Beauty and the Badge by Ella Fox - Book Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

Beauty and the Badge (Charlotte’s Cove Book 1) by Ella Fox

Standalone. First in a Related Series. Sexy Small Town Romance.

Ella Fox was gracious enough to provide our entire book club with copies of Beauty and the Badge for our first meet-up. It was just the kind of thing we were looking for for our first read…light and HOT.

Ashley is an assistant to the worlds biggest bitch in LA. She hates her life and she is treated like dirt by her boss. When she is held up at gunpoint, she decides enough is enough and takes off to her favorite place in the world, Charlottes Cove, where she grew up visiting her grandfather.

“My grandfather used to joke that it was like I was called to the island, and I’d have to agree. There’s magic here.”

It’s perfect timing, because the receptionist for the Charlotte’s Cove police just retired and they need a new one. But there is one problem…or not.

“Oh wow. Of course the hottest guy I’ve ever seen on the island—or anywhere else, for that matter—just has to be my boss.”

Tyler is the police chief of Charlottes Cove, and he’s crazy about her from the minute she walks in.

“I want you, Ashley. All the fucking time, you’re what I’m thinking about.”

He’s got that bossy, alpha quality that I just love.

Unfortunately a past mistake has come back to haunt him…and her, and it’s a character you love to hate. Fortunately it’s easy to not hold it against him, because he is a sexy dirty-talking alpha that says all the right things.

“How a woman who looks like you, rocks a body the way you do, and stays sweet the way you have is beyond me. You’re the shit, and you don’t even know it.”

Likes:

A small-town romance with all the meddling oldies.
Characters you love to hate.
Characters you want to read more about.
A hot dirty talker.
Some good sexy times.
A little suspense to add some more spice.

Dislikes:

Just a little too light and formulaic for me, kind of felt like a Hallmark movie.
The dirty talking (which I usually love) seemed a bit out of place and it started too early in their relationship.

The Down & Dirty:

Beauty and the Badge by Ella Fox is a light and sexy small-town romance with all that entails…quirky characters, meddling oldies, and a sexy police chief. It was cute. I enjoyed it, but it never screamed at me to read it. It didn’t stick with me the way I would have liked. It felt like a quick novella instead of a full-length novel, but I am curious about some of the other characters, especially the female police officer, so I think I will continue with the series.

The Book Club Opinion: We were all kind of unanimous in the 3.5 star rating with a few outliers in both directions. To be fair though, our group has a lot of women who prefer darker romance.

If sexy and sweet small-town romance is your thing, I think you’ll really enjoy Beauty and the Badge by Ella Fox.