Christie's review: Once Kissed by Cecy Robson

Title:Once Kissed

Series:O'Brien Family #1

Author: Cecy Robson

Release Date: November 3, 2015

Rating:3 stars

Cliffhanger: No

Once they shared a night of passion. Now a chance encounter forces them back together. In Cecy Robson’s O’Brien Family series debut—perfect for readers of Monica Murphy and J. Lynn—two total opposites find that the flames of desire are still smoldering.

Tough-as-steel cop Curran O’Brien is quickly rising through the ranks of the Philadelphia police department. But when his rookie partner is almost killed under his watch, Curran just wants to prove he still has what it takes to walk among Philly’s finest. So he’s pissed to be stuck on a cushy security assignment for the DA’s office . . . until he gets a good look at the sweet, straitlaced intern he’s supposed to protect—but not touch.

Tess Newart recognizes Curran instantly. How could she not? Back in college she tied this former frat boy to the bed with her argyle socks! That sizzling one-night stand was the only indiscretion Tess ever allowed herself. She has survived law school so far, despite being pushed to succeed by her overbearing father. Now that she’s interning on a major case against a ruthless crime boss, she won’t jeopardize her career by giving in to temptation again. She just never expected temptation to look so damn hot in uniform.

Tess knows her father has other plans for her, and they don’t include Curran. But soon she’s falling for him all over again. And when danger emerges, Curran will prove just how good a bad-boy cop can be.

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Ever since I happened upon this author's Shattered Past series, I've had her on my radar. She impressed me with her addictive storylines and excellent alpha heroes. This series is a spin off of that one with connected characters, but the focus is now on the large O'Brien family. There are six brothers and one sister who will all be getting their own book. Once Kissed is Curran's book, the police officer of the family.

Curran is mentally not in a good place after a tragedy occurred in the line of duty. His rookie partner was paralyzed and he holds himself to blame. He can't wrap his head around the fact that his hesitation to take action caused a man to forever be bound to a wheelchair. It's caused him to second guess his instincts and make him a danger to himself and others on the force. His brother Declan is the DA and he finds the perfect job for him to keep him occupied while he's getting his bearings back. He's been given the task of watching over Tess, the office intern during a sensitive case involving the mafia. Tess has been chosen to aid him during the case and he needs her safe until the targeted criminals are put away.

What neither anticipated was the fact that straight-laced, rigid Tess has met brash and bossy Curran before. After a sizzling one-night stand together in college, neither heard from the other again. They don't exactly have much in common. Except maybe a whole lot of chemistry between the sheets. Tess is completely mortified when she realizes she's going to be stuck with Curran. Coming face to face with her one indiscretion from her past is something that makes her very uncomfortable. I must admit, I wasn't too crazy about Tess in the beginning of the book. She comes off as very formal with zero sense of humor. The way she acted with Curran was kind of ridiculous with her shouting silly antiquated words at him. It's not something I can imagine anyone ever saying.

"You...cad."
"What?"
"I said you're a cad!"
"I heard what you said. I've just never heard anyone aside from Bugs Bunny use that word. You gonna call me scoundrel next?"

Between the way she talked and her conservative, stuffy way of dressing, she's not really a fun heroine. But I will say that as her horrible family life is explained, we get more insight into how she became the way she is. Tess has been emotionally abused and bullied by her father and has been treated as a puppet her entire life. Learning how trapped and abused she's been made me understand her better and I really sympathized with her. One of her struggles in the book was finding a way to overcome her fear of her cruel dictator of a father and finally refuse to give into his threats.

After years of being mistreated and reduced to nothing, I surrendered and obeyed. Just like I do now.



I liked how Curran's bossy and no-nonsense attitude got her to find that fight in herself that's been smothered for so long. She started learning to speak her mind and push the boundaries. And Curran looked past her exterior and saw the girl who was dying to come out. I did enjoy these two together, I felt that they made a nice opposites attract type pair and they had some great chemistry once they broke through her barrier. With Curran in charge of her protection, he's been forbidden to lay a hand on her by his brother. That made for some nice tension and anticipation between the two of them.

His right arm slips behind my lower back, keeping me in position, while his other hand holds my face so I can't escape his stare. But I don't want to escape. Not from him.



Once they became a couple, I kind of felt like their relationship faded into the background and lost it's steam. The last half of the book was mainly her struggle with her father and the issues they had regarding the big case.
With everything else going on, I think the deeper development between the two of them got lost somewhere. I enjoyed seeing them interact with his family and there were some chuckle worthy moments there, but I wanted to feel a little bit more emotion for this couple and it was just kind of dwindling away.

I enjoy this author's writing style and her ability to make secondary characters that are intriguing enough for their own books. I appreciated the focus she spent on police officers' sacrifices both mentally and physically and how difficult their job really is. Although I wasn't in love with this particular story, I liked it well enough, and I'm still looking forward to trying out more future books in the series.

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