She is a five foot seven long list of things he can’t have.He is a determined cop, desperate to keep his heart sealed behind his badge.Michelle is a survivor. With a fresh perspective on life, she trades her tragic past in California for the coastal waters of Charleston. Fueled by a new career as a dispatcher, she’s determined not to let her scars weigh her down. She apologizes for nothing, … for nothing, especially her insatiable need for a certain police officer.
Rowdy is a newly minted sergeant dedicated to his job, but the life of a Charleston police officer has never been more dangerous. With his need to take order of a city spiraling out of control, the last thing he wants is an entanglement with a mouthy dispatcher. But, there’s just one problem. He can’t get enough of her.
As the heat rises between the unlikely pair, so does the tension.
Three months of summer was all it took to shake their foundations, rattle their walls, and bring them crashing down.
It was lust.
It was love.
It was real.
And it would have been perfect . . . if it wasn’t already over.
Note to reader:
This book has several elements and explores topics that some may consider triggers. For mature audiences only. Explicit sex, violence, and language.
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For me, this story was not just about facing one’s fears, but embracing them. Becoming fearless. Michelle seemed to have that down pat (kinda sorta) and Rowdy spent this entire book playing catch up. I enjoyed the angst, the push and pull, the combustion that existed when these two came together. Slow build + slow burn = I slowly loved it.
While Rowdy’s fears weirdly aggravated me, I understood them. He had lost someone close to him. He was still dealing with that loss and didn’t want to put anyone through the pain he was going through. It was an honorable motive. It was also dumb. He was hurting himself and Michelle more than anything else. It took him a long while to finally see how wrong he was, but when he did… Damn! The author did a beautiful job of busting this man’s heart wide open!!
Geez
Kate Stewart never fails to pen a hero that makes me fall in love. This time though, I didn’t just fall in love with Rowdy. I fell in love with Michelle too. Her strength. Her passion. Her joy in life was just perfect. She really was Peter Pan.
The emotions captured regarding Rowdy’s line of work hit home hard. Those of us without someone on the front lines caught a mere glimpse of their lives, and definitely gave me a new appreciation for it all.
The Brave Line is such a special book, it covers so many topics that victims of love go through in life. Rowdy and Michelle were meant to be a couple, even when they fought so hard to be together, yet not be. They knew each other from work and a mutual friend and Rowdy avoided Michelle at every chance he could. She was beautiful, lively and everything Rowdy told himself he never wanted. But Michelle was not the type to be stopped when she set her mind to something, or in this case, on someone.
Rowdy was stuck in a boring life of sadness when Michelle broke into his world and showed him her way of living with fun and dancing to her own beat. She was friendly, openhanded and never met a friend she didn’t know. She wore her heart on her sleeve and Rowdy couldn’t help the inevitable.
Kate Stewart did a wonderful job of showing us how two emotionally flawed people could find each other and work passed said flaws and fall deeply into one another. This was my first book of hers, it definitely will not be my last.
5s for all the beautiful LEOs in this book!
Kate Stewart gives a good insight to the inner dialogue of a police officer, and their loved ones. She also does a spectacular job of showing the bad side of the job, and that none of them are going to retire without scars, internal or external.
The Brave Line was a delicious example of what happens when you deny yourself the very thing you want for too long. Michelle has been denying herself for at least six months when Rowdy decides he’s done holding her away from him, is it any wonder that they lit up like fireworks?
A fast-paced, sexy AF romp through the HOT, Charleston, South Carolina summer with wicked fast cars, tons of action, and some freakishly fun sexy times!
Crazy intense roller coaster of an emotional ride to the very end. Wow
I just loved this book!
Did not like the story or the characters read half way put it down did not finish.
Couldn’t put this book down. Outstanding story about how 2 people have to overcome their pasts to make a future together. Added to that is a look at what not only police officers face but the people behind the scenes in the dispatch call centers.
Lovely quick read
For me the story was a slow in building. It was really slow until mid way through. Even after that it wasn’t that much better. I get the premise of the story since all of it was centered around the day to day dangers of a police officer, dispatchers but that was more of the story than the romance. It wasn’t a bad story. It just didn’t excite me. Until next time y’all happy reading.
I really enjoyed this book. It throws you right down in the middle of the lives of a police dispatcher and a police sergeant. The love and heartbreak in this book is never ending. The emotions shown are so real. The pain of the past comes back to haunt them. There are some things you never truly get over, but with the right person can they help you heal?
