"After finding her employee murdered, Leyla's quest for answers puts her in the path of danger."
Reviewed by Rosie B
Posted April 26, 2023
Romance Suspense
After nearly ruining her brother’s wedding when the food from her new catering business didn’t show up, Leyla Breda is ready to go home. An invitation to late-night drinks from the handsome stranger at the wedding is tempting but Leyla finds herself offering to meet for coffee the next day instead at her coffee shop. When she discovers the body of an employee in the alley the next morning, the stranger who lied to her about how he knows her brother is the last thing that’s on her mind. Turns out there’s more to the stranger than Leyla would have thought though, and his reason for being in town has more to do with her dead employee than it does her brother’s wedding.
FBI agent Sean Moran is on an undercover assignment and having a friend get married gives him the perfect reason to be in town. Sparks fly from the moment he meets Leyla and the more he gets to know her, the less he wants to lie about why he’s there. With Leyla’s coffee shop already at the centre of things due to the murder, Sean doesn’t want to drag her into danger any further. Not to mention her brothers don’t want Sean anywhere near their sister. With Leyla digging to help Sean, danger finds her soon enough, and Sean finds himself racing to save both his mission and the woman he’s falling for.
I have been on a romantic suspense reading binge for the past few months and Laura Griffin’s DEEP TIDE fed into my addiction perfectly. The chemistry between Sean and Leyla is instant and with him not being a local, there’s a bit of will they or won’t they, given Leyla’s no tourist rule. Danger seems to lurk around every corner, and you never know who you can trust. Characters from previous books in the Texas Murder Files series make cameos and it’s great to catch up and see what they’re doing. Griffin amps up the thrills with a harrowing helicopter ride. You will be hanging on with bated breath until the ultimate reveal of the killer. If you’re looking for a thrill ride of a read that’ll keep you glued to the pages, DEEP TIDE does not disappoint.
SUMMARY
An undercover FBI agent and an independent coffee shop owner must team up when a local barista is found dead and danger circles their coastal Texas town in this new romantic thriller from New York Times bestselling author Laura Griffin.
With two brothers on the police force, Leyla Breda is well aware of the rising crime in her small beach town, but she never expected it to show up on her doorstep. When Leyla finds one of her employees murdered in the alley behind her coffee shop, she’s deeply shaken, and as a new law enforcement officer in town begins to circle her place of business, her instincts only sharpen.
Sean Moran is on an undercover mission: The seaside community of Lost Beach may look like a picturesque postcard, but his team suspects it’s a point of intersection for several crime syndicates that the FBI has been investigating for years. Even so, when the brash and beautiful Leyla Breda starts bossing him around, he's immediately intrigued. He knows her brothers want him to back off, but every time he sees her, he feels more of a spark.
Leyla’s connections in the local community and Sean’s skills allow them to go deeper into the case together than they would be able to go alone. But when a single crime spirals into something much darker, Sean’s carefully planned mission takes a deadly turn.
ExcerptSean Moran slipped away from the party. The bride and groom had left under a shower of rice, but people were still milling around beneath swags of twinkle lights, drinking their booze and enjoying the breeze off the water. Sean would have liked another drink, but he needed to get back to his condo. As he crossed the wooden bridge spanning the sand dunes, he spied a woman on the beach with a champagne flute in hand.
Leyla Breda.
Her form-fitting dress looked silver in the moonlight, and it shimmered against her body as she strolled toward the surf. Nearing a piece of driftwood, she dropped her shoes to the sand and sat down. She nestled the flute at her feet, then lifted her arms and twisted her dark hair into a knot at the top of her head.
Sean stopped at the end of the bridge. He had about a hundred things left to do tonight, including contacting his boss.
Instead, he walked over to Leyla.
“How’s the champagne?”
She jumped and turned around. Recognition flickered across her face, and her shoulders relaxed.
“It’s good.” She held up her glass. “You didn’t have any?”
“Nope. Can I get you a refill?”
She smiled. “What, are you a waiter now, too?”
He stepped closer. “I’m Sean Moran, by the way.” He held out his hand. “We never actually met.”
“Leyla Breda.” Her handshake was brisk and businesslike, but the warm look in her eyes gave him hope.
“Joel’s little sister,” he said.
“That’s me.”
He turned toward the water so he wouldn’t be tempted to stare down the front of her dress.
“I didn’t get a chance to thank you earlier,” she said. “Things got really hectic.”
“Looked like you had your hands full.”
“So, are you here for Joel or Miranda?”
He looked at her. “Joel.”
She tipped her head to the side as she gazed up at him. “And you know him from…?”
“Work.”
She frowned. “Here?”
“No. We go way back. We were in the same academy class in Houston, spent some time at HPD together.”
“Oh. That was a while ago.”
“Yeah.”
“So… the vice squad, then?”
“Yeah. Mind if I sit down?”
“Not at all.”
Sean lowered himself onto the other end of the sandy log. He didn’t like the direction the conversation had taken so he steered it back to her.
“So, how long have you been a caterer?” he asked.
“Hmm… let’s see. I guess it’s been about three weeks now.” She turned and smiled at him, and he felt a hot jolt of attraction. “Why? Can you tell?”
“Not at all.”
“Right.”
“Well, the timing seemed a little bumpy.”
“Just a little.” She rolled her eyes. “We had several staffers no-show. It happens a lot in this business. People are flakey. Despite all my planning, you could say we were a bit rushed.”
Rushed was right. No woman had ever clapped at him before. It was something of a turn-on.
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