Book Description:
Angel Undercover
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.
Grab your Kindle, put your feet up and relax with this uplifting romance that will tug at your heartstrings and keep you reading WAY too late at night!
Note: This book was originally published as Undercover Angel (as noted on the copyright page). It has been completely updated for your reading pleasure.
Narelle’s Thoughts:
If I Belong With You is a nostalgia read that I thoroughly enjoyed. I read the paperback when it was first published twenty plus years ago by Love Inspired as Undercover Angel. The advantage of not having read a book in years is that it’s like reading a brand new story with only vague recollections of the characters and plot.
Back in the 1980’s I was a fan of the 21 Jump Street tv series, and this book has a similar premise. Angel is a police officer working undercover as a student in a high school in St. Louis, Missouri, to crack a drug ring. Her history teacher, Jake, is Angel’s age, and there’s a spark of attraction that they both try to ignore. Jake secretly discovers Angel’s drivers license and her real age early in the story, before any lines are crossed from a romance perspective.
I loved the mystery thread in the story, and how it impacted Angel and Jake’s relationship. They both carry a lot of emotional baggage that’s unpacked during the story. Angel is pretending to be a wild child student in the foster care system, and draws on her own difficult childhood to bring authenticity to her undercover assignment. Jake struggles with his attraction to a student, and Angel’s undercover activities lead him to question her integrity.
I appreciated the strong faith element in the story, and how both Jake and Angel wrestled with big issues. The reality of high school students running with bad crowds and making poor choices is not sugar-coated. More conservative readers might consider certain aspects of the story, including Angel’s character, a bit too much.
I recommend If I Belong With You to contemporary romance readers who like the forbidden love romance trope mixed with mystery and light suspense elements, and a strong faith thread in the story.
