Author–and lawyer–Robin Covington is here today, talking about her newest release Sweet Southern Betrayal and her favorite lawyer movies. I had the pleasure of seeing Robin at the Baltimore Book Festival last fall, and not only is she a fabulous writer, she’s also a really fantastic person! Check out her books–you won’t be sorry!
My Top Five Favorite Lawyer Movies
My latest hero, Teague Elliott, is a lawyer and in my real life I am one as well. Now, I normally do not watch legal TV shows or movies – it is too much like work and when I’m not at work, I want to be gone. I also do not have a desire write a romance novel that centers around a legal issue or a law firm. I think that I know too much, especially just how unglamourous and tedious this job can be at times.
But Teague is a lawyer. A good one. And when his in-control self meets a human tornado in the form of Risa Clay (Vegas Showgirl and sex toy business owner) it is all kinds of sexy fun.
As an attorney, I get asked a lot to tell people which legal shows or movies I enjoy and there are a few. Here are my Top Five:
- To Kill a Mockingbird: I fell in love with the book by Harper Lee and I have to say that the movies with Gregory Peck totally lived up to its greatness. The humble and dedicated Atticus Finch is the lawyer that most law students aspire to be – and they should.
- Legally Blonde: Holy moly this movie makes me laugh so hard that I can’t eat while I’m watching it. Although many of the scene and shenanigans are camped up for humor, it really is spooky how much the basics get law school exactly right. Mean girls, snobs, and pompous professors . . . welcome to law school.
- The Firm: Okay, I love this one for the crazy sauce that is so over-the-top and unbelievable that it makes great fiction. When they offered Tom Cruise the house and the car, they lost me but the plot was so tight and the tension so high that I had to stay around for the ride.
- My Cousin Vinny: This was actually my first date with my husband (who I met in law school) and we laughed all night – during and after the movie. Marisa Tomei earned her Oscar and then some with her performance and Joe Pesci was adorable.
- Liar, Liar: I was never a criminal lawyer but I had quite a few clients who got in trouble other ways because of their (for lack of a better word) stupidity. They never seemed to learn, doing the same thing and acting surprised when the outcome was the same. My fave line is when Jim Carrey is asked by a repeat offender client for legal advice and Jim yells into the phone, “Stop breaking the law a**hole!” I dare any lawyer out there to tell me that they haven’t wished they could have said that at one time.
So, that’s my list. Do you have any to add?
Robin
About Robin Covington
Robin Covington, who NYT Best Selling authors, Robyn Carr and Carly Phillips, said was their new “auto-buy author”, writes sizzling hot contemporary and paranormal romance.
A Night of Southern Comfort, her best-selling debut novel was nominated for the RT Book Reviewers Choice Awards for Small Press and was touted by RT Book Reviews as bringing a “fresh, modern feel to the genre while still sticking to the things that get our adrenaline pumping — sex and danger”. When she’s not exploring the theme of fooling around and falling in love, she’s collecting tasty man candy, indulging in a little comic book geek love, and stalking Joe Manganiello.
Robin is a member of the Romance Writers of America, the Washington and Maryland Romance Writers, a faculty member at Romance University, a member of The Naked Hero, and a contributor to the Happy Ever After blog at USA Today.
You can find Robin on her website, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter (@RobinCovington).
Robin lives in Maryland with her hilarious husband, brilliant children, a ginormous German Shepherd and the world’s cutest Corgi.
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Title: Sweet Southern Betrayal
Genre: Romance
Author: Robin Covington
Publisher: Entangled Indulgence
Pages: 161
Language: English
Format: Ebook
Privileged and ambitious attorney Teague Elliott is on the fast-track to getting everything he wants. All he has to do is stay on the straight and narrow and a high-profile political career is his for the taking. Until he wakes up naked with a Vegas showgirl…
Risa Clay has worked hard to put her showgirl past behind her and start fresh. But she owes ten grand to the wrong people, and to pay off her debt, she agrees to betray a stranger. . .but she ends up with a husband and guilty conscience.
