Review – Sweet Southern Betrayal by Robin Covington

Publisher: Entangled
Publish Date: Out now
How I got this book: eARC from publisher

Privileged and ambitious attorney Teague Elliott is on the fast-track to getting everything he wants. All he has to do is stay on the straight and narrow and a high-profile political career is his for the taking. Until he wakes up naked with a Vegas showgirl…

Risa Clay has worked hard to put her showgirl past behind her and start fresh. But she owes ten grand to the wrong people, and to pay off her debt, she agrees to betray a stranger. . .but she ends up with a husband and guilty conscience.

Savvy and determined, she double-crosses the mob, goes on the run, and turns up on Teague’s doorstep armed with a dangerous secret, a marriage license, and the power to ruin his well-planned future. She thought using Teague again would be easy, but the passion that exploded between them in Vegas didn’t stay in Sin City and betrayal is the last thing on her mind.

Now Teague has to choose between the future he’s planned for all his life, or the one with Risa that he can’t turn away from.
*Blurb from Goodreads*

When I read my first Covington book last year, I knew that she would become an auto-buy author for me. When I got the chance to be a part of the blog tour for this release, I jumped at the chance to read more!

Teague has big plans for himself: partner in his law firm, and a political career he hopes to take all the way to the White House. All he has to do is continue on the path he has already laid out for himself, the straight and narrow that leaves no room for drunken Vegas antics. Too bad he wakes up naked next to a Vegas Showgirl. Teague isn’t worried about anything coming of it, until Risa shows up at his door and informs him they were married.

Risa got in deep with the wrong people, and trapping Teague into a compromising position was going to be enough to get her out. But Risa can’t do that to the sweet and sexy stranger. After just a short time with Teague, Risa knows she will have to think of something else to get out of the hole with the mob boss she owes money too, because even though she falls head over heels, she knows that a Vegas Showgirl isn’t exactly the kind of woman Teague wants as his first lady.

I loved the premise of this book, but I have to admit that coming in without having read the previous two kinda threw me off. There were times I just knew that had I started reading the series at the very beginning, I would have understood the characters, the town, and the situations better than I did. That’s not to say I wasn’t able to get the jist of what was going on, however I know I would have had an even deeper understanding if I wouldn’t have joined the series on book three.

However, I did find myself adoring this group of guys and the small town they are all originally from. I’m definitely going to have to go back and read the previous books in the series, because I would love to get more backstory about all the characters we saw popping up. The secondary cast was such a fun and supportive group of people, and I adored them all so much!

For me, Risa was the shining star in this book. Her determination to pick herself up and make something out of her life was wonderful to see. Especially in the face of so many people looking down on her because of it. I wanted to hug and applaud her every time she held her head high, despite the numerous times others tried to beat her down. She was so strong and driven and focused on doing the right thing, even if her options were limited. I thought she was such a wonderful heroine, and I sincerely hope we get to see more of her in the future.

While I enjoyed Teague, there were a few moments when I really couldn’t stand the guy. He was so wrapped up in his own goals, his own dreams, his own future political aspirations that he really had a hard time seeing above and beyond that. There was a scene when one of his best friends kinda puts Teague in his place, reminding him of how narrow minded and dickish he’s been, and I loved watching the lightbulb go on over his head. It was a wonderful moment to literally see Teague realize how wrong he has been. That and his groveling really helped make up for some of that asshat behavior.

The romance between these two was too cute. I adored the fact that they were both so level headed about their night in Vegas, and how mature they were about handling their drunken marriage. The sparks were definitely flying with these two, and I loved the fact that throughout most of their relationship, they really were so on the same page about what they both wanted, what the expected, and what they wanted to gain from their relationship. It is always refreshing to read those kinds of romances, and I thought Covington did a wonderful job with it.

All in all I enjoyed the third book in The Boys are Back in Town series, I am definitely going to go back and read the previous books to further my understanding of the series. I loved Risa, and Teague more than made up for his jerk moments. I thought the romance was wonderful, and I’m anxious to see which bad boy gets his HEA next.
I give Sweet Southern Betrayal a B-

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