A break-in at a family restaurant usually has siblings circling the wagons. But the Donovans are a little different. Tessa is the youngest but she has been desperately trying to hold the three of them together for years. Ever sine their parents died, Eric has been raising both Tessa and their brother Jamie ("the irresponsible one.") The bickering between the two brothers threatens to tear the family apart and ruin a pending business deal. It seems that Jamie went home with the daughter of Roland Kendall, got caught by Roland, and may or may not have let her see the alarm code, thus creating more suspects for the break-in.Luke Asher is on the scene as a detective investigating the crime. He's a friend of Jamie's who is rumored to have impregnated his partner. He and Tessa are immediately attracted to each other and when she asks him to dinner, Luke immediately accepts. Of course, Jamie and Eric aren't too happy about this but Tessa doesn't seem to care. She's too busy telling little white lies to keep her family whole. She doesn't want a reationship... but she can't seem to let Luke go.
I'll put it out there. Tessa irritated me. Alot. She had some issues stemming from her parent's death but it wasn't explained until the end. And really,, even with those issues, it doesn't explain why she's willing to risk the family business just to cover up for a brother who is old enough to take care of himself. Enable much? I like characters to have flaws but this Tessa is beyond annoying. It really took the entire experience of reading this book down a couple of notches for me. It is probably the least favorite of my books by this author.
That being said, I love Victoria Dahl and am looking forward to the rest of the series.
