I Swallow Books Whole

THE WRITING

As you can see, Lawless in Leather is book 3 in the New York Saints series, and the first book I’ve read by Melanie Scott. Although I picked it up in the middle of a series, it can be read standalone and wasn’t difficult to follow. The writing wasn’t anything special or unique; nothing about the writing of Lawless in Leather grabbed out at me as special to the genre. The attraction for me? The smexy characters and the intriguing story line!

THE STORY

Malachi Coulter and his two ex-baseball playing friends purchased the New York Saints together with the goal to make the team into something other than the worst baseball team New York has to offer. To bring in some press, Alex, the business man of the three, came up with an idea to shake up the world of baseball: give the New York Saints a cheer squad and call them the Fallen Angels.

This is where Raina Easton, ex-Broadway dancer and owner of Madam R, a semi-new burlesque club has been given the task of putting together a dance squad to keep the crowds enthralled in-between innings.

While the name of the New York Saint’s new dance squad made me roll my eyes, I loved the idea of bringing a sexy side to an otherwise family sporting event … at least in fiction! (I don’t particularly enjoy watching the sport, as it is sooo long) Even though there wasn’t enough burlesque dancing scenes in Lawless in Leather to my satisfaction, I have now added “visit a burlesque nightclub” to my bucket list!

THE CHARACTERS

When Raina and Mal finally meet, sparks fly and the sexual tension is palpable. Raina is wary of the bad boy image the grumpy ex-military co-owner puts off and has no intention of sleeping with her new part-time employer. She’s been burned by too many bad boys in the past to go into a relationship with the tattooed hottie lightly.

At the start of the novel, I figured Mal would be the stubborn one, but boy did he fold to his own attraction once he spotted Raina emcee her club late one night. He took one look at the sexy redhead and thoughts of ignoring his desires flew south with his remaining brain cells. I was pretty impressed with how easily he handled the word “no.” Even in romance novels it can be rare to find a non-douche hero, but I guess it fits his overprotective savior complex.

As hot as Mal was, I was way more attracted to Raina. She was classy, sassy, and an independent woman who hated the idea of anybody coming to her rescue. In fact, she was strongly against it. Okay, so I was in lust with her before I realized how stubborn she can be, but it only made her hotter. There is a boundary between stubborn and stupidly pig-headed and thought she towed the line well.

THE END

All-in-all, Lawless in Leather was a speedy read for me. I liked it a lot more than I expected to, but I wished the burlesque club made a bigger appearance in the plot. There was even a prominent suspense plot for those fans of romantic suspense.

After rushing through this novel, I went ahead and purchased an amazon paperback copy and am eagerly awaiting its arrival. I would recommend Lawless in Leather for fans of contemporary or sports-themed romances!
This review was originally posted on One Curvy Blogger