Susan's Review of If I Belong With You by Cindy Kirk

Angel Morelli’s youthful looks make her the perfect police officer to go undercover at a local high school to bust a drug ring. Passing as a student is easy but keeping her feelings for her history teacher, Jake Weston, under control is a whole different story. She doesn’t believe he’s involved in trafficking drugs but until she can rule him out, she’ll keep her eye on him.
A devoted coach and teacher, Jake is struggling to accept his brother’s tragic death. When Angel walks into his classroom, he senses something different about her. He quickly discovers she isn’t a student at all! But why is she at his school? Could she be part of the drug ring that police have been trying to bust for months?
Staying close seems the best option and the most dangerous, at least where his heart is concerned.

Cindy Kirk’s If I Belong With You is the first book in the author’s Seriously Sweet St Louis series. The characters, storyline and setting are much different from author’s Good Hope and Jackson Hole books. I am drawn to the unique and appealing characters in Ms. Kirk’s novels. Angel Morelli and Jake Weston are two of Ms. Kirks the most compelling characters.

Angel Morelli is a police officer who is tasked with going undercover at a local high school to determine who is dealing drugs. She has information that some of the baseball team may be dealing drugs. Angel is a strong, savvy young woman who knows from experience how to infiltrate the group and sort out the players.

Jake Weston is the assistant baseball coach. He is having a difficult time coming to terms with his brother’s death. Angel senses that Jake is distracted—but finds him to be a nice, kind man-could he be the drug dealer? I liked that Angel had conflicting feelings for Jake. This story element blended perfectly with the themes of faith and forgiveness.

Cindy Kirk blends trust, faith and a bit of romance in If I Belong With You. The bible study scenes were superbly written. These pages provide insight into the characters of Jake, Angel, Mike, Emily and Jarvis by using descriptive dialogue. This chapter provide the author the opportunity to add in an element of intrigue to the plot as well.

If I Belong With You is a timely, thought provoking novel. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

ARC Provided by the author