| Title: | Undercover |
| Author: | Eliot Grayson |
| Series: | Vino & Veritas #4 |
| Setting: | Burlington, VT |
| Characters: | Gabe & Alec |
| Published: | March 29, 2021 |
| Archetype: | Cops, Grumpy/sunshine |
I haven’t read one of the Vino and Veritas books yet that I haven’t LOVED, and Undercover was no exception. Gabe is a recently expelled PhD student in chemistry who’s going through a very tough time, emotionally. Between day drinking and sleeping with a different guy every night, Gabe is doing a decent job of ignoring his feelings of insecurity. One thing he doesn’t have to worry about though, is money, thanks to his hefty trust fund. He’s taken to hanging out at Veritas, the bookstore half of Vino and Veritas, to help pass the days. His attraction to the broody, grumpy, but super-hot stranger who’s always hanging out in the True Crime section makes him do something a little weird: anonymously buying the guy a bunch of books.
Alec, the grumpy and broody undercover FBI agent, is in town trying to crack a drug smuggling case that appears to have something to do with a local yacht building company. It’s just his luck that the super sweet guy from the bookstore ,the one who buys him a bunch of books, happens to be related to the owners of that yacht company. Once he figures out that Gabe actually knows nothing at all about the company, Alec realizes that continuing to date him and use him to get closer to the company, is a serious dick move. He can’t help himself though, and not only does he keep dating Gabe, he also falls head over heels in love with him. Even knowing that Gabe will certainly hate him when the truth comes out can’t protect him from his feelings.
Sure, enough, when the truth does come out, it doesn’t go well for Alec at all. I was a little worried because I couldn’t see anything Alec could do to convince Gabe to give him another chance. But the grand gesture he makes definitely shows Gabe how much he cares, and it’s brilliant. That gesture kind of made the whole book for me. I thought it was a super sweet, if not exactly romantic, way for Alec to show Gabe he wanted them to be on an even playing field. Very “them”.
As with all the V&V books I’ve read so far, I can’t wait to start the next one!
