Series: Cavanaugh Justice (Book 30)
A lone wolf who'd prefer to work solo, Detective Kane
Durant has been through six partners. His latest? A chatty, go-getter blonde he
can't seem to intimidate with his killer stare-downs and deadly silence. But
when they're assigned a case of home invasions in the ritzy section of town,
he's impressed by Detective Kelly Cavanaugh's quick mind, her determination to
catch the perp...and how badly he wants her.
With one month to prove herself to her tall, tough and
sexy new partner, Kelly works overtime to crack the case--and the hardened
detective by her side. But when late nights on the job lead to passion, Kelly's
heart is suddenly on the line, too.
I loved the beginning of this book. Kane and Kelly have both been called to the Chief of Detectives' office. Kane is sitting there, quiet as a rock while Kelly chatters away. When the chief arrives, they discover that they are being assigned to work together. Kane isn't happy, he would much rather work alone. His attitude has managed to chase away six different partners, and now he's shooting for a seventh. Kelly is equally determined not to be driven away, and furthermore to get him to open up.
Kane doesn't get close with anyone. He grew up with an abusive father who ended up killing Kane's mother, attempting to kill Kane, and killing himself. After he recovered, Kane was raised by an uncle who was a good man but not emotional. He doesn't share anything personal with other people, including his partners. Kane has found success in the past by saying as little as possible. As a woman with several older brothers, she doesn't intimidate easily. She ignores his silences and keeps talking to him. While he doesn't tell her anything personal, she does eventually get him to react to her.
Their conversations were fun to see. Kelly just doesn't give up until she gets Kane to talk to her. Though his answers seem a bit harsh at the beginning, it mostly seems to be because he doesn't know how to deal with her. After awhile his responses show a rather dry sense of humor that meshes well with Kelly's more buoyant attitude. I really enjoyed seeing how determined she was to break him out of his shell. As usually happens in a Cavanaugh book, he is dragged to one of Andrew Cavanaugh's meals. It is an experience unlike anything Kane has had before:
Apparently Cavanaughs didn’t know the meaning of the word
solitude or solitary. From what he could see, they were all about crowds of
people mingling. If they saw a loner, he—or she—stirred a sudden need within a
Cavanaugh to incorporate that loner into the whole. “Resistance is futile,” a
phrase once popular in a science fiction show cult favorite, was very obviously
a credo for getting on with the Cavanaughs as well, Kane couldn’t help
thinking.
As their time together continues, Kane is also surprised by the attraction he feels for Kelly. He's not used to having a woman taking up so much of his thoughts. When that attraction flares up after a late night, his normally restrained and calculated actions go up in the flames of the heat between them. He discovers that she's brought out something in him that he likes and wants to keep it, and her, around. It was interesting to see the apparently confident Kelly actually was a bit insecure regarding her new relationship with Kane. He had a really unique way of telling her how he felt: "You're like the refrain of a song that's stuck in my head, making me crazy, but I can't seem to unstick you." The epilogue was a fun update on where they were.
The suspense of the story was the home invasion cases that they were working on. The first one showed exactly why the chief had partnered them, as Kelly had different insights into what they learned. As more robberies happened, Kane gained an appreciation for Kelly's intelligence and determination. I really enjoyed following their investigation and seeing the connection that Kelly discovered. When all was revealed, I found myself agreeing with Kelly and feeling somewhat sympathetic for the robber. I loved Kane's comment about the possible trial.
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