This book was so much more than I expected! I expected fun and light based on the first 2 books in the series and while I did get that, I got so much more! It made me laugh, it made me cry and there were times where this book just gutted me. The chemistry between Rowdy and Michelle is off the charts HOT…no words could do it justice. I loved both characters and the story itself is so realistic that I was glued to the pages. I’m sad that it’s over…definite book hangover!
My first read from this author and she blow me away!
I laugh
I cried
I’m lusting over the hero
I’m so proud of the heroin
Rowdy is so unperfectly perfect. He is that man! You know, the kind that is in the real life kinda man. The kind that you should run from cause he is just too dangerous for your heart and sanity but nothing you can do to keep your heart or hands from this man….is it hot in here all of the sudden??
And Michele. This girl…i admire how strong yet vulnerable she is. She loves with all she got. She’s that brave to pursue what she wants, in this case its Rowdy. And she is brave enough to let go even if it hurt too much. Michele is sarcasticly weird funny, smart and sexy. She is that kinda girl i wanna be when i grow up.
But more than these two, i love how the author potrait the life of the woman and man in the uniform. Their fear, their trouble, their issue, their heart and life as a person.
.
.
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Rowdy popped my Kate Stewart cherry perfectly. Definitly gonna need more from Ms. Stewart
This book is amazing!!
The Brave Line is an awesome, steamy, and realistic romance about a police sergeant and a 911 dispatcher. I love the characters, Rowdy and Michelle, and could relate to them big time. They are a force separately but together they are fierce personified with explosive chemistry. They are off the charts sexy separately AND together. I loved this book and found it hard to finish because I didn’t want it to end. Fantastic book filled with depth, sexiness, sass, and one heck of a story line.
Oh wow, what a story. At one point my cold dead heart was hurting for Michelle and Rowdy. Man, I just love them both. I thought the issues that officers face was handled and written so well. I don’t know, this book was so compelling. That’s my big word for the day, but seriously, this book is pretty fantastic. I couldn’t stop reading.
Oh, Rowdy and Michelle are sooo hot together. Sexual chemistry is off the charts! I wish there was more, like Rowdy being a dad or something. Yeah, that totally wouldn’t suck reading about him being a dad. Ladies be swooning!
I received an arc in exchanged for an honest review.
The Brave Line is the latest book by the awesome and incredible Kate Stewart.
Honestly, this is what keeps me holding onto this book world, even when I think I don’t want to read another story just seeing that Kate released a book sparks excitement. Books like this that includes so much passion, heart and intensity breathes life back into my heart.
I can’t tell Kate how awesome she is and what her books and characters does to me. If she doesn’t know it by now then I don’t know what rock she lives under lol.
I
Love
You
Kate!!
Back to the story at hand.
I couldn’t believe how long I stared at the last chapter of this book.
Was it really over?
I didn’t want it to be so. Please, I am hoping that there is a novella over the horizon somewhere.( I hope you are reading this Kate)
The reason I love this book so much:
I would never have thought that Michelle and Rowdy world’s would be so perfect together.
Rowdy was really an asshole that you love to hate. I love his underlining passion for everyone that he held dear to him.
Michelle had so many sides to her but my favorite side was how funny she was. This girl had me laughing out loud in public places.
Rowdy’s and Michelle’s characters were electrifying. I love reading about complicated love and this is what The Brave Line was, complicated but love nevertheless.
Great characters, steady pace, hot as hell scenes. I loved every minute of it!!
Wow….this book was incredible!! I definitely connected to the characters, as I could imagine the struggles both Michelle and Rowdy faced. Michelle had been badly hurt by her ex, and Rowdy had lost pieces of himself after losing some of the people closest to him. Yet, once they both gave into their mutual attraction (under the assumption it was a one-time thing)……the connection between them was too strong to deny. I definitely went on a roller-coaster of a ride with Rowdy and Michelle, as they tried to navigate their feelings and figure out what they wanted from the other….but would they be able to overcome their fears in order to fully give their hearts away?
I absolutely loved this story….Kate Stewart knows how to write and create such amazing characters and worlds that you just want to be part of!
Holy shit! Kate Stewart delivers again and again. No matter what she throws at me I always connect with her main characters and her stories hit me right where it hurts and matters the most. My heart and soul. This time it’s more deep and profound. The story and its topics are more relevant than ever when you look at society today. The Brave Line is real and authentic. Stewart captured perfectly what and how life of a cop works and how it not only affects him/her and their families. It’s described and depicted perfectly with a rawness and intensity.
