Book Review: Undercover Addiction by Hayley B. James

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Undercover Addiction
Author: Hayley B. James
Series: Secret Sin #2
Heroes: Connor Bishop/Riley Drapeau
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 240 Pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: October 20, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press, Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Working Vice for the Seattle PD, Connor Bishop’s favorite part of the job is going undercover. His current assignment is to get close to Riley Drapeau, a human trafficker backed into a corner by the FBI and turned informant. Connor needs to milk him for information on his organization, but while doing so, sees an entirely different Riley than he expected.

Caught off balance, Connor relies heavily on Lucas, his outside man and only link to the real world, but he gets sucked in by Riley and his attempt to clear his name and prove his partners fabricated evidence to frame him.

Up to his eyeballs in the dark world of trafficking, Connor finds it easier to believe Riley than what the FBI is saying, especially when a leak is uncovered within the Bureau. The choices Connor has to make become even more difficult when Lucas admits he has feelings for him and promises a safe life far from harm. But Connor can’t deny the only man he wants to be with is Riley. Which forces him to decide if his addiction to the dangerous side of life can include loving a criminal.

Review: I have no idea how Hayley B. James was able to take what should be a hated character without any room for redemption and force me to have so many feels for him, but she did, and I loved every minute of it. This is the story that took some serious guts for the author to tackle, knowing that the subject matter would be difficult for some readers to stomach, but the results were amazing, full of tension, and so many emotions.

Connor is an undercover officer whose alter ego is Caleb. He thrives on the danger and thrills of being with the animals on the streets. He loves the adrenaline rush and jumps at the chance to get back out there as soon as his last job is complete. He may seem like a man who wants to get the riffraff off the streets. but he honestly just loves taking the walk on the wrong side of law and is on the verge of losing himself in the process. It’s a fine line that undercover officers walk, and Connor is quickly losing sight of that line.

Riley is an enigma. He is what many would consider the scum of the earth without any redeeming values. He is a human trafficker, and he has no feelings for the victims. To him, they aren’t victims, but commodities or property to be sold and profited from. But Riley has a story, and Riley is much more than the human trafficker. He is a man who, for the first time in his life, feels an attachment to someone, to Connor. So much is slowly revealed about the real Riley that his past actions started blurring in my mind and I began to view him as a victim…how is that even possible?

The sexual tension, the hot as hell sex, the stress of their respective “jobs”, and the apprehension of their current undercover operations leaves the reader flipping the pages as fast as possible because you just have to know what’s going to happen next. The big tell that this was a hit for me was the fact that I stayed up until 4am to finish the book. If that isn’t a high enough recommendation, than I don’t know what is.

Overall Impression: I really liked it!

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*