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Review: Under the Table – Layla Reyne

Under the Table - Layla Reyne

Genre: Mystery

LGBTQ+ Category: Lesbian

Reviewer: Linda, Paranormal Romance Guild

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About The Book

Chef February Winters hates Valentine’s Day. So much so she refuses to open her restaurant for it. Except now the critics say that she can’t—not, that she won’t—so of course she must. But planning the perfect V-day menu eludes her until her sexy new bartender mixes up a sublime concept.

Jax Dillon is a hacker, but for the past three months they’ve been undercover at Under the Table, tending bar while on the lookout for a rogue spy. Truth be told, they’ve spent more time looking at the stunning head chef while struggling to balance their professional and personal lives.

Feb’s been looking Jax’s way too. Until V-day arrives and she finds her restaurant full of bounty hunters, assassins, bullet holes, and more. When the spy she thought was a critic takes her three stars—and Jax—hostage, Feb must cook the meal of her life to win back culinary glory and the bartender (er, hacker?) who’s stolen her heart. Good thing she’s a real chef.

The Review

February Winters has always hated her name and Valentine’s Day, the day of her birthday. She owns a restaurant, and for the past two years it was closed for Valentine’s Day, but she has decided to open it this year. She refuses to have a fixed menu or anything pink, but she will have solo sitting and a specially prepared selection of dishes. Reviewer Jacob Pappas may be reviewing her restaurant, and she wants everything to be perfect.

Dylan Jacks has been the bartender at the restaurant for three months, and February has not been able to take her eyes off them. They dress in weird clothing, have a mohawk that they frequently dye in different colors – everything weird about them appeals to Feb. Their real name is Jax Dillon, and they are working undercover for the family they found when their parents threw them out for being queer.

It was at a queer teen shelter that htheye found the family they would cherish as their own, and Jax works for them at Redemption, Inc. Consulting Co. They are bounty hunters, and their current bounty is the reviewer, Jacob Pappas – alias Trent Mendes. Mendes is a former CIA agent accused of selling secrets, and also the heir to the Camino Cartel. He’s wanted by both the CIA and the cartel.

Jax is a hacker. This is the first time they are working undercover, and they fear bringing danger to February and her people. She is unaware of the cameras in her restaurant and what’s going on. Her only concern is getting three stars from Pappas and having a great day. When Valentine’s Day is over, she’s looking forward to meeting with Dylan in a more personal way. They are a mystery to her, a mystery she looks forward to solving.

When February is told what’s going to happen when Pappas shows up for his reservation, her biggest fear is for the safety of her guests and employees, but she’s assured that everything has been worked out and no one will be in any danger.

When Camino takes his seat, and everyone not involved in the takedown has been escorted out, all hell breaks loose, and it becomes apparent that some of her employees have betrayed her.

I didn’t want to put this book down. Great characters, secrets, surprises and romance. This is the first book in a series by six different authors, and I am anxiously looking forward to more!

5 stars.

The Reviewer

I am an avid reader the mother of 3 sons and grandmother to seven grandchildren. Since retiring I have been doing more reading while volunteering as a CASA worker. CASA is an organization that works with the family court system to ensure that children are in the best living situation. There are way too many children that get overlooked in the foster care system and I visit homes and make visits to the parents. I was born and raised in New York and my husband of 50 years and I live in Upstate New York.

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