It Takes a Cat Burglar by Cailin Briste (review)

It Takes a Cat Burglar
by
Cailin Briste

Blurb:

When Darcelle Lebeau throws off the invisible chains that keep her bound to her family, she discovers a new vocation. Tempted to enter the illegal playground of a man she nicknames Matou, she becomes a cat burglar in training. Deeply ensnared with each task he entices her to fulfill, she fails to discover his identity and true intentions.

Sebastian St. Croix, a wealthy businessman, has a dark side. He’s a thief, a cat burglar who steals art and historical objects. For one year, he trains Darcelle to become his assistant, remaining incognito, observing her from afar. His admiration grows along with his desire for her with every phase-one challenge she completes. Phase two will test the limits of his control. Hands-on personal training? Yes. Sex? No. With his sister’s happiness at stake, nothing, not even the tempting Darcelle Lebeau, can interfere with accomplishing the biggest break-in of his career.

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My review

3.75 out of 5 stars

It Takes a Cat Burglar by Cailin Briste is an adult science fiction romantic suspense story. There are breathtaking feats that made me instantly fascinated by Darcelle, who lives a remarkable double life. The gradual revelation of setting and background and the mysterious and sexy mentor, Sebastian, was a nice and somewhat unexpected twist. I love the cat references, sure to appeal to an ailurophile, and I’d be interested in learning more about the Abyssinian connection and whether Darcelle’s nickname is accurate in more ways than one. I would have liked a little more world-building, because it took a little while for me to realize this wasn’t set on a world I was familiar with, until I noticed some of the tools used and treatments available were somewhat futuristic. There are sizzling scenes but I wasn’t positive I was convinced of the attraction at first because it seemed to be a little insta-love, at least from her side since she initially didn’t even know him as anything other than a mysterious mentor. The characters aren’t as thoroughly fleshed-out as I would like, but I suspect that is because this is the introduction to the series and the author wants one to learn about the secondary characters in future stories.

This is a fun light read that introduces some engaging characters and I look forward to learning more about these folks and their goals.

A copy of this story was provided to me for review