Run the Risk (Love Undercover, #1)

Sep 26, 2012 Becs - Sinfully Sexy Book Reviews rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, net-galley-for-review, worst-sex-scenes-ever, alpha-hero, cop-hero, contemporary-romance, human-trafficking-slavery, review-copy, shy-heroine

Having very much enjoyed Lori Foster’s Edge of Honor series, I embarked on this one full of expectations. She’s always written great romantic suspense novels with incredibly alpha heroes to die for and I was expecting more of the same here.

I have to say I was decidedly underwhelmed by the first half of the book to the point of almost giving up. EVERYONE is lying and hiding something and no one is who they seem and they’re not an easy bunch to like.

Basic synopsis – Pepper and Rowdy Yates are hidi...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Dee rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: romantic-suspense, author-lori-foster, arc-net-galley, reviewed-netgalley

I loved Lori's last series (Men Who Walk The Edge of Honor)and was sad when it came to an end but she promised us a fantastic series that we would love just as much...so was she wrong?....NO she wasn't!! Although this is a seperate series it carries on with the same theme of drug smuggling and trafficking of young women.

Normally with a big build up of a book we are often left disappointed but I sure wasn't! Within the first few chapters I was gripped and loving the story and instantly loved the...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Kat (idangerous) rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Lori Foster Fans and people who like Contemporary romance novels

Shelves: lori-foster, read-in-2012, reading-challenge-2012, romance-adult, books-to-buy

6/3/12- *drools* o.o look at the man candy on the cover! makes me think of Erik in True Blood. *drools some more*

*Updated* 11/12/12

OMG!! LORI I LOVE YOU!! I really loved Logan in this! Then the surprise twist of his love interest! Dang! I didn't see that coming! I figured it was a jealous ex or something but nope! Then Reese, Logan and him work together, totally genius luv! I'd recommend this book to any Lori Foster fan, and people who want a book that is greatly written and leaves you wanting t...more

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Sep 08, 2012 E. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, suspense

4 1/2 stars.
“Run the Risk” is an exciting romantic suspense novel by Lori Foster. This is a fun read centering around one of Ms Foster’s typically protective alpha males who is opinionated and action-oriented and a bit obnoxious since he is perfectly willing to use the woman he is chasing just to get to her brother and is willing to ‘scratch a mutual itch’ according to her dictates while he lays his trap. I enjoyed watching each character peel away their deceptions until they finally reveal the...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Lisa Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: authors-f, authors-l, zzcover-purple, genre-romance-suspense, m-audible-dot-com, animal-dog-in-story, vocation-man-in-uniform-or-w-badge, setting-usa-ohio, vocation-carpenter-construction, challenge-nbrc-tower, 2013-rlftci-group-challenge, reviewed-by-me

★★★★✩ (This is a review of the audiobook.) I haven’t been a big fan of Jim Frangione's narration in the past; I think it is his cadence. Nevertheless, I love this author, so I gave him another try. He does a nice enough job here; not a lot of differentiation, and with his deep voice, it is hard for him to do the women. I will probably go on with the series on audio, so he wasn't awful.

I have always called Lori Foster my “Iron Woman.” She doesn't receive many five stars from me; but then she rar...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Guilty Pleasures rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: guiltypleasures-slick

Slick's review posted on Guilty Pleasures

5 Stars

I’ll be the first to admit that I have several authors on auto-buy. No matter what the book, I buy it because these authors don’t let me down. They consistently write quality books that keep me entertained and make me happy. Lori Foster is the first person who was on this list. I “discovered” her ages ago and I have since made it my mission to read everything she’s published and considering some of her older books were no longer available that left...more Slick's review posted on Guilty Pleasures

5 Stars

I’ll be the first to admit that I have several authors on auto-buy. No matter what the book, I buy it because these authors don’t let me down. They consistently write quality books that keep me entertained and make me happy. Lori Foster is the first person who was on this list. I “discovered” her ages ago and I have since made it my mission to read everything she’s published and considering some of her older books were no longer available that left me searching online used book sites until I found them. Yes, I’m a little OCD when I set my mind on a task. I have never for a minute regretted buying anything she’s written. So, I am very excited to get to be the one to review the first book in her new series, Love Undercover. For those of you (like me) that are mourning the end of Lori’s Men Who Walk The Edge of Honor series, never fear…you will absolutely not be disappointed in this new series. One more note, over the summer Lori mentioned on Facebook that she’s not into erotica and it’s funny but her books have always felt “erotic” to me so when I read this one I purposely read it with a different eye. She’s right her books aren’t erotic BUT, and this is huge, even though her books aren’t erotic they lead you to that conclusion which just goes to show what a gifted author she is.

Run The Risk is the first book in Lori Foster’s Love Undercover series. In this series one or both of the main characters are using an alias or hiding their identity. Very interesting concept and I found Run The Risk to be extremely exciting, entertaining and of course very sexy!

Pepper Yates (aka Sue Meeks) is in hiding. Over time we find out exactly why she’s hiding and how much danger she is in. She appears to be a wallflower, timid, and maybe even abused. She never lets her guard down, well until Logan. Logan is living next door to her in a building she “manages”. She doesn’t trust him but then she doesn’t really trust anyone and she’s having trouble deciding if the feelings she has around Logan are fear or sexual interest.

Logan Riske (aka Logan Stark) is a police detective and the head of a special task force. His only objective is to find out who murdered his best friend. To do that he must find Rowdy Meeks but when unable to find him, he decides to stick near his sister. Only one problem, he doesn’t expect to start having feelings towards Pepper. He knows it’s bad, he knows it won’t end well, but he just can’t help himself.

One thing I never have to worry about in a book by Lori Foster is that I’ll be enthralled. This story is phenomenal; it has action, drama, romance, sex, a kick ass heroine, and some uber sexy, hot, alpha men. Yes, MEN as in more than one! (But get your mind out of the gutter because I told you she doesn’t write those kinds of books!)

