When a gorgeous young dancer walks through his door, a strip club owner must decide whether to follow his rules or his heart in the third novel by the author of One Tiny Lie and Ten Tiny Breaths.
Owning a strip club isn’t the fantasy most guys expect it to be. With long hours, a staff with enough issues to keep a psych ward in business, and the police regularly on his case, twenty-nine-year-old Cain is starting to second guess his unspoken mission to save the women he employs. And then blond, brown-eyed Charlie Rourke walks through his door, and things get really complicated. Cain abides by a strict “no sleeping with the staff” rule. But being around Charlie challenges Cain’s self-control…and it’s been a long time since any woman has done that.
Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Rourke needs a lot of money, really fast, in order to vanish before it’s too late. Taking her clothes off for men makes her stomach curl but Charlie tells herself that at least she’s putting her acting and dancing skills to good use. And though her fellow dancers seem eager to nab their sexy, sophisticated, and genuinely caring boss, she’s not interested. After all, Charlie Rourke doesn’t really exist—and the girl pretending to be her can't get distracted by romance.
Unfortunately, Charlie soon discovers that developing feelings for Cain is inevitable, and that those feelings may not be unrequited—but losing him when he finds out what she’s involved with will be more painful than any other sentence awaiting her
Owning a strip club isn’t the fantasy most guys expect it to be. With long hours, a staff with enough issues to keep a psych ward in business, and the police regularly on his case, twenty-nine-year-old Cain is starting to second guess his unspoken mission to save the women he employs. And then blond, brown-eyed Charlie Rourke walks through his door, and things get really complicated. Cain abides by a strict “no sleeping with the staff” rule. But being around Charlie challenges Cain’s self-control…and it’s been a long time since any woman has done that.
Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Rourke needs a lot of money, really fast, in order to vanish before it’s too late. Taking her clothes off for men makes her stomach curl but Charlie tells herself that at least she’s putting her acting and dancing skills to good use. And though her fellow dancers seem eager to nab their sexy, sophisticated, and genuinely caring boss, she’s not interested. After all, Charlie Rourke doesn’t really exist—and the girl pretending to be her can't get distracted by romance.
Unfortunately, Charlie soon discovers that developing feelings for Cain is inevitable, and that those feelings may not be unrequited—but losing him when he finds out what she’s involved with will be more painful than any other sentence awaiting her
My Thoughts
I LOVE K.A.Tucker's style of writing. She develops amazingly broken characters that make you feel for them and their fuckedupness. There hasn't been a book yet, that I have not LOVED by her and Four Seconds to Lose is no exception... I was addicted.
Charlie is living in Miami because of her father. He has controlled everything she has done in her life and she wants/needs to get out from under his control before she is hurt or killed! She decides to get a job at Penny's where the bar owner, Cain, is still in charge. In order to save up enough money to get out from under the control of her father.
I always loved Cain's character. He was strong, protective and nobody fucked with him because they knew they would not survive it, if they did. He looked out for his employees and did anything necessary to make sure they were all taken care of.
When Charlie meets Cain, there is an instant attraction that you can practically see jumping off the pages. "OH wow what was that spark?? Did I just get shocked???" Oh no thats just K.A. making you feel the attraction from the two MCs!!
(Of course Cain had to get over the initial shock of it all though).
Cain sees Charlie is hiding something and probably hiding from her past so he does what any concerned boss would do and has her investigated. When that turns out to be a dead end, he lets it go and gets to know this reclusive, Charlie, to see what makes her tick. And the fact that he cannot stay away from her doesn't hurt either (or maybe it does). But when Charlie's past and present collide, and she can't find a way out, she does what any sane person would do and runs the fuck away!! But by then, Charlie and Cain are both so deep that it literally hurts both of them.
This story was full of angst, despair, anxiety, and it kept my attention until the very end because I just NEEDED to find out what was going to happen. The only thing I found to "convenient" was what happened to Charlie's father and the fact that nothing really came of it. I was expecting something to happen and when it didn't, I was kind of like "meeerrpp" but then again this book had so much damn angst, it could have choked an elephant so maybe added drama would have been a bad idea.
I loved the characters, the family togetherness that Tucker portrayed and I am always left wanting more from her books!! I know she doesn't tie them all together in a nice bow and leaves a lot to the imagination but I wish I could get more!! I know the characters will be in her other books but once I fall in love with the characters, I am never satisfied with it being left to my imagination =(!! But that is my personal feelings because I am selfish book trollop ;)
Overall I give this book a 4/5 and I want every single one of you to read this book and read it ASAP!!!! You will love it and be left wanting more!!
