Novel Review: Temperature's Rising by Karen Kelley

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Brava (Kensington)

Release Date: 2005

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

There are good and bad things in an undercover cop's life. Mistaking the police chief's luscious daughter for a prostitute? Bad, bad, bad. Finding out the babe is a black belt who will soon be posing as your wife on a sting operation? Oh baby, so good. For lawman Conor Richmond, playing house while trying to crack a burglary ring means a chance to make amends to Jessica Nelson for the, um, unfortunate pat-down. And with the arrival of a heart-shaped mattress, a faux bearskin rug, chocolate and champagne, Conor's well on his way to making sure their charade looks, feels, and tastes blissfully real. Jessica comes from a long line of cops--shoot, her teething ring was a pair of handcuffs--and she's had it. She wants a normal life with a husband who doesn't think procedurals are foreplay. Still, if going undercover will help her dad, she's willing to do it. But her resolution to keep her cool around the smug, sexy Conor--a man who can arouse her with one naughty wink--will be tough. Who knew staking out had guys while staging full-on makeout sessions would be such a rush? Suddenly, Jessica's having second thoughts about giving up police work--and a certain hot cop. Now, with the temperature rising--both on the case and in the bedroom--two relentless, funny, exasperating, hot-blooded and head-over-heels cops are in danger of blowing their cover--with each other. 

The Cover:

I actually don't dislike this cover. It's embarrassing, but what you'd expect from a book like this, and it has a good feel and image for the book, relatively speaking. Overall, I don't mind it.

Review:

After reading Kelley’s alien romance, I wanted to read more, because it was so much fun. For some reason, this was the only one of hers I could find, so I picked it up. I was a little hesitant, but I shouldn’t have been.

Once I started, it went by very fast, and was so much fun.

Conor was a little frustrating at times, but I liked him, and the chemistry between him and Jessica was very nice. I liked both of them a lot, and their story was a lot of fun. Jessica’s family was a lot of fun, really. Kelley has a nice humor, and the sexual tension was nicely done; the serious plotline wasn’t too bad, either, and it worked out pretty nicely.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, and again hope to pick up another of Kelley’s novels. She’s turning out to be a rather enjoyable author.