Reviewed by Valerie 

TITLE: Atlas

SERIES: Mike Bravo Ops #3 

AUTHOR: Eden Finley

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

LENGTH: 261 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 8, 2023

BLURB:   

ATLAS

Working undercover at a strip club is not my usual kind of job. If it weren’t a great opportunity to show the Mike Bravo team I can run my own op, I wouldn’t have agreed to it.

When my boss asks me to befriend the biggest gossip in the establishment, the person who knows everything, I’m even more reluctant. Because that happens to be one of the dancers. The only dancer to catch my attention in all the wrong ways.

I need to be professional or I will never prove I’m leadership material.

Only problem is, the guy with the stage name Lemon makes me want to be anything but professional.

LEMON

I’m sick of the new bartender throwing dirty looks my way. He’s as judgmental as he is hot, and let’s just say he’s really judgmental.

I don’t know why he’s working here if he looks down on us dancers so much. He could bartend at a regular club.

But when he saves me from a drunken customer getting too handsy, his attitude suddenly flips, and we find ourselves becoming … friends?

Underneath the judgment, it turns out Atlas is a total sweetheart.

Maybe more caring than anyone I’ve ever met.

I’ve never had a relationship before, but something tells me it could be way too easy to fall for the gentle giant.

REVIEW:   

Atlas is the latest installment in Eden Finley’s fantastic Mike Bravo Ops series about former military men who are now private special operatives. They are called to do what official government agencies or private citizens can’t get away with, i.e. working outside the law. That’s where the fun in this series comes from – they can go a little rogue. Now it’s Atlas’ turn to find love in, of all places, a strip club. Exotic dancer, Lemon, is the man who captures his heart.

The case this time around involves a suspected embezzlement at the strip club. Atlas, whom we met in Iris and Rogue, starts working at the club as a bartender wearing nothing more than a – wait for it –  thong and a bowtie. Gah..I enjoyed that mental picture in my head. He accepted the very degrading job as a way to impress boss man Travis and hopefully earn a promotion. Sex is on offer all the time but Atlas is not interested in hookups because they make him feel used. But he can’t ignore the attraction to Lemon.

Lemon had been dancing and stripping for seven years. He loves his job; he relishes the power trip he gets from teasing the customers. The job is more than that for him, though. He’s a motherly figure to his fellow dancers, taking care of them, getting them medical help when needed or helping them escape L.A. when they find themselves in trouble. He takes care of those who are not dancers by choice but by lousy circumstances.

Lemon is a strong, resilient man but he’s alone and wonders if others would reciprocate his kindness and aid if he needed it. Even though Atlas is judgy until he gets to know Lemon better, the book has a strong sex positive and sex-work positive vibe.

The operation is exciting, suspenseful, and laden with danger. As always, one of my favorite aspects of these books is the Mike Bravo found family. I liked the parts with Travis, Iris, Saint, Domino, Zeus, Angel and Ghost involved in the operation. I wish there was more because their humorous banter and antics, and the sense of brotherly love bring so much enjoyment to the books.

Overall, this is an exciting and sexy read up to snuff with the previous books. I hope we see more of the series in the future. Highly recommended.

RATING:

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