Review: Stakeout by Karen Raines & Brittany Crowley (Stalker #1)


Note: This ARC was provided by the authors via Give Me Books Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Stakeout is the first novel in the Stalker romantic suspense series co-written by Karen Raines and Brittany Crowley, who are both new-to-me authors. This was a friends-to-one-night-standers-to-enemies-to-lovers story between Briella Fairbanks and Colby Maitland. Briella co-owns a private investigation company along with her three closest female friends and Colby is one of three owners of a private security firm. They used to be the best of friends until one drunken night led to them giving in to their attraction and deeper feelings for one another. Unfortunately, Colby's doubts about being able to give Briella anything more than an orgasm, he does something stupid in hopes of saving their friendship while ending any expectations for more. Now, things between them are strained at best, but when Briella needs someone to have her back for an all-important investigation, Colby's the one person best suited. Stuck on an island during a stakeout, Briella and Colby will not only have to confront their feelings for each other, but their investigation turns up more questions than answers and may very well put both their lives at risk.

This was an interesting read, though I confess that the mystery suspense angle intrigued me far more than the romance did. Briella and Colby had chemistry, which to me is one of the most important things that I look for when it comes to any story that has romance in it. The friends-to-lovers trope is a favorite of mine, plus these two had the added bonus of being on the outs at the beginning of the story, which kinda-sorta-maybe touches upon one of my other favorite tropes, enemies-to-lovers. This isn't necessarily an overlong read, but it did feel as if it was longer than it actually was. Maybe because the romance wasn't as exciting as the mystery that the cast of characters were trying to deal with, or possibly because the pacing felt slow until we get to the last quarter of the book wherein we're bombarded by a heck of a lot of things going on at the same time, what with revelation after revelation. Still, it was an overall entertaining read, and I did enjoy the story. Because what I was reading was an ARC, I'm not going to touch upon the editing issues since I hope those were taken care of prior to publishing. 3.5 stars go to Stakeout.

Release Date: 09 March 2018

Date Read: 09 March 2018

Learn more about Karen Raines and Brittany Crowley.

Purchase Stakeout on Amazon.

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