Pepper and her brother Rowdy have been in hiding for some time. Logan along with his partner Reese are determined to solve his friend’s murder. To do that they have to go a little rouge, keep their lieutenant (another strong female character) somewhat in the dark, and keep themselves, Pepper, Rowdy, and Logan’s brother , Dash alive. That’s easier said than done when they are dealing with a corrupt night club owner, several policemen on the take, and human traffickers.

Although I was completely satisfied with the ending of this book, I didn’t want it to end. I kept hitting the forward button on my Kindle hoping the next book would magically appear. Alas, that didn’t happen and I can’t wait for Reese’s story which is up next. From the exciting plot, to a incredible cast of characters, to the engaging dialog; Run the Risk proves to be another spectacular offering from Lori Foster and a remarkable start to this new series. I keep thanking my lucky stars that Lori’s muse keeps her writing, without fail she produces books I love and want to read again and again.(less)

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Sep 05, 2012 Fani rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc-netgalley-to-review, agent-bodyguard-lawman, romantic-suspense, devil-in-disguise, same-old-same-old, secrets-and-misunderstandings, hero-is-good-man, heroine-i-disliked, heroine-i-wanna-shake-or-slap, forgettable, questions-my-intelligence, holes-in-plot, heroine-is-feisty, secondary-romance, cliches-abound, what-does-he-see-in-her

2.5 stars

A well written but otherwise pretty run-of-the-mill romantic suspense that would have earned at least one extra star from me, had the heroine been more likable or dropped her pointless charade at trying to hide her apparently Pamela Anderson-like 'assets', sooner. Her speech about taking out Morton's men, was laughable to say the least, and shows her for the silly, ninja-wanna-be chick she trully is, rather than the strong, fearless woman she thinks herself as:
"She settled her purse in...more 2.5 stars

A well written but otherwise pretty run-of-the-mill romantic suspense that would have earned at least one extra star from me, had the heroine been more likable or dropped her pointless charade at trying to hide her apparently Pamela Anderson-like 'assets', sooner. Her speech about taking out Morton's men, was laughable to say the least, and shows her for the silly, ninja-wanna-be chick she trully is, rather than the strong, fearless woman she thinks herself as:
"She settled her purse in her lap and, without further prompting, said, “I was counting on you to get there in time, but if you didn’t, I would have killed them.”
“Them?” Logan asked.
“Morton Andrews. His bully boys.” She rubbed her palms over the denim covering her thighs. “Anyone in his circle who got in my way.”
When you read such words from an untrained woman's mouth who's carrying only a knife, unless she's named Xhex or Kate Daniels, you can only wonder how's she stayed alive for so long or if she's lost her marbles somewhere along the way.

Also, I don't get, how Pepper after her transformation from homely to a supermodel, said that she was glad to be back to her real self once more. Since, based on her admittance, she used to downplay her looks constantly while working on bars and clubs so as not to attract male attention (yes, she was THAT beautiful it would seem), when did she get to wear the sexy make up, tight jeans and tank tops?

Logan on the other hand was nice, and while he had to trap Pepper to get what he wanted, he genuinely came to care for her (even though I couldn't understand why during the first half). The suspense is stalled for the first half, then moves in a faster pace later, but it really never steals the show. What stole the show for me, was the secondary characters, mainly Reese, Alice and Pepper's brother, who all are likely to get their own books in the future.

Fans of romantic suspense will probably enjoy it anyway, but since it's not my fave genre, I can't give it a thumbs up. Still, I liked the writing enough to give Foster another chance when Reese's book comes out.

ARC provided by NetGalley(less)

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Sep 29, 2012 Crystal ♥ RBtWBC rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-romantic-suspense, length-novel, request-netgalley, best-of-2012, rating-4-star

Neither of them are what they seem, yet despite pretending to be someone their not, they still find love...

All-star author, Lori Foster, puts an intriguing spin on romantic suspense in the debut book for her new series, Love Undercover.

Logan Riske is undercover; looking for answers to the murder of his best friend. Answers that he knows Pepper Yates and her cagey brother can provide. But Pepper has been hiding for a long time and her and her brother are masters at pretending to be someone their...more

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Sep 27, 2012 Helyce rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-for-smexybooks, romantic-suspense

Previously posted: http://smexybooks.com/2012/09/review-...

I am a big fan of Lori Foster’s writing style. Her contemporaries are always written with just the right amount of everything I enjoy to make the story grab me from the first page, so much so that I do not want to put it down. Run The Risk starts her new Love Undercover series and introduces us to the leading men who will each get a book.

Logan Riske is undercover when he moves into an apartment building that he knows Pepper Yates is livi...more Previously posted: http://smexybooks.com/2012/09/review-...

I am a big fan of Lori Foster’s writing style. Her contemporaries are always written with just the right amount of everything I enjoy to make the story grab me from the first page, so much so that I do not want to put it down. Run The Risk starts her new Love Undercover series and introduces us to the leading men who will each get a book.

Logan Riske is undercover when he moves into an apartment building that he knows Pepper Yates is living in under the alias of Sue Meeks. His plan is to get to know her, befriend her and hopefully be able to catch her brother Rowdy when he comes out of hiding. Logan needs Rowdy to testify against Morton Andrews who murdered Logan’s best friend Jack Carmin. Logan believes that Rowdy was an eye witness and that is the one thing they don’t have in the case against Morton Andrews. Pepper, though, is wary and does not want to have anything to do with Logan. She’s been hiding out for a long time and she isn’t willing to do anything that might risk her being found or worse, put her brother in danger. But Logan is everything she likes in a man and she has been without for a long time. As Logan slowly but surely starts to pull Pepper out of her shell, she can’t resist him and they begin what they both agree will be a sex only relationship.

