will never see the light of day. From there, she dabbled in YA and horror, before finally finding speculative romance. Because, really, who wouldn’t want to write entire books about the smoking-hot relationships between two people?

She now spends her time—when not lost in Far Reach worlds—playing imaginary games with her wee ones, writing, ogling men, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

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