Good Girl Gone Bad by Karin Tabke (Pocket, 2006)

Karin Tabke is known for her hot cops, and Ty Jamerson fits the bill. He’s old school, tough talking, and vitally sexual, but, as the heroine in this book recognizes, he’s also a paradox. “Hard, boorish, and moody, yet he burned with a passion for his job…While he did wrong, skirting the law and sometimes stepping over the boundaries, he did it with the sole intention of getting the bad guy.”

STATS:

A police sergeant and undercover narcotics officer with a documented, but unproven history of police brutality, Ty can barely control himself from strangling the tough IA cop who tries to crucify him for just doing his job. Instead, he gets in her face, grinning wickedly, taunting her with the brush of his body and sexual innuendos.

THE LOOK:

6′3″, long dark hair, short goatee, muscles that strained beneath his black t-shirt. “This man was dangerous. Dangerous in an exciting blood-racing way.”

LEADING LADY:

Three years after she interviewed Ty for IA, Philamina Zorn must now work alongside Ty. Her job? An undercover cop who will pose as a cocktail waitress in a strip joint, Klub Kashmir. His job? The bouncer. Her supervisor. And her tormentor. From the start, she realizes that Ty makes her react rather than respond in her normally cautious way.

Word to live by:

As Ty tells Phil, “do what you have to do to get the job done.”

Not for the faint of heart:

Ty’s a man’s man, a hot cop who swears and catalogs Phil’s charms in the crudest of terms. Even though he labels her in the “no play zone,” and regards her as the enemy, Ty slowly begins to appreciate not only his bone-deep attraction to her (”He wanted to suck those full lips right off her face.”) but also her toughness (”She had balls and he was glad”), smarts, and heart. Most importantly, Ty sees the “bad girl” in Phil and he’s determined to help free her.

Tempered by humor:

Ty’s got a wicked sense of humor, in particular when he’s sparring with Phil. He taunts her with “disciplinary methods” including spanking her fanny and tormenting her with his tongue. And when he admits he’s a bad, bad, man, all Phil wants to do is tame him. He offers to be her “test dummy,” and challenges her to do what she has to do.

BOTTOM LINE:

Of course Phil strips, and of course Ty watches her. He does way more than watch. They spar and they fight their feeling for each other, all while trying to solve a crime and keeping their hearts safe. But it’s apparent from the beginning that this strong, tough-talking, street-wise hero is going to be brought down a peg by the heroine, and that he’s going to enjoy every minute of it!

QUESTION OF THE DAY?

Do you like reading about cops who may do “wrong” in order to do good?