But like anything that starts with lies, especially one as huge as this, shit hits the fan when Logan gets what he’s after and Rowdy comes out of hiding. He gets his man, but has to give up Pepper-something he really isn’t prepared to do. When Pepper realizes that she was just a pawn in Logan’s plans she’s hurt and confused, but she pushes that all aside. She knows that she’s got to do everything in her power to save her brother and she quickly realizes that she has no choice but to join forces with Logan and his crew to bring down the man responsible for all this chaos, Morton Andrews.

Logan and Pepper are a great couple-even with the way they meet and the predictable conflict they incur because of it. Pepper (aka Sue) is hiding out after the incident where Jack Carmin is killed. She has totally uglified herself; no make-up, drab, baggy clothing, and she carries herself so that she gives off a vibe that says, “stay away, don’t talk to me, I’m shy, I don’t like anybody”. But Logan sees past all of that and he is tenacious in his pursuit of her. Yes, initially it was just to meet his end goal-find Rowdy Yates. But it is not long at all before Logan is looking forward to seeing Pepper and vice versa. When Pepper finally gives in and lets Logan get close, it’s one of the strangest and guarded sex scenes I’ve read-while still being really hot at the same time. Logan goes along with it because even though Pepper never gets naked and doesn’t let Logan touch her at all, the sex is like nothing he’s ever experienced with a woman. It was at that point that I really fell for Logan. He falls hard for Pepper’s Sue Meeks persona which was not an especially attractive woman. He saw her in spite of the packaging and I loved that about him.

When Rowdy comes out of hiding, things start to get out of control really fast. Rowdy is taken into custody and Pepper decides that it’s her turn to take care of Rowdy for a change and clear this all up once and for all. She discards her Sue Meeks disguise and when Logan sees her for the first time he is speechless. When certain truths come out and Logan realizes that he never had all the right information to begin with he realizes that he needs to take a different approach to the whole case. But Morton Andrews strikes out immediately forcing Logan, Rowdy and Pepper to again go into hiding.

This is where the story gets so much more intense because you do not know who else is involved. It’s clear that Morton is a really bad guy in every sense of the word and that he has dirty cops on his payroll, but when Logan starts to distrust his own partner, Reese, and also their Lieutenant, the author weaves it so incredibly well that I kept changing my mind on who the bad guy was almost as often as I turned the page. There is a lot of on the edge of your seat excitement here.

And there are surprises that will make you smile. Ms. Foster does a nice job of setting up the couple in the next book, Reese and Alice. Reese is Logan’s partner and Alice is a neighbor of Reese who gets a lot of page time when Reese gets a dog and realizes that he can’t leave it alone in the apartment all day while he’s at work. The fun part is that Alice is more than a little strange. She seems very careful and introverted, but she likes Reese’s dog even if she acts like she doesn’t really care for Reese very much at all. She is so much more than you know and the author gives us a huge hint towards this when Alice’s help is an important part of the final showdown.

The secondary characters have pretty huge roles in this book without taking away anything from the lead couple. The fact that Logan and Pepper meet under a false pretense makes the conflict they incur when she learns who exactly Logan is predictable, but because they both have to put the case and keeping themselves from getting killed first, this issue is handled quickly and in such a way that more focus is placed on the relationship moving forward than on anything negative. Rowdy, Pepper’s brother, is an exciting and unique character that is completely different from what you’d expect when he’s originally introduced. I believe he is the hero of book 3.

The story wraps up with the perfect ending, leaving me very satisfied and content; and also very much looking forward to the next book. (less)

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Oct 01, 2012 Jenifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great start to a new series. I really enjoyed her Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor series and it looks like the new series will be tackling some of the same issues, drugs and human trafficking. Great suspense with this one and while a lot of it follows the usual plot lines, Ms. Foster did a great job in keeping me guessing on who was or wasn't a bad guy till the end. I liked Logan and Pepper together and their first intimate encounter was interesting to say the least. I've read a lot of romance an...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Capri rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cop-undercover-hero, fan-yourself-sex-scenes, part-of-a-series, possessive-hero, protective-hero, romantic-suspense, lori-foster, super-sexy-alpha-hero

Lori Foster is one of my all time favorite authors. I was extremely happy she had a new series coming out. Run The Risk is book #1 in Love Undercover series and is a bit different than her other series, but just as good. It reminded me more of her Men Who Walk The Edge Of Honor series. As always she never disappoints in starting a new series with some sexy alpha male heroes who get your heart pounding. The plot is great with some surprises that you will not be able to turn your e-reader fast eno...more Lori Foster is one of my all time favorite authors. I was extremely happy she had a new series coming out. Run The Risk is book #1 in Love Undercover series and is a bit different than her other series, but just as good. It reminded me more of her Men Who Walk The Edge Of Honor series. As always she never disappoints in starting a new series with some sexy alpha male heroes who get your heart pounding. The plot is great with some surprises that you will not be able to turn your e-reader fast enough.

Logan the hero is the alpha male hero who you will dislike in the beginning, because he will do what ever it takes to get justice towards the man who killed his friend. Rowdy who witness his friends murder is out there and Logan needs him to answer questions about the night his friend was murder. In order to find Rowdy he goes undercover and gets close to Rowdy sister Pepper. What Logan was not expecting was to be attracted to Pepper. He does make up for his actions from the beginning, turning out to be a sexy, sweet, caring and loveable character.

Run The Risk starts off a little slow but still held my interest with Logan and Pepper. Up till about 40% of the book it is Logan being undercover and slowly falling for Pepper. She is a mystery to him that he can not figure out. After she finds out that he is a cop and is using her to get to her brother, is when things really start happening. Wow, never saw a lot of stuff coming. Lori Foster amazed me with the twist and turns in Run The Risk.

I loved Pepper’s character and how she did make Logan grovel enough once she found out about him being undercover. It took her time to forgive him but in the process of him being undercover she was also attracted to him and she has some secrets too. The relationship with her brother is sweet and love their moments together. Once I found out about their upbringing everything they do for each other makes sense and got me teary eyed.

