Responsible, disciplined William Fox channeled his love for art and his faith in the rules into being an FBI Art Crimes agent. Right and wrong, justice and injustice—the differences are clear, and Will has spent his career drawing a line between them. Maybe his convictions have cost him relationships, but he’s not willing to compromise what he knows is right. Until the night he meets Amory Vaughn. Vaughn.
As the head of his family’s philanthropic foundation, Vaughn knows very well that being rich and powerful can get him almost anything he wants. And when he meets endearingly grumpy and slightly awkward William Fox, he wants him more than he’s wanted anything. Vaughn is used to being desired for his name and his money, but Will doesn’t care about either.
When Vaughn falls back on old habits and attempts to impress Will by stealing a painting Will admires, their nascent bond blows up in his face. But Vaughn isn’t willing to give up on the glimpse of passion he saw the night he took Will apart. Before Will knows it, he’s falling for the man he should have arrested, and Vaughn has to realize that some things can’t be bought or stolen. Love has to be given freely. But can a man who lives by the rules, and a man who thinks the rules don’t apply to him, ever see eye to eye?
Heart of the Steal is a standalone romance with a happy ending. It features a Southern gentleman who thinks he’s always right, a buttoned-up FBI agent who secretly likes his buttons unbuttoned, and wall sex. And desk sex. And picnic blanket sex.
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This was four stars as the kindling catches, sweet and seductive, brighter, dimmer, brighter until the heat’s irresistible. Five stars when the fuel catches and blazes up with increasing intensity. Vaughn and Will are at the kind of odds immediately guaranteed to conflict and disrupt, on both sides, in entirely different ways. Step by step they learn each other, not fast enough.
Unlike many a romance plot, this one hurts. When things break, it’s painfully warranted.
I liked the way their differences chaffed at their attraction. I liked the time this took, the events that built understanding and displayed differing points of view. I loved the moments of discovery, like the cookies, and the cat. I loved the sex scenes. They’re well done, and each one shown delivers to the reader important bits of character and plot. I love what’s left out as much as what’s included, the artful writing, the ability. And I love where it ends.
I just finished my latest re-read of this book. It’s one of my go-to books when I want to read something familiar and satisfying and light-hearted. To be honest, I almost didn’t pick this book up because of its cover despite loving Roan Parrish’s work, but it would have been a terrible mistake to judge this book by its cover.
The story brings William Fox, FBI agent in the Arts Crimes Division, together with Amory Vaughn, wealthy philanthropist (and Lucias Malfoy lookalike with long, prematurely grey hair) who has a penchant for art theft. They meet at a charity event, share an intimate moment in the host’s private art gallery, then go their separate ways. Wanting to see Will again (and ignorant of Will’s profession), Vaughn steals a valuable painting from the party and delivers it to Will’s door along with an invitation to a party he’s hosting at his ancestral home in Falls Church, VA.
Vaughn is an absolute delight. His language is wonderful, his take on the world charming, and his attraction to Will undeniable. There are several Vaughn-isms I sometimes mutter to myself (“These are not eggs, they are a nightmare chickens have”), and I love his desire to make Will (or as Vaughn calls him, “William” because no one else calls him by his full name, and I swear, I hear how Vaughn pronounces it so clearly when I read this book) as comfortable as possible. At one point, Vaughn buys Will an expensive suit for his birthday, not because he wishes to remake Will (even though Vaughn hates the suits Will wears for work) but because he wants to be able to intercede between Will and the world, to provide a barrier to protect Will from the harsh realities with which he has to deal in his line of work. Vaughn is also an unrepentant snob, but he’s so charming about it, so perfect in his manners, that it becomes quirky rather than obnoxious. Especially when it takes the form of outdoing the neighbors for best haunted mansion at Halloween.
Of course, with a relationship that begins with an art theft, Will has some deeply conflicted feelings about Vaughn, especially because he’s insanely attracted to the gorgeous man with the long, gray hair. He doesn’t arrest Vaughn, instead, he puts the painting back in the owner’s house and tells Vaughn to leave him alone. There’s some back and forth (another “theft”) before Will finally succumbs and agrees to dinner. But the discomfort he feels at how Vaughn makes him feel, the lines he’s willing to cross for this man, and the way Vaughn disrupts Will’s carefully ordered black-and-white life, are just angsty enough to be interesting but not the focus of the story.
No, the focus of the story is the delightful relationship between two people who have differing views of the way the world works and how to operate within it, and learn to accept each other and who they are within the relationship. Oh, and they rescue a kitten together, too.
Talk about a case of opposites attracting. These two could not be more different when we meet them. William is a by the books FBI agent and Amory is so rich and entitled he believes the rules don’t apply to him. Theirs is an interesting and very steamy meet cute and I was hooked from the first chapter. It’s a short; quick read, but it’s packed with loads of emotions and lots of sexy sweetness. This was a fun distraction read for me and i immersed myself in it until the very last page and still felt as if it ended too soon.
Audio Book was very well read!
When I first started this book, I was on the fence about it, but soon I fell in love with William Fox and Amory Vaughn. Their characterization was done so incredibly well, that I happily overlooked any weakness in the plot. I just loved how besotted Amory was of Will and how much Will loved Amory. This book was incredibly cute and I would love a sequel.
What a fun, witty book! I loved the chemistry and dialogue between Amory Vaughn and Will Fox. Opposites attract in the best way possible.
LOVE. THIS. BOOK.
This was a short and sweet read. It follows an FBI Arts Crime agent, William Fox, and an art thief named Vaughn.
I was a bit worried about how their relationship would go, because I honestly think there can be people who are just too different to make a relationship work. William is responsible, kind of rigid in his ways, and has a very strong moral compass. Vaughn is much more easy going, he thinks he can bend the rules to benefit him, and yeah, he steals art sometimes.
This was nothing to what I was expecting. Considering this book has an FBI MC I thought it would be a bit more action packed, or have a mystery or something. This was a very fluffy book. This is the perfect book if you’re a fan of domestic ships, or if you’re in the mood for something light-hearted.