WARNING: Author believes in soul mates and insta-love, proceed with caution if you’re not a romantic at heart.
“Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.” ― Oscar Wilde
Author Nicola Royse dreamed of Scottish Highlanders as a teen then wrote about them as an adult. Always looking but never finding her own White Knight, she still held out hope that he would one day ride up on his … would one day ride up on his trusty steed. He rode up all right, on a silver Harley with heat in his eyes and a detective’s badge on his hip while she and her friends plotted her first contemporary romantic suspense. Of course, life couldn’t’ imitate art without a killer on the loose, one that had Nicola and her friends in his sights.
Detective Dallas Vaughn dedicated his life to catching killers. Then one day he bumped into the girl-next-door, and all that changed. Now he’s her White Knight fighting against a Dark Prince—one who would love to see her dead.
Rated R for language, violence, and sexual content.
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I ended up liking many things in this story… and not liking others.
Heroine – Nicola was a historical romance author who seemed to be more comfortable with fiction than reality. In a current situation, she would find ways to fictionalize it for the reader and I skimmed most of it because I’m still not sure what was supposed to be gained by this. She’s decided that she wants to do a contemporary romance and then when she realizes a serial killer is targeting women in her area, she figures she should find a way to incorporate him in her book. The cop she meets, Dallas, who ends up being the hero of this story, ends up in her book. The FBI agent hunting killers… in the book. And let’s not forget the crazy scenario of her and her friends creating a fake profile on POF and a BDSM website to taunt a man. With a serial killer on the loose! Clearly, Nicola wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box.
I enjoyed most of how this story was written, except for the repetitive bits and Nicola’s nonsense. I admired the way the author described and illustrated Nicola’s friendships and her relationship with her family. I enjoyed most of what Dallas had to offer, except when he had to put up with Nicola’s nonsene. I even liked the suspenseful element because of how entertaining it was. I may not have loved this particular story as much as I thought I would, but I have loved other books by this author and I’ll definitely be giving her another try.
Well, Ms Smith is quickly becoming one author that I can trust to consistently deliver books that I really enjoy. I’ve read both books of the Reason series and now I was lucky enough to receive an ARC for Property Of.
I really liked the book inside the book concept (kind of like that thing with two mirrors facing each other). As with her other work, the suspense and the action were really good and the secondary characters, friends and family were the shit. Her twin brothers made me almost pee myself from laughing with their antics.
Nicola is actually one of a triplet set but still the little sister. She mostly lives in her head (which is constantly in the highlands with mighty hot highlanders…who wouldn’t want to be there?) I liked how she constantly got herself under control when she started things with Dallas, and kept it mostly drama free and not TSTLing the shit out of the story. She still had a few moments where I would have liked to bash her head into a wall but mostly, I just related to her and enjoyed her journey.
I really loved Dallas. As in, L-O-V-E loved him. I mean a dark and brooding alpha police detective that rides a Harley, wet dream come true—I mean… well yeah. That’s exactly what I mean 😉
He was just… perfect. I’m thinking he’s my next long-term book boyfriend.
I did get a little annoyed with Nicola’s girlfriends, I felt their problem and reactions to her getting lost in work was a bit extreme. And really, the ex thing was a bit too much. Still, I enjoyed the crap out of reading this book, and it has cemented Ms. Smith as a favorite author. I’m hoping to get the twins’ stories…but really, any story she dreams up will be ok.
*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book*
Sigh.
Breathless.
Heartbreaking moments.
Overwhelming beauty.
Fully soul satisfying.
That’s how I felt as I turned the last page of Property Of.
Ever since I heard that CP Smith was coming out with a new book, I’ve been on pins and needles waiting on it — and she completely exceeded my expectations with this. Dallas constantly kept sweeping me off my feet. Nichola endeared herself to me as I identified with her in so many ways. Watching their dance around each other and how their relationship grew and overcame the challenges faced satisfied almost every fav thing I look for in a book.
Loved getting to know the BFFs and the siblings – and laughing at all their antics. The twist and turns with the suspense kept me nervous and guessing — and full of shivers when seeing things from the villian’s pov.
Dallas and Nichola have totally dug in deep into my heart and will have a permanent spot on my favorites list. Definitely recommend this book!!! If you’re looking for some fun, some scary, some swooning – look no farther!
This book intrigued me from the very beginning. After reading the Reason’s series I was curious to read a more angsty story from this author, and I was not disappointed. Set in one of my favorite cities, New Orleans, I loved the feel of the story and after a few pages the Cajun/French was easily understood. I loved the characters, even the secondary ones are well defined: Rose, Nic’s parent, his ex-wife and his son were vividly presented in the book. And Hope and Nic nearly jump off the page with their chemistry and sexy banter.
Hope has no roots, after ten years in an abusive relationship and turning state’s evidence in about her husband and family’s drug trafficking, she has been on the run. When she comes to New Orleans she is not prepared for the people who take her into their hearts as family or the sexy alpha who sparks her soul. The losses she has suffered in her life, and spending her teenage years in the system, leaves Hope reluctant to form lasting bonds. Try as she might, Rose, Big Daddy, Nicky, and Nic find their way into her heart.
Nic has spent the last year mourning the loss of his teenaged daughter and questioning the collapse of his marriage. Lost in the pain of a father’s loss, he is unprepared when Hope stumbles into his life. Feeling a level of protectiveness he has never felt before his fight to keep Hope at a distance is for naught. As they open their hearts to each other, sharing their darkest moments, feelings take hold. What follows is a beautiful love story, an intriguing suspense story, and a nearly heartbreaking ending. Ms. Smith does an excellent job of keeping the reader on their toes and twisting the story at the end to grab the reader by the heartstrings and make their emotions spin. I thoroughly enjoyed the difference in the level of emotion in this read versus the other series that I’ve read and look forward to more books from this author.
CP Smith is a new to me author. Property of is the first book I gave up sleep for to finish in a long time. Dallas is a hot white knight and Nicola is in my opinion the perfect damsel in distress. Throw them together and its combustible. Whew. Definitely worth giving up sleep for.
Holy crap!! My head and my heart is all over the place!! Nicola is a romance author and can disappear for weeks into her world whilst she types. When it comes to her next book though, she decides to involve her besties in it. For the purpose of research they make a profile on two dating sites and she contacts the local police force to gather information. Nicola and her girls had me laughing out loud, her internal dialogue had me crying especially when she meets Detective Drop Dead Delicious!
She is like a ray of sunshine through the dark clouds to Detective Vaughn, growling, hot AF, alpha man that he is!! They first meet the coffee shop, where she manages to sell not one but two cups of coffee on him!
But the meetings between the besties at the coffee shop takes a very sinister twist and Dallas has his work cut out trying to figure out who is behind the killings.
My brain was ping ponging Roy d my head trying to figure that out too, whilst my heart hoped that Dallas and Nicola would get their HEA.
Fantastic read!
Nicola Royse is used to living in her carefully constructed fantasy world, she does it for a living. As an author to Scottish Highlander books, Nicola has found a new muse with Detective Dallas Vaughn and decides she wants to write a contemporary romantic suspense book and enlists her friends in her research.
Wrongs turns are setting the path in her new book with an online alias and the sudden deaths to people she knows. Dallas is investigating, but at the same time he has decided to claim Nicola who is proving to be a handful. Will they capture the killer before it is too late?
Very fun read. The story does veer a bit into highlander scribe which I had a hard time connecting with but but the overall story is very good. Laughed several times and found Dallas to be an intriguing hero. Will definitely pick up more from this author.