Lori Foster does an amazing job with the secondary characters. Rowdy, Dash and Reese all play a big role in Run The Risk and never take away from Logan’s and Pepper story. Rowdy I adore his love and protectiveness of his sister. I am curious to know when he gets his own story if it will be with the waitress from the club.

Who I am anxious to read about is Reese and Alice. Oh My goodness Reese is sexy, sweet and adorable with his dog Cash. I love how the dog found him and he named him Cash instead of Debt. The reason for the name of his dog is funny and cute. How Cash found him is sad. I love it when he first meets Alice she will not give him the time of day or even smile. The minute she see’s Cash she is smiling, giving attention to him and this has Reese boggled. He knows she is hiding something and it is bugging him. There was just enough of them together you can not help but know they will get their own story and look forward to more of what she is hiding and get more goods on Reese.

Dash is Logan’s brother who is a fun character. He and Logan own a cabin on a lake that they want to be able to go to and just relax. They keep everything on the outside natural so it does not end up being a chore, more of a place where they can relax and go fishing. The friendship brewing between Dash and Pepper is sweet and fun, she even has him pulling weeds at the cabin. I hope in the future books we get more of the cabin and at one point see if Dash will plant wild flowers around it. Lori Foster has a talent for writing beautiful scenery. The time spent at the cabin I felt like I was right there enjoying the lake view.
　
Ending is perfect. All Lori Fosters book have beautiful endings that you are happy to see the main couple get their HEA, but she did one better and gave me something to look forward to in book 2.

I highly recommend Run The Risk for not only Romantic Suspense fans but also Contemporary fans. It is a good mixture of romance and suspense. One never over powers the other. Love the sexy covers and can not wait to see the new cover for the next book to show off on my blog. I look forward to reading the rest of this series and can not wait to see what path the characters take from Run The Risk.

ARC provided by NetGalley for an honest review

originally posted at Wickedly Delicious Book Blog
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Sep 01, 2012 Anna's Herding Cats! rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: foster-lori, police-fbi-rangers-law-enforcement, police-station, ohio, kentucky, hidden-identity, undercover, make-over, on-the-run, 2012, need-review

Originally posted at Herding Cats & Burning Soup

Ooooo fantastic start to a new series by one of my favorite authors!! Run the Risk was a excellent read and a great way to spend an afternoon. The couple was...interesting, the light suspense kept me turning the pages and damn if Foster's secondary characters weren't just to die for.

I loved the set up for Run the Risk. It's got a good gritty storyline of sleazy criminals and police corruption but at the same time never feels too heavy or dark....more Originally posted at Herding Cats & Burning Soup

Ooooo fantastic start to a new series by one of my favorite authors!! Run the Risk was a excellent read and a great way to spend an afternoon. The couple was...interesting, the light suspense kept me turning the pages and damn if Foster's secondary characters weren't just to die for.

I loved the set up for Run the Risk. It's got a good gritty storyline of sleazy criminals and police corruption but at the same time never feels too heavy or dark. Touches of humor throughout kept me laughing and made for such a fun read. The characters were all nicely done as well and none really quite what they seem. I loved not knowing exactly who could be trusted and trying to figure out what they were all really up to. Makes things so much more interesting :) The writing was engaging and so convincing that there were a couple times I felt, right along with the characters, like I'd had the rug pulled our from under my feet as things were revealed. Loved that!

The romance is a little different. Pepper and Logan aren't the most romantic of Foster's couples but, you know, they really worked. There's undeniable chemistry between them and oh man can they heat things up! It was sooooo good! The tension and awkward moments as they tried to figure each other out were fantastic. And individually they're just amazing people. There were times I didn't quite agree with their actions or methods and damn do you know from the very start there's gonna be a HUGE blow up, because of the whole undercover thing, but the whole time I completely respected and understood where they were coming from.

"It's just pizza, Sue." He tipped his head. "I won't pounce on you while you're eating, I promise."

She didn't want to get that close to him again, but she didn't want to look overly foolish, either. "Thank you." She brushed past him and sat.

After trailing the backs of his fingers over her cheek, he took his own seat. "Dig in."

"Thank you," she said again.

He thoughtfully watched her as he ate. "You know, I just had my tongue in your mouth, so you don't have to be so formal."

Pepper gasped--and choked on her pizza.

What I really loved though? The secondary characters. They completely won me over and have me anticipating the hell out of the rest of the series. I'm always impressed by authors that truly know how to work a support cast that grabs your attention but at the same time doesn't overshadow the main couple or storyline. And these guys and gals most definitely caught my attention. Next up is Reese, Logan's partner, and Alice, a carry over from Trace of Fever, who I found very intriguing. I'm dying to know more about her. Then there's Logan's brother Dash who is just so. freaking. hot. He's got that naughty scoundrel thing going on that totally puts a grin on your face. It's going to be torture waiting for his book to come out. Absolute torture ;)

If you love Lori Foster, sexy honorable men and women that are feisty and determined then this is one you won't want to miss out on. It's a fun sexy read with a fabulous cast of characters I can't wait to spend more time with!
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Sep 15, 2012 Lesley (My keeper shelf) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Detective Logan Riske is undercover to finally find the much needed link to his best friends murder. Pepper Yates lives a very secluded and grey life as Sue Meeks never drawing any attention to herself she wears grey baggy clothes, scrapes her mousy hair back each day and quietly lives in the apartment complex run by her brother Rowdy.

Riske needs to find Rowdy who he believes is the eye witness to his friend's murder so Riske places himself as Sue/Pepper's friendly (but hot) neighbour to try to...more Detective Logan Riske is undercover to finally find the much needed link to his best friends murder. Pepper Yates lives a very secluded and grey life as Sue Meeks never drawing any attention to herself she wears grey baggy clothes, scrapes her mousy hair back each day and quietly lives in the apartment complex run by her brother Rowdy.

