K. A. Linde

"Liz Dougherty has no idea that a single question is about to change her life. Her first big reporting assignment for her North Carolina college newspaper has her covering a state senator's impromptu press conference. Brady Maxwell may have everything it takes to be a politician - a winning pedigree, devastating good looks, a body made to wear suits - but his politics rub Liz the wrong way. When Liz's hard-hitting question catches the upstart senator off-guard, it impresses Hayden Lane, Liz's editor who feels she's headed for a promising career as a reporter. But Liz is also headed into a secret romance with Brady that could destroy both their ambitions. Though he's a bachelor, potential voters might frown on Brady cozying up to a reporter. And Liz isn't sure sneaking around is enough for her - especially when things between her and Hayden might be less platonic than she thought" -- Amazon.com

Off the Record

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Off the Record was the winner of my "pick a book from my TBR for July" poll right here on my blog. (Thanks to everyone who voted!) Of course, if you've ever read this book you have to know that there was no way possible I could stop after reading it. I proceeded to very quickly binge the two following books because I HAD TO KNOW ALL THE THINGS. But, I digress. I just wanted to let you know what your pick led to. Today I'm just going to talk about Off the Record though. The following books are other reviews for other days. 

I'd read the warnings about how addictive this book/series was and how brutal the cliffhangers could be. I won't get into all that, but I will say I'm glad I had the next two books queued up and ready to go so I could binge. Believe me when I say I needed to. The cliffhanger at the end of this book was probably the worst in the entire series for me. Addicted only begins to scratch the surface of how I felt about the Record series. But then, it's a romance set in Washington, DC (at least partially) so you had to know I'd be all over it. 

Both Liz and Brady were flawed. If I'm honest, it took me a little bit of time to like them. Well, Brady especially. I found Liz a little easier to connect with. Brady was sexy as hell and, trust me, I got the appeal... but I just didn't trust him. We all know politicians lie, so I was predisposed to question his motives and actions... and not necessarily believe him when he would defend himself. I probably wasn't fair to him, but I wasn't ready to go all in until I made sure he really was a good guy. That alone made me keep turning pages – nearly frantically at times. 

What can't be denied is the chemistry between Liz and Brady from the beginning. Or, you know, the nearly forbidden aspect of the relationship between a statesman and a reporter. You just know that's going to be juicy if anyone gets their hands on it, especially considering Liz wrote about politics. It's not like she was doing restaurant reviews here. There was a definite conflict in interest. Either way, their connection was real. The sexual tension was palpable. When it all came to a head, it was hot AF. *wipes brow* 

This was a great book, a super quick and SEXY read. (Great pick, y'all! I should let you pick more of my reads.) As high as it was on the hotness scale, it was probably equally as high on the angst scale. Not my usual type of read these days, but damned if I didn't get into that as much as I did the romance and the politics. K.A. Linde hooked me. It's that simple. I couldn't stop reading and I couldn't stop at just one book. As it is, I'm still looking forward to reading the fourth and fifth books in the series. I'm also really happy they're not about Liz and Brady because, as much as I wound up loving them, I don't think my heart could take any more of their angst. 

FAVORITE QUOTES

  Life after Brady was like watching a film in black and white. It was really quite beautiful, but it felt like something was missing.

"Make up for staring at me like you didn't know me by coming over here and fucking me like you do."

"You're the only person I've ever met who so completely disarms me. I feel like sometimes you aren't looking at me, you're looking through me. Life you know every secret in my existence... like you know exactly what I'm thinking. That was exactly what I meant that very first day we met, when I told you that you were my airplane. You totally fuck me up, Liz!"

Lacey

Originally posted at Booklovers For Life

4.5 STARS

Oh my gosh. OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH!!!! This book was so. freaking. goooood. I honestly had no idea I would end up enjoying this, loving this, as much as I did! It’s been a few days since I finished Off the Record–I still can’t get over it! My mind is a mess trying to come up with things to say about it in this review. Let me just start off with saying: Read this book!

Liz Dougherty is a very interesting heroine. She’s a newspaper reporter, an occupation I don’t often stumble upon while reading, so it was refreshing to read about something different than usual. Liz is likable enough, though she wasn’t too relatable. What I loved about her, though, was her drive, her ambition, to be the best possible reporter she could be. She tries hard in school, and we get to see her struggling through her classes and job, and I was very, very impressed with her. I loved that K.A. Linde gave us a very thorough, in-depth look at a reporter’s life through Liz–it’s always so fascinating to read about things you know nothing about.

At Liz’s first coverage of a press conference, she meets Senator Brady Maxwell. Hot, sexy, smart, confident, ambitious Brady Maxwell. And, well, he propositions her. They are incredibly attracted to one another, but is getting involved with each other worth the risk? Worth their jobs? Because if they have a sexual relationship and it becomes exposed, their careers will be ruined. But… Liz and Brady can’t help it. They want each other, badly, and so they agree to have a strictly sexual relationship.

Brady was someone I never expected to actually LOVE. First off, he’s a politician! So Brady couldn’t be that impressive, right? WRONG. I totally LOVED Brady! He had this whole other side to him, a side that doesn’t make him hide his emotions, that just lights him up. When he doesn’t have to be a politician, when he can just be Brady, he blows you away.

“Seems like you’re stuck here with me now. You’re going to have to answer me,” he said, taking another step toward her. His smile was playful. He was flirting with her… teasing her. Brady Maxwell was teasing her.
“I’d be happy to,” she said boldly. “It’s not like anyone is going to be writing an article about me.”
“That’s good. You don’t need to be in the papers. Then everyone would know about you, and I think I prefer you here all to myself.”

Brady could be a total sweetheart, but I have to admit I loved the dirty side of him. When he wants something–and he wants Liz–he is smokin’. He is seductive and charming, and you just can’t not fall for this man. And holy hell, this book was on fire because of Brady. I was fanning myself so much while reading–K.A. Linde can write some seriously hot scenes.

But… But but but. There’s always the but. Sigh. But no matter how much Liz and Brady love spending time together, they are still doing everything in secret. And Brady–freaking Brady, this is the only part I don’t like about him–says over and over that he’ll choose his job over Liz. The elections are everything to Brady. His ambition is an attractive trait of his, but sometimes it can go too far. And yet… and yet, these two do fall for each other. Their chemistry is explosive, but they have such tender feelings for each other. I loved seeing Brady and Liz slowly fall for each other, even as my heart was breaking for them.

“Oh, Brady,” Liz whispered, “I love you.”
She knew it was true. That against all odds, she had fallen for this man. The one man she couldn’t have.
“Baby,” he groaned, his voice strained, “I know you do.”

My heart was literally aching for these two. Because you know, you just know, there can’t possibly be a good ending for these two, at least not right away. All the secrets, all the lies are building up. They go through tons of heartache and heartbreak, and my heart was breaking alongside theirs. Off the Record had the perfect amount of angst–I loved it!

This book was almost perfect–I just wanted MORE! And now I’m so so so soooo excited for the second book! August is too far away!!

Quotes are taken from the ARC and are subject to change in the final version.

Thanks to the publisher for generously providing me an ARC to review.

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Off the Record

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