The struggles Rowdy and Michelle deal with because of certain trauma in their pasts also makes them more human and relatable. I love the direction Stewart takes the characters, the important topics and the story. There isn’t a dull moment whatsoever. I was invested in Michelle and Rowdy’s journey. Individually and together.
Rowdy is the cop who doesn’t do relationship because of his job. Self preservation and also protection of others. He knows what he wants from a woman when he gets her in bed but outside of that, he cares about the people that matters most to him. In this case April and soon to be Michelle.
Michelle is a fun, honest, wild and fearless woman with so many hidden sides. She works at the Charleston Police Call center. With what she has experienced in her past and how far she’s come it’s nothing but admirable. She’s definitely fought for her life to get where she is today.
Rowdy and Michelle’s chemistry is hot like lava. Literally explosive! Damn! They were phenomenal together. In and out of bed. I especially enjoyed the scenes where they got to know one another on a more personal and deeper level. Yes, it wasn’t easy because Rowdy had his guard up but Michelle did her best. They connected through deeper conversations and slowly pealed layers off of each other.
The pace of the story flowed effortlessly. The relationship between Rowdy and Michelle was well developed with the perfect amount of depth to both of them. How their relationship evolved was just one of my favorite things about The Brave Line. It wasn’t rushed whenever they hit a bump in the road in their relationship. The story took its time which was needed because of its serious topics and I appreciated that. It made me love Rowdy and Michelle even more. Their friendship with April is another highlight and made me smile. Her support of both Rowdy and Michelle proved why they were such a close unit.
I’m a very huge fan of Stewart’s work and The Brave Line is phenomenal. In my opinion her best work yet! I love the main characters, Rowdy and Michelle. The topics of the book, especially the police force and how they’re viewed in society is important. Stewart handles the topic with such care and respect. She has a strong and loud voice and it comes across beautifully with The Brave Line. Her prose is poignant and stronger than ever. Her mixture of romance, realism and suspense is executed flawlessly and to perfection. I was on the edge of my seat numerous times and my emotions went through the wringer. A powerful story with an important and powerful message. I bow down to you, Kate Stewart. You deserve the praise!
5 BadAssDirtyFearlessStars
The story of a Cop and a Dispatcher, a Sergeant and a Survivor….
Rowdy and Michelle story was very different from what’ve read by Kate Stewart and i really like it..
Rowdy is a Cop who doesn’t want anything to do with love or a relationship, his life is very complicated or better said his demons keep knocking on his door and his memories and he seems like he doesn’t want or can’t move out of them.. until he meets Michelle an enigmatic woman who is a Dispatcher and has also a lot of things to hide.. she’ve been lusting about Rowdy for years but she knew he didn’t want anything serious so she kept her distance.. she has a past to hide, something happened to her that is keeping her from moving on and let herself falling in love again..
Rowdy and Michelle relationship doesn’t start easily as they both are looking just to satisfy their physical needs.. Rowdy is very emotional unavailable his pain still ruling his life and that makes it even harder for Michelle to come closer to him.. he keeps putting distance, he keeps pretending there is nothing between them, he makes excuses and he keeps telling her there can’t be anything more.. and somehow Michelle accepts that.. in a way she accepts that because is better to have him in someway or another than not having him at all..
Rowdy is stubborn, he doesn’t want to acknowledge his feelings and the amazing chemistry they have, until one day, he comes closer to his biggest fear loosing the woman he loves forever… when he sees her face, when he comes closer to what happened to her.. it was enough for him to realize he was loosing something very important in his life.. a new love, a new friend something he been missing for so long..
Michelle comes from a very wealthy family but she is been running out that life, hiding from her famous/celebrity life .. fearing from herself and hiding from the media.. she doesn’t want anybody to know where she is.. specially her ex.. until one day everything come crumbling around her.. friendships will ends and life will change.. a lot of her secrets will come out and it wont be very pleasant ….
Michelle and Rowdy’s started with hot passionate sex, slowly transforming in what Rowdy fear the most, Love .. he is afraid to love because he thinks loving someone, will hurt you and break you.. until someone proves him wrong, until he can’t denied his feelings anymore.. until he finally accepts that love is more powerful than fear..
Another amazing story by Kate Stewart!!