Before I start this review, I should preface it with the fact that this book deals with some sensitive issues. There is a “child in peril” story, though it’s through the hero’s memory rather than actively played out. There is mention of police violence – a fellow cop is suspended for shooting an unarmed homeless man. This isn’t integral to the overall storyline, but given recent events, I feel like it’s worth mentioning. Plus the hero’s backstory includes the death of a police officer and the death of a child.

That being said, I really loved this book. It’s a nice break from the insta-love/lust that I’ve been reading lately, and I appreciated that the romance was the payoff of the book, rather than it being the driving force to deal with outside, external issues. This is a slow romance, too. No wham, bam, thank you ma’ams here. And admittedly, I spent a good portion of the book grinning like an idiot on the subway. I’ll give it to Layne; she can write some great dialogue.

Officer Luc Moretti is now a national celebrity after being caught on camera saving a little girl, his heroic rescue racking up views on YouTube and making the rounds in the news. Ava Sims is trying to nab a big story that’ll help her become New York’s most important anchorwoman, and doing a three-part series on America’s latest hero is just how she plans to do it. Needing the good publicity, the higher ups at the department allow Ava and her cameras to shadow Luc for a while to gather additional footage as she gets to know the officer.

However, Ava and Luc know each other previously. He gave her news van a parking ticket three years earlier. A ticket that she still hasn’t paid. In fact, she even gives the damn thing back to him upon their reunion to break the news about his upcoming camera time.

The romance is sassy. That’s the best way I can describe it. It’s funny and whip smart, and Luc and Ava are evenly matched, giving as good as they get. At first, Luc is very resistant to Ava’s intrusion into his personal life, especially given the skeletons lurking in his closet, as he blames himself for his partner’s death. But funnily enough, the biggest bombshell lurking in Luc’s past is of no fault of his own. I won’t spoil what it is, but I really loved that mini-twist element Layne threw in, rather than having the reader be in on everything from the get go.

The growth between Luc and Ava from butting heads to reluctant friends to something more is so gradual. To me, it never felt rushed or like the romance came out of left field. Finally seeing Luc actually flirt with Ava produced an unstoppable case of Good Book Noises™.

“Say what you want, Sims. I think we both know this whole thing is all because you’ve been pining for me for three long years since the parking ticket incident.”

“Yes, that’s definitely it,” she said, knowing he was letting her off the hook. “I spent three years in the prime of my life lusting after a traffic patrol office who gave my news van a parking ticket, and decided that rather than just call him up and ask him out on a date, I’d mastermind a national television series on him.”

Luc nodded. “I like a woman that goes after what she wants. As long as she’s gorgeous and what she wants is me.”

Ava refused to let herself blush because he called her gorgeous. It was a line. She knew it was a line. And yet…

“I never said I want you,” she said.

“You didn’t have to, Sims.” He winked. “It’s all right there in your eyes, baby. All in the eyes.”

Everything just seems so playful and natural between the two of them. Not forced. Or overly dramatic, though I do love me a generous helping of angst from time to time.

The secondary characters in Frisk Me are also worthy of a mention. Ava’s family is full of what I like to call “garbage people” so they don’t get a mention for being awful. However, Luc’s family is a riot and his siblings are the heroes (and heroine, if his sister gets a book) of future installments. He comes from a big Italian family and he’s the baby. He has three brothers and a sister. His brothers all work in law enforcement and his father is a former police chief. His sister, much to everyone’s chagrin, is a defense attorney. There is also his mother, who is the traditional “iron fist in a velvet glove” Italian mom, a figure I am too familiar with (where did you think I got this beautiful hair?). But the star of the show is Nonna, his grandmother.

She is a damn pistol. She does hot yoga with her granddaughter, talks about her sex life after the death of her husband, and is just an all around badass. A meddling badass. But a badass nonetheless. She reminds me a lot of my great grandmother who also lived in Long Island, though she passed away February of last year. My great grandma Gladys got her first tattoo at seventy: a flower & butterfly combo on her boob.

The end of the book ultimately pits Ava’s newfound love against her career goals, and I’m still on the fence about this. Her success rests on revealing the big secret related to Luc’s previous tragedy. He knows she knows. He knows what her career means to her, that it’s what she needs to prove something to herself and her parents. So he lets her drop that bomb. But yet, he’s upset about it. It’s like telling someone you don’t want a present for [insert a holiday here] and being mad when they actually don’t get you one. It was a little immature on Luc’s part, but then again, I suppose that adds to the character growth when he realizes what an ass he was.

It also doesn’t hurt to have a push from Mama Maria Moretti either.

“Did you know at first meeting that you liked her?”

Luc snorted. “The first time I met Ava Sims was when she was ripping me a new one for writing her a parking ticket.”

“But did you like her?” Maria pressed.

Luc opened his mouth, but shut it just as quickly.

It didn’t matter. His mom read his mind anyway and laughed gustily. “You liked the way she looked.”

“Well it certainly wasn’t her respect for traffic laws,” he muttered.

“Don’t discount physical chemistry,” his mother said with a smug smile. “When I first saw your father…”

Luc lifted a hand. “Nope. Just…no. We’re not doing that. And don’t tell me that you were sold on Ava Sims after one meeting because she’s gorgeous. That works on a hot-blooded single man, not his married mother.”

“No,” his mother mused. “I mean, yes, she’s very beautiful, but that’s not why I liked her.”

“Oh, do tell,” Luc said half-sarcastically. “Was it the way she totally sucked up to everyone in this house, because I’ve gotta tell ya—“

“It was the way you looked at her.”

The hero of the next book is Anthony Moretti. His love interest in a new waitress at the Moretti family’s favorite diner. She’s a little clumsy and spills a lot of things on Anthony; his mom thinks it’s because the woman is intimated by him. However, her backstory alludes to a previous abusive marriage. There was a nice excerpt at the back of my ARC. However, I’m not too sure on it since it didn’t grab me as much as this one. That being said, I’ll most likely give it a try just to get more of Layne’s writing.

A good romance reminds us of the people we know. Real people. So I take that as a testament to Layne’s writing and how well we relate and respond to certain characters. I look forward to more of Nonna and the Moretti family in general.