Four Seconds To Lose by K.A. Tucker

Four Seconds To Lose by K.A. Tucker
Release Date - April 1, 2014
Publisher Website - Simon and Schuster
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 400 pages
My Rating - 4/5
**received in exchange for an honest review from the publisher**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

When a gorgeous young dancer walks through his door, a strip club owner must decide whether to follow his rules or his heart in the third novel by the author of One Tiny Lie and Ten Tiny Breaths.

Owning a strip club isn’t the fantasy most guys expect it to be. With long hours, a staff with enough issues to keep a psych ward in business, and the police regularly on his case, twenty-nine-year-old Cain is starting to second guess his unspoken mission to save the women he employs. And then blond, brown-eyed Charlie Rourke walks through his door, and things get really complicated. Cain abides by a strict “no sleeping with the staff” rule. But being around Charlie challenges Cain’s self-control…and it’s been a long time since any woman has done that.

Twenty-two-year-old Charlie Rourke needs a lot of money, really fast, in order to vanish before it’s too late. Taking her clothes off for men makes her stomach curl but Charlie tells herself that at least she’s putting her acting and dancing skills to good use. And though her fellow dancers seem eager to nab their sexy, sophisticated, and genuinely caring boss, she’s not interested. After all, Charlie Rourke doesn’t really exist—and the girl pretending to be her can't get distracted by romance.

Unfortunately, Charlie soon discovers that developing feelings for Cain is inevitable, and that those feelings may not be unrequited—but losing him when he finds out what she’s involved with will be more painful than any other sentence awaiting her.

For a New Adult novel to really captivate me it has to balance everything just right. It has to give me great characters, a plot that is not just about the sexytimes, and something that pulls me in. Four Seconds To Lose has all of that....and it also has Cain.

While I still think Livvie is my favourite female character from these companion novels, Cain immediately became my favourite male character. A dash of bad boy, with a marshmallow heart under those rock hard muscles. His walls are put up with good reason, and it is heartbreaking to see how crushing his past was. As much as he keeps people at a distance, he would do anything to help someone else in trouble. Getting inside his head is something that, as a reader, I've been looking forward to since he graced the pages of Ten Tiny Breaths, and I was not disappointed.

Charlie is an expert at hiding everything, including her emotions. She has to be. Getting to know Charlie was excruciatingly difficult because she's hiding everything. This is true for both the characters and the readers. As her story is revealed I couldn't help but sympathize with her and the trouble she's found herself in. She's in a dangerous situation and it creates a tense, electric atmosphere that wasn't present the previous novels.

This novel focused more on the plot, and Cain and Charlie's pasts than the previous novels. I felt the sensual moments almost faded into the background allowing the plot to dictate the pacing and story. There is enough spicy moments to keep fans of that from the previous novels happy. I found myself liking the little games Cain and Charlie would play, as they were much more sensual than anything else in the book.

The romance in this novel may be my favourite out of this series so far. These two broken people with unthinkable pasts that come together and quiet each other's pain. They bring out the best in each other, and accept the broken parts in each other fully. Following their journey to come together is both heartbreaking and healing. They can't fix each other, but they can ease each other's pain. It's beautiful, and hopeful.

K.A. Tucker's novels are intense, and sexy, but it's the characters that will stay with you. Getting to see the ones we've met and loved in previous novels is the best part of companion series and this is no exception. There are plenty of cameos that will have you grinning in delight if you've read the previous novels. It's a nice to way to check in with characters who feel like they've become friends.

K.A. Tucker once again shows why she's a must read in the New Adult genre. She expertly mixes a thrilling plot with scorchingly sexy scenes. If you haven't started this series, do so immediately.