First off, Chicago. It's my home. I will not carve your heart out with a rusty spoon if you say you don't loooove it...but I will seriously question your judgment and count my silver when you depart my abode. 
 But, see, Chicago is not simply a setting for a book. It's an experience. It's stuffed pizza and tomatoes on hotdogs and art that looks like chrome spaceships and black dragon-lions and rattling El trains and sultry ozone action days that stink of exhaust and hot pavement. 
 And, that's what Jen Lane gives us: The grit and grime of a city shrouded in corruption, with a hearty helping of Oh yeah--ROMANCE!! 
 Sophie Taylor and Grant Madsen are new parolees. They share a parole officer, and a deeper connection neither one knows about. 
 Sophie Taylor, a clinical psychologist, served a year in prison when police discover cash and guns hidden in her office. They were her lover's. And he was a gangster. Oh, and a patient. Bam! Behind bars... 
 Grant Madsen, a naval officer, got collared trying to steal the money his brother lost in an illegal poker game. He'd been blackmailed into it--by his brother. And he never said a word. 
 Now these two ex-cons keep running into each other. Their mutual love of the White Sox (bonus points from this Southside reviewer!) and a mutual attraction turns into a very sweet relationship. Of course, they face the same struggles of any parolee. Sophie can't get a job, risking re-incarceration. Grant can't escape his family's criminal influence. But, together, Sophie and Grant find solace and strength. 
 Both working for an architectural cruise line, they take on far more responsibility than they expect when their boss has a heart attack. Oh, how I love Grant's Tequila-moment. Jose Cuervo is not friend of his! And yet, without that inebriated nudge Grant would never cut loose his inner Frank Sinatra. 
 This bittersweet tale is more sweet than bitter--and the climax continues through four chapters. Tensions ride super high when Grant learns his brother's role in Sophie's arrest. Man! That dude is toxic. 
 The narrative adopts many viewpoints, but it's not distracting. I love when Jerry, the parole officer, narrates. His jaded view is so deadpan, but warms to his star-crossed lover parolees. 
 The good news--sequels! SQUEE!