Title:  Eye Candy
Series:
Author:  Katherine Garbera
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  August 13, 2015
Publisher:  HarperCollins – HarperImpulse
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

Candy chef Hayley Dunham has vowed to own her thirties; she’s a successful business woman, good friend and dutiful daughter but she can’t help but want more. She wants passion… Fireworks… And one kiss with the hot cop-next-door shows her exactly who she wants those fireworks with.

Garrett Mulligan has always wanted to be a cop, he’s the kind of man who lives to protect and serve. But when an injury sidelines him and raises doubts about him returning to work, he’s at his wit’s end until cute, flirty Hayley shows up to provide the perfect distraction.

Read on for my thoughts on Eye Candy.  No true spoilers, promise.

I find myself needing to say – do not judge this story on the book cover or the book’s title (a play on words somewhat of the heroine’s occupation).  Yes, the cover is hot and the title draws you in, no doubt.  Yet, I found this tale to be neither light nor fluffy – but intense and complicated, in the best ways possible.

Hayley has just celebrated her thirtieth birthday.  With the encouragement of her friends and business partners, as well as her own take on the bucket list of her life, Hayley is setting out to be .. more.  More than what she was, taking more risks, living more fully and finding out what makes her happy.

What would make her happy tonight is the attention of her Hot Cop neighbor who thinks she’s doing a bit of breaking and entering on her own front door.

Garrett is a police detective.  It is what he’s alway wanted to be, what he has worked for even when his wealthy parents questioned his choice of careers.  He needs the streets like he needs air to breathe.  Recently Garrett was shot and his partner killed during a gun battle with a drug dealer.  He has been off duty recuperating from his injuries and awaiting the results from Internal Affairs regarding the death of a piece of scum.

His instincts kicked in when he saw the shadowy figure bent over the door of his neighbor.  And injured or not, it is his nature to protect and serve.  And would he ever love to do just that to the sexy neighbor, a bit tipsy and determined to seduce her Hot Cop neighbor.

How do I convey the complexities of Eye Candy without giving too much away, things that make the story so intriguing and things that you should discover for yourself along the way of enjoying Garrett’s and Hayley’s romance.

This couple has a lot going on below the surface.  Yes, they are an extremely sexy, sensous, smoke up the sheets kind of couple.  Yet, I was drawn to their brokenness.  Each has issues to deal with.. abandonment, parental expectations, guilt, fear, anger, survivor’s guilt.. and an inability to trust that what they are feeling is actually love.  It was watching them face problems, sometimes run away from those problems, learn to trust not only each other but themselves.. those were the parts that took this novel to 5 stars for me.  Of course they made wrong moves along the way, and Hayley’s ultimatum was probably the worst move of all – but I felt that those choices came from their own insecurities and I watched them overcome them in the end.

I greatly enjoyed Eye Candy and am hoping that there are at least two more stories about Hayley’s business partners and Garrett’s friends.  One can only hope with fingers crossed.

*I received an e-ARC of Eye Candy from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*

Available for the Kindle