Caroline is on the hunt – for a male stripper. She is in charge of her best friend’s bachelorette party and even though Mollie has expressly stated no strippers…well, what’s a hen night without a man to ogle? Caroline hits the city’s only all male strip club, Strippendale’s, only to be disappointed by the…talent on offer. Good grief, no wonder the audience is so thin on the ground! It’s only when she’s leaving that a promising stud enters stage right, and his routine has Caroline drooling and determined to book him. Only, she hadn’t counted on his being an undercover vice cop – who promptly arrests her for solicitation!

Tony noticed the redhead as soon as he stepped foot on stage. When she came back to the dressing room, it was all he could do to keep his tongue in his mouth. Then she propositioned him and…well, duty first. Only later does he come to realize his grievous error. Caroline wasn’t soliciting him for sex; she was trying to hire him as a stripper for a bachelorette party. Now, following a false arrest and a masseuse business that’s rapidly losing clients as a result, pursuing a personal relationship is looking unlikely, to say the least. Throw in Caroline’s past and it’s looking like an uphill struggle to make contact, let alone get her to agree to a date. Is Caroline the type to hold a grudge? Is Tony man enough to overcome her trust issues and humiliation?

Strip Tease, the sequel to Kate Davies’ Taking The Cake, is a novella I have been waiting for since I first became aware that it was going to debut. Heck, I coveted Caroline’s story even before that, having first met her in Taking The Cake, Mollie’s story. Eagle-eyed, I watched and waited. Finally, my impatience paid off. Strip Tease was in my hands…only for life to delay my reading of the tale itself *grimace*. But at long last (or, at least, what seems like at long last) I not only have it my hands, but I have devoured it. And I am pleased to announce, I have not been disappointed! This feisty novella kept me reading, interested and smiling. When Caroline was arrested, I cringed in sympathy. I half wished she would sue for false arrest. Certainly, that would have taught Tony to be a tad more careful before he arrests someone. Though a novella, the tale doesn’t lack for anything, nor does it seem rushed. Rather, it is well paced, with well drawn out emotions and feelings. Each character is well developed, and I loved Tony’s family (though like Caroline I doubt could keep them straight in my mind, big and boisterous as they are). There is sex, it does get described, but apart from some handcuffs, it’s all fairly traditional. Bravo, Ms. Davies, on another book excellently written!

Reviewed by: Elizabeth