Savvy and determined, she double-crosses the mob, goes on the run, and turns up on Teague’s doorstep armed with a dangerous secret, a marriage license, and the power to ruin his well-planed future. She thought using Teague again would be easy, but the passion that exploded between them in Vegas didn’t stay in Sin City and betrayal is the last thing on her mind.
Now Teague has to choose between the future he’s planned for all his life, or the one with Risa that he can’t turn away from.
PURCHASE AT AMAZON BARNES AND NOBLE
REVIEW:
Wow–this was another don’t-want-to-put-it-down read. Thank goodness for the Polar Vortex and blizzards; because of them I didn’t have to!
The chemistry between Teague and Risa is absolutely undeniable–Robin Covington wrote some really smoking scenes for them. I was rooting for them from the beginning–all the secrets and things they kept hidden from each other for much of the novel were nerve-racking (but of course made for excellent plot, darn it).
My biggest concern was how they would manage to put Risa’s betrayal in the past and move on, but fortunately Robin handled this well. It definitely helped that Risa had definite reasons for what she did–and that Teague was in a position to understand her reasons objectively.
Plus, it didn’t hurt that he was crazy about her. 😉
Some of the finer points of the Las Vegas/mobster plot sailed neatly right over my head–but I’m pretty sure that’s just because I was reading very quickly so as to get to the HEA. I loved Risa’s business (and how it took over their wedding “reception”; that part was just too funny) and her determination to stand up for herself no matter what.
(Teague’s not too bad either. Especially if you picture Jensen Ackles while you’re reading…)
This is the third book in the series. I have yet to read the first two books, though they’re in my TBR. Sweet Southern Betrayal can be read as a standalone–but of course now I am *dying* to read the first two. It’s my goal to accomplish that before Beck’s story comes out, at least!
This was just a great read from start to finish. I cannot wait to get to the other books in the series.
A- rating; 4 1/2 stars.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Excerpt:
She would never get used to the guns.
Risa pressed her body further back into the chair outside Big Tony’s office while she waited her turn with the man who had a stranglehold on her life. Everyone who worked for Big Tony was packing. They wore it like a badge of honor just daring someone to goad them into using it. A bunch of over-sized, testosterone-juiced, man-children strutting around bringing violence and chaos with them everywhere they went.
Assholes.
Not for the last time, she pushed her regrets over her life to the back of her mind and dealt with the reality of living and dying in Las Vegas. She’d grown up in this town and literally lived on the streets for a period of time, and knew that if you stayed you eventually got roped into the seedy underside of the glitter and glamour of the strip. She’d avoided it for a long time, side-stepping the interest that her C-cups, long legs, and red hair got her from the local thugs, but if you worked in a place like the Gold Coast Casino long enough, you got noticed.
She still remembered the day she caught the attention of Big Tony and her life changed— for the better and for the worse. It didn’t hurt to have a man like him interested in you because it kept the other losers away, and it really didn’t hurt to know him when you needed ten grand to put your best friend in rehab because her shithead boyfriend got her hooked on meth. But the knowledge of what she’d done to a man name Teague Elliott hurt like a bitch.
“Risa, what are you here to see Big Tony about?” asked Frank Gazarra as he stared at her chest.
“Eyes up, Frank. The girls are awesome, but the last time I checked they don’t talk.” She replied, unsurprised with Frank took his time lifting his eyes to her face. “I did a little work for Big Tony and I’m here to report in.”
“I’m surprised to hear that. You always stay away from the life.”
“Big Tony loaned me some cash when I needed it. I pay my debts.”
“Women usually do that on their backs with the big guy.” Frank smirked, his eyes straying back down to her breasts. She suppressed a sigh, wishing she could hurry up and get this over with. She’d waited over a week for Big Tony to call her in to hand over the goods, changing her mind a million times and feeling worse about what she’d done with each passing minute. “Well, I’m not.”
I would think your little sex toy business would be pulling in the cash.” He waggled his eyebrows and stuck out his tongue. “Sex sells, baby.”
Gross. She tamped down the urge to vomit. Tony had better hurry or he was going to have a “clean up on aisle nine” moment out here.