Riske needs to find Rowdy who he believes is the eye witness to his friend's murder so Riske places himself as Sue/Pepper's friendly (but hot) neighbour to try to gain her trust and confirm Rowdy's whereabouts.

Run the Risk kept me guessing throughout. Like Riske I was pretty intrigued by the mousy "Sue." It's clear that Sue/Pepper is attracted to Riske (well he is hot and deliberately walks about with his shirt off) her lonely life means that she is craving human interaction of the male form and Riske keeps lingering about with that bloody shirt off so what's a girl to do?

Riske's method of investigation were slightly unusual to say the least, his plan was to seduce Sue/Pepper and worm his way into her life. He knows her real name is Pepper but as he doesn't have any old pictures of her he is left wondering what her body is like underneath her shapeless old clothes. As Riske's seduction techniques start to work Sue/Pepper ensures it's on her terms only, Riske definitely had to work undercover as Sue/Pepper insisted the curtains were drawn, lights were off and clothes were kept on when they finally did get down to business and I felt he really deserved bonus points for always remembering her fake name in the throws of passion!

Without giving too much of the story away the fear of police corruption meant that like the main characters I didn't know who to trust or believe either, as a result I changed my mind about more than one character as the story unfolded. I really did enjoy all the twists and turns and mystery. I definitely want to read Reese's book which is up next and hope the mystery of his neighbour and dog walker Alice's background is explored I'm intrigued.

Thanks to Net galley and Harlequin for the opportunity to read and review Run the Risk.
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Oct 09, 2012 Tabby - IMReviews rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: signed-books, books-i-own, favorites, reviewed-for-imr-2012

See full review && more @Insightful Minds

Lori Foster has done it again! Of course, it IS Lori we are talking about, so what did you expect? After all, this review is kind of being written by me - in which I admit - I am a HUGE Lori Foster Fan! After my review of Trace of Fever, I was asked my Lori's pub to be a part of this tour. Like I would turn THAT down! Run the Risk is the first book in her new series entitled, Love Undercover. Now, let me tell you all about this FAB-U-LOUS piece of...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

Thanks to the publisher, Harlequin, and NetGalley for the chance to read this early!

~~ANOTHER FAVORITE 2012 RELEASE~~

Like all of Ms. Foster books it was packed with action, and a smoking hot romance. If you are/were a fan of her Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor
series – then you will love this as they are very similar in style. I loved reading Run the Risk, book #1 in the Love Undercover series by Lori Foster.

The romance between Detective Logan Riske and Pepper Yates is smoking hot. The actual p...more

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May 22, 2013 Christine rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, abandoned, suspense-thriller

Having a bad run with authors I usually like here. This one was...well, maybe 1 star is a bit harsh but I read about 4 chapters and really, really didn't want to read the rest.

The heroine is in hiding. The hero knows who she is and is trying to use her to get to her brother because her brother knows something about a guy he knows who got murdered...that part was okay, I guess. The suspense certainly wasn't enough to get me to keep reading though, especially since these two started having sex wa...more

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Jan 27, 2013 FicTalk Blog rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, reviewed-in-2013, romance

Reviewed by Autumn

Logan Riske is out to find witness Rowdy Yates and bring him in so Morton Andrews can rot in jail for the rest of his life for murdering his friend, Jack Carmin. Rowdy and his sister, Pepper, have been on the run for years because in the past anyone that has even attempted to snitch on Andrews has ended up dead. Logan goes undercover living next door to Sue Meeks, who they believe is Pepper Yates, in an attempt to find out where Rowdy is.

Simple enough set up, right?

I must admit...more

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Dec 02, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, steamy-romance

Loved this book! Obviously, we will get books for Reese and Rowdy, but I'm kind of hoping for a couple more HEAs from characters that we meet along the way.

Detective Logan Fiske is on the case. He's undercover looking to solve a the mystery of who killed his best friend. The lone eyewitness, Rowdy Yates, has disappeared with his sister. In an effort to draw Rowdy out and get to the bottom of what really happened, Logan finds Rowdy's sister while she's in hiding. He makes it his mission to do wha...more

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Nov 25, 2012 Sharon Tyler rated it 4 of 5 stars

Run the Risk is the start of a new romance series, Love Undercover, by Lori Foster. Detective Logan Riske has gone undercover to find Pepper Yates and use her to find her brother Rowdy, who is the key witness needed to solve a murder and bring the man behind it and much more to justice.But Pepper and Rowdy are much more suspicious and in much more danger than Logan was prepared for. Pepper knows well that lives at at risk. and the only way to guarantee anyone's safety is to trust no one, make no...more

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Nov 09, 2012 ♥Laddie♥ marked it as dnf

Dear Ms.Foster,

I have been a big fan of your writing for quite a while. Jude's Law is one of my favorite romance novels. A funny thing has happened though. After your first book in the Men of Honor series I've DNF'd three or four of your books so far.

Why? Well, I can tell you why this one has been sitting unfinished like a sad puppy on my dresser since its release day.

1.) Pepper Yates. For some reason I could not stand Pepper. I understood why she was waffling and that she had a secret that ha...more Dear Ms.Foster,

I have been a big fan of your writing for quite a while. Jude's Law is one of my favorite romance novels. A funny thing has happened though. After your first book in the Men of Honor series I've DNF'd three or four of your books so far.

Why? Well, I can tell you why this one has been sitting unfinished like a sad puppy on my dresser since its release day.

1.) Pepper Yates. For some reason I could not stand Pepper. I understood why she was waffling and that she had a secret that had her living in hiding. Here's the thing though (and this might sound weird) there was too much time spent with the reader being completely in the dark about WHY Pepper was in hiding. There was not one hint about what was going on, so all you get is a woman who's waffling in between what she wants to do and what she can't do. It was ANNOYING.

2.) This thing Pepper has about Logan not seeing her body. It leads to some of the most awkward and unsexiest sex I've read. Logan gets naked but Pepper is fully clothed. Also, Logan is not allowed to touch her and he thinks it's the hottest thing ever. Are you smoking crack, Logan? You're basically screwing a fully clothed mannequin who all but throws you out before the last spurt of cum has even left your body. Maybe that's sexy for a...well, I can't think of anyone who would find that the least bit arousing.

3.) Pepper's brother. I can't decide if him watching Pepper's house was creepy or sweetly protective. How many hours a day is the dude casing the joint? He seems to know everything she does but before Logan comes along, Pepper really wasn't doing much of anything.

These three reasons made the book feel kind of ridiculous and tiring to me. I didn't care enough to read on and skipped ahead to see how much longer Pepper's secret would be, well...a secret. It was too long for me, so I just gave up.

I'll probably continue to buy your books, Ms.Foster, because I still have hope. Your earlier stuff works really well for me but these new books you're turning out are kind of letting me down. On to the next one I guess...or maybe I'll try your paranormal stuff.(less)

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Nov 02, 2012 Allizabeth Collins rated it 4 of 5 stars

Review:

I was impressed with the first Lori Foster book I read, Perfect Storm, with its fast-paced action, page-turning suspense, heated romance, and witty repartee, but I had a lot more fun reading Run the Risk! I was surprised how easy it was to get lost in the characters and the well-woven story-line, particularly Pepper's. I usually do not prefer romances, but the suspense aspect, as well as the atypical setting and plot-line proved quite entertaining. From what I have read, Lori Foster seems...more

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Nov 01, 2012 Shan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have been a fan of Lori's work for quite a while and she never ceases to amaze me. I loved this book, which you can probably tell from my first sentence. lol.

Anyway, I am a huge fan of romances with sexy alphas and confident heroines. This book had them both and laid the foundation for quite a few sequels.

Pepper finds herself having to basically hide out and while doing so she meets and has the hots for her sexy neighbor. All along not realizing that Logan has actually placed himself there b...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Patti Loves FAB Romance rated it 3 of 5 stars

PJV Quickie: While I wasn’t in love with the main characters, Run the Risk has lots of action, some hot smexin’ and great secondary characters that have me interested in seeing where this series goes.

Pepper Yates is a woman in hiding; her brother Rowdy was witness to a murder and the bad guys will stop at nothing to silence him. Pepper and Rowdy have been on their own for so long, all they have is each other. She knows she must stay hidden to keep them both safe, but she misses having a regular...more PJV Quickie: While I wasn’t in love with the main characters, Run the Risk has lots of action, some hot smexin’ and great secondary characters that have me interested in seeing where this series goes.

Pepper Yates is a woman in hiding; her brother Rowdy was witness to a murder and the bad guys will stop at nothing to silence him. Pepper and Rowdy have been on their own for so long, all they have is each other. She knows she must stay hidden to keep them both safe, but she misses having a regular life and all that goes with it, especially basic human contact.

Logan Riske’s best friend was murdered and he is determined to find the only witness to the crime. He can’t trust anyone, as crooked cops are working against him; he doesn’t even know if he can trust his own partner. When the story opens, he’s tracked Rowdy’s mousy sister Pepper, and has gone undercover to try use her to find Rowdy. What he doesn’t expect is to develop feelings for Pepper, and his quest for justice battles his urge to keep her safe…
_____

Having heard great things about Lori Foster’s books, I was thrilled when I was given the opportunity to read and review her latest release, Run the Risk. I have mixed feelings about Run the Risk: While I did enjoy it, I wasn’t blown away. Pepper and Logan just didn’t hit it for me. Pepper has been living in hiding for two years, and suddenly falls into a sort-of relationship with the hunky ‘construction worker’ next door? Then he betrays her and she uses sex as retaliation? To me, a lot of her actions were just strange and even for someone in hiding seemed inconsistent and at times, pointless. Logan’s ‘take one for the team’ attitude was less confusing: he might have questioned her strange requirements for having sex, but hey, he’s a guy – he went for it anyway! Ultimately, I thought their relationship moved forward too quickly, and was too intense for the time frame involved.

Run the Risk felt like two distinct halves: The first half of the book was the set up to Logan finding Rowdy. The second half was keeping Pepper safe after they’re outed. Once Logan finds Rowdy the story changes, the action picks up, and the secondary characters shine. Logan’s partner Reese and Pepper’s brother Rowdy both seem to have interesting stories and kept me coming back to see what was going to happen. Ms. Foster gives a nice set-up for their future love interests; I think these ladies are going to make them work for their HEAs, lol. I’m also intrigued by Logan’s brother Dash; I’m not sure if he’s going to get a story but I hope so; I liked him.

So, as I mentioned above, this was my first read by Lori Foster, and while I was a bit disappointed with the main story, I am very intrigued by the secondary characters and am looking forward to reading Reese’s book, Bare It All.

Fans of Romantic Suspense will enjoy the twists and turns, trying to decide who to trust and rooting for the good guys.(less)

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Oct 13, 2012 Beverly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Fantastic read! I loved the characters. The characters have been carefully created with intricate personality traits and characteristics that make them seem so real that I found myself instantly attached emotionally. Even the "bad" guys are so well made that they too got instant reactions. Pepper and Logan are great, but Rowdy is probably my favorite. His dedication to Pepper and his willingness to sacrifice to keep her safe. Which is ironic when you think about the fact that Logan is willing to...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Marlene rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-romances-challenge

Originally published at Reading Reality

Everyone in this story is hiding something. Or someone. Or themselves. Make that all of the above.

But it's the assumptions that surround the case that trip everyone, including Detective Logan Riske, up, over and over again. Especially his initial assumption that he can sweet-talk the elusive sister of his material witness without getting involved himself.

Everyone assumes that Pepper's brother, Rowdy Yates, was the witness to a murder committed by corrupt ni...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Marquetta (LoveToReadForFun) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: rom-suspense, for-review

I enjoyed Foster's previous series, The Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor and was excited to see a somewhat spin-off of that series.

I had several problems with Run the Risk with the main one being Pepper. I liked her as a character but her transformation from mousy, plain Jane to a confidant, hot sexpot was hard to swallow. Although Pepper is undercover, I felt that we never saw that other side of her, even during parts of the story that were told from her POV. She stayed in character the entire ti...more I enjoyed Foster's previous series, The Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor and was excited to see a somewhat spin-off of that series.

I had several problems with Run the Risk with the main one being Pepper. I liked her as a character but her transformation from mousy, plain Jane to a confidant, hot sexpot was hard to swallow. Although Pepper is undercover, I felt that we never saw that other side of her, even during parts of the story that were told from her POV. She stayed in character the entire time. So the minute she's no longer undercover and she's like, hey world here I am! I found it hard to believe. It would have been nice to see some of that fire before.I actually liked the fake Pepper (posing as Sue Meeks) more than the real Pepper. Her character was more well-rounded, more developed and sympathetic. Pepper was a one-trick pony in my opinion and any sympathy I had for her situation quickly evaporated.

Logan did not stand out like the men of the previous series. He wasn't alpha. I guess he's just a good guy doing his job. Pepper was more alpha than Logan.

The overall plot didn't have that much meat. A crime was witnessed which is why Pepper is in hiding. Logan's best friend was murdered and he's trying to solve the case which is why he's cozying up to Pepper to get to her brother, Rowdy (lord, these names). There's crooked cops, you don't know who to trust but there was no suspense. Who were the cops that were on the bad guy's payroll? I felt that the big climax wrapped up too fast and was too neat. I was hoping that Logan would be portrayed by someone he trusted (that's the feeling I got while reading it. That's why I thought the plot was leading to) and was sorely disappointed.

Rowdy and Reese (again with the Rs!) were the most interesting characters in the overall story. I will read Reese's book because his character is so interesting and I can't wait to find out what secrets his neighbor, Alice, is hiding. Hopefully, like the Men series, I hope the Love Undercover series will get better with each book.

2.5 stars(less)

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Oct 07, 2012 Monique Atgood rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read the first few chapters on an on-line a teaser/preview. When the novel arrived from Amazon, I thought I’d skim over the part I’d read, and get on with it. Unn huh. I discovered this novel was juicy and deep the second time around. It was so enjoyable to re-read the blossoming relationship with Logan and Pepper that I forgot about skimming, and settled down to relish an encore. The hero and heroine really seem to smoke up the pages as they get to know each other.

SYNOPSIS:
Hero undercover cop...more I read the first few chapters on an on-line a teaser/preview. When the novel arrived from Amazon, I thought I’d skim over the part I’d read, and get on with it. Unn huh. I discovered this novel was juicy and deep the second time around. It was so enjoyable to re-read the blossoming relationship with Logan and Pepper that I forgot about skimming, and settled down to relish an encore. The hero and heroine really seem to smoke up the pages as they get to know each other.

SYNOPSIS:
Hero undercover cop Logan has finally located the sister of the elusive Rowdy Yates. Find the sister, find Yates. Find Yates a highly sought skittish eye-witness, and Logan can crack the case on who murdered his best friend. Logan cozies up to the sister, planning to use her in any (AND I do mean ANY!) way to get info from her on the whereabouts of the brother.

Logan is rich and handsome and falls head over heals in love with the spitfire hellcat from the wrong side of the tracks.

Pepper is a strong self sufficient, loyal to a fault kind of character. You can imagine she doesn’t take kindly to being used by Logan to locate her brother.

PROS:
Loved the book. Love (almost) everything Foster writes. I met her at an author convention, and she is awesome and down to earth and brilliant, and just peachy. She writes in the escapist, romance suspense genre (although I tried talking her into trying her hand at a sci-fi novel - to no avail, grrrr!!!). I recommend buying all her books.

The cover! Nice......!

This one is also setting itself up for at least two other stories, on for Rowdy Yates and a certain mysterious red head, and one for Logan’s partner and the unknown next-door, ‘Alice ... Something’. I can’t wait to read their stories.

CONS:
Unfortunately, the story line about corruption, fizzled out. Without giving away a spoiler, apparently cops pulling the trigger on city counsel men doesn’t draw the ire of anyone. This was not properly resolved, nor given the attention it would normally draw.

The whole reason for Logan stalking Pepper in the first place was to nail the person who killed his best friend. Um... Wouldn’t that include the trigger man too, not just the guy who ordered the hit?

Go buy this book and enjoy. (less)

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Sep 29, 2012 Teri rated it 3 of 5 stars

It was a Risk, that's for sure.....

Logan Risk is a detective, working undercover as a construction worker. He lives in an apartment next to Sue Meeks, Aka: Pepper Yates who is passing herself off as a dowdy woman, in baggy clothes, no makeup and skinned back hair in a ratty ponytail. Her brother Rowdy is believed to be a witness to the murder of Logan’s best friend. Logan is prepared to use Pepper in any way he can, to get to Rowdy, and solve the murder. There is some corruption on the local pol...more It was a Risk, that's for sure.....

Logan Risk is a detective, working undercover as a construction worker. He lives in an apartment next to Sue Meeks, Aka: Pepper Yates who is passing herself off as a dowdy woman, in baggy clothes, no makeup and skinned back hair in a ratty ponytail. Her brother Rowdy is believed to be a witness to the murder of Logan’s best friend. Logan is prepared to use Pepper in any way he can, to get to Rowdy, and solve the murder. There is some corruption on the local police force too, so Logan isn’t really sure who he can trust, other than his partner Reece.

Logan and Pepper have dinner together at the apartment. At this point, Pepper feels something for Logan. We know early on that Logan is going to use Pepper, but the uninspired sex that results from this dinner together left me wondering what was wrong with Logan, that he found it to be amazing and can’t wait to come back for more. What was even more confusing to me was why Pepper went to such extremes to totally change her naturally bodacious body (picture Kim K here for a minute) to the frumpy woman she appears to be. Then, on top of that she has zero personality. Seriously, early on Pepper has trouble stringing an entire sentence together when Logan is around. There are those who probably think it’s funny she is so tongue tied around Logan, but given the woman she morphs into at the halfway point led me to believe that she just wasn’t going to be all that great of a heroine. Sadly, not much changed for me there as the book goes forward. She has her share of TSTL moments, especially when she voices her opinion to Logan that she would have taken down all the bad guys. How she would accomplish that, I really haven’t a clue. And last but not least, I’m still not convinced that Pepper loves Logan more than Rowdy! She thinks she loves Logan because he realizes how much her brother means to her. Just because “the only Risk Logan wants her to take is his last name” means she loves him. I need to be convinced!

We are looking at criminal, Morton Andrews, with mob ties, as the killer. There are some pretty good suspenseful moments, once Pepper and Rowdy’s cover is blown. Reese lends much support to his partner in solving the crime, along with dealing with corruption within the police department. For many chapters, you have no idea who to trust, and that includes Lt. Margaret Peterson. Another unrealistic character, who at the ripe old age of 32 is a ball buster who has seen and done it all! Another eye rolling moment for me was the fact that Rowdy and Pepper mosey 40 miles down the road, the next county over, to hide from Morton. You know, the guy with mob ties, who is also suspected to be in on human trafficking too. Wouldn’t you move to the east or west coast to get as far as possible from this guy??

Reese , Logan’s partner, and his brother Dash are both intriguing secondary characters. Reese befriends quiet Grace, who lives in his apartment complex. She agrees to watch Reese’s dog since he works such long hours, and very slowly over the course of the book they become friends. Dash owns the construction business Logan pretends to work at. Both Dash and Logan come from a wealthy family, but they prefer to work for their living. Dash is the guy to die for, so I certainly hope he gets a book of his own! Rowdy probably will too, although the way he ran Pepper’s life, I am not really overly endeared enough to him to want to read an entire book about him.

All in all, the second half of this book redeems it – somewhat. I had to suspend my belief too many times for me to tag this with a higher rating. I have been a Lori Foster fan since her first book, many years ago. None of the primary characters in this book came close to what I know to be her best work. After I finished The Perfect Storm, I had some serious misgivings about the heroine in that book, and wondered if she is trying to appeal to new age group of readers? I know our reading choices differ from time to time, but I am not being totally sucked in to Lori ‘s books like in the past. And that makes me really sad! (less)

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Sep 27, 2012 Felicia rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-read, physical-owned, physical-arc, 3-75-wine-glasses

Read for Blog Tour
Overall Rating 3.75
Story Rating: 3.75
Character Rating: 3.75

Breaking it down a little more to understand why I say stick with the story despite the not strong beginning.

First Half Rating: 2.50 (pacing, character likability)
Second Half Rating: 5.00 (everything comes together)

First Thought when Finished: Run the Risk has an explosive last half that will make you want the next books in the series NOW!

What I Thought about the Story: Run the Risk is the story of a woman (Pepper) and...more Read for Blog Tour
Overall Rating 3.75
Story Rating: 3.75
Character Rating: 3.75

Breaking it down a little more to understand why I say stick with the story despite the not strong beginning.

First Half Rating: 2.50 (pacing, character likability)
Second Half Rating: 5.00 (everything comes together)

First Thought when Finished: Run the Risk has an explosive last half that will make you want the next books in the series NOW!

What I Thought about the Story: Run the Risk is the story of a woman (Pepper) and her brother(Rowdy). They (one of them not saying who) witness a murder and now are on the run. Next you throw into the mix the best friend of the victim, Detective Logan Riske, and his unstoppable quest for justice (or revenge)and you have got a story that is boiling with excitement. I really felt that Run the Risk hit it's stride at about the halfway point. I love Lori Foster's writing (especially her Romantic Suspense) and feel like this book was a great setup for the rest of the series. The case was solid, the introductions of future lead characters spectacular, and it was just the pacing (in the first half) that was a little off for me.

What I Thought of the Characters: Run the Risk is centered around Pepper (Sue) and Logan. While I liked their characters individually, it took awhile for me to feel the connection between them. Pepper is strong, smart, and willing to do anything to stay under the radar (frumpy look, downtrodden personality). Logan is loyal, hot-headed, and willing to do anything for justice (seduce the frumpy girl, pretend to work construction). In the beginning this is a problem because what Logan wants and Pepper wants clashes. I think my biggest problem with the romance was that I didn't buy the "insta" attraction because of how far Pepper was going to "hide". Once Pepper was back to being herself though, I felt their chemistry was off the charts. Again, once you hit that 2nd half the story just kind of all falls into place. The best characters were Rowdy, Reese, Alice, Peterson (spelling), and Dash! I think this book did a great job of setting up all those characters. I can't wait till their books come out (next year---so sad)!

Final Thought: Run the Risk was a really good introduction book to the rest of the Love Undercover series. I think fans of Lori Foster will end up adoring this series!

(less)

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Sep 15, 2012 Rhonda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Run the Risk by Lori Foster
4 STARS In Run the Risk is the first of a series called Love Undercover. It has lots of twists and turns. Was not sure who all the good guys and bad guys were till the end of the book, it kept me guessing. Detective Logan Riske is going undercover working in construction in his brother's company. He moved into a apartment next to Pepper Yates who is posing as dowdy Sue Leeks apartment manager. Logan is determined to find Rusty Yates who witnessed a murder of his good...more

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Book Giveaways: GIVEAWAY: Run the Risk by Lori Foster	1	3	Oct 18, 2012 09:16am
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Lori Foster Kicks Off New Series With Her Sexy New Release	1	18	Sep 25, 2012 08:57am

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Run the Risk (Love Undercover #1)

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