He’s about to find out … She’s not just one of the guys.
Annabelle Jordan and her two sisters were orphans in frilly dresses when they went to live with their sports-lawyer uncle in his world of locker rooms, bookies and gambling. Now the girls are publicists in their uncle's firm, The Hot Zone.
Despite her upbringing, Annabelle is all woman. She's naturally drawn to real men—like her latest client, businessman and former football legend Brandon Vaughn.
The chemistry is potent, undeniable, irresistible. Annabelle soon realizes that Brandon is much more than just another jock. And that she'd better hold on tight if she doesn't want to lose her heart.
***3.5 “Pulling Teeth” Stars***
Okay, maybe not the best way to describe a book that I’m giving 3.5 stars to, but it’s the truth and I promise to explain. Overall Hot Stuff was a fun and sexy read with characters that peaked my interest and secondary story lines running through it that I found just as interesting as that of Annie and Brandon’s bumpy road to their HEA.
I really liked Brandon, I did. The man had such a good, selfless heart, that it was hard not to fall for him, but d@mn is the man more guarded than Fort Knox. I understood that he’d been burned by those who should have been protecting him, but I seriously wanted to Gibbs smack him a few times to get him to open up just a little, hence the “Pulling Teeth”. Thankfully he does start to let his guard down, slowly, but it happens and the man underneath is pretty amazing.
I loved Annabelle’s fire and moxie. Her honesty and directness was refreshing and I loved how she could get what she wanted without appearing too pushy. Not that she couldn’t be when warranted, but she did it which such aplomb that it didn’t feel as if she was truly manipulating the situation, just letting it work it’s way out naturally.
The fact that they both seemed to believe that they could have a “fling” cracked me up because there was no doubt they were attracted to each other and were about to combust every time they were within a hundred yards of each other. I simply waited to see who would crack first and actually admit that there could be more between them and though it took some time, having one of their butts kicked and a bit of neanderthal style groveling, they finally got their issues ironed out.
The prologue was done well and had the perfect hook to get me wanting to know more about the major players. There is a bit of a mystery/suspense aspect of the story and I liked how it all played out in the end. Now it’s on to see if the tomboy of the family will get her HEA or not and see what will happen next with that one loose end.
Micki Jordan is a tomboy as much at home on the playing field as in a locker room full of naked guys.
But the star publicist is looking to prove she’s also an irresistible woman in order to get a second shot at professional baseball player and major league playboy, Damian Fuller.
Micki transforms herself into one hot number Damian can’t help but notice and together they burn up the sheets and find themselves falling hard. Until Damian’s past returns, threatening their future.
***4 ‘Face your fears’ Stars***
Sooooo I MAY have to rethink the whole pulling teeth thing from Hot Stuff because the males in this one take the cake, I swear my eyes hurt from all the rolling they were doing, though to be fair the women did add to the pain, but it was all worth. Hot Number was another fun, quick read filled with equal amounts of sweet, smexy and frustrating moments that kept me on my toes.
Micki has always been the tomboy and hasn’t minded being one of the guys until recently. Now she wants to let her feminine side out more and possibly snag the one man she can’t stop thinking about. I loved Micki. She’s got sass, spunk and determination in spades and isn’t afraid of speaking her mind. But she’s also got her own insecurities and I enjoyed experience the steps she took to overcome them and, for lack of a better term, find herself. It was quick or easy, but she did it, with a little help from those around her and became that much stronger.
Damian’s entire life, entire being, is baseball. He has never thought about what life after the game. As far as he’s concerned, he’s at the top of his game and has no cause to worry. Until he does. This man. I tell. I understood his mindset, but dear lord was he stubborn. Everything revolved around baseball. Everything. And I seriously wanted to reach out and Gibbs smack him. But when he wasn’t totally focused on his career, he was sweet and charming and damn smexy. He took the long road to China when it came to certain things, but at least he finally got there.
Micki and Damian’s road was filled with a lot of “I want you, but…” things going on from the both of them. Thankfully when they were together, no matter the situation, the connection between them was there. Damian helped Micki see herself as a woman and Micki helped Damian see that he could be more than just a baseball player and the sexual chemistry between them was hot. I do wish they hadn’t taken the extra long road to China to figure their issues out, but it was worth it in the end.
But as much as I enjoyed Micki and Damian’s journey there was one issue that just didn’t work for me and of course it was that big ‘ole plot twist, or roadside bomb if you will, in their journey. It took me awhile to figure out why it didn’t work for me and what I finally realized was that I didn’t care for the other people involved. At. All. In fact one I wanted to gut one of them with a spoon after a certain incident. And even after it was resolved, and I did like how it all ended up, I just didn’t care enough for the others. I had no empathy for them even when it appeared the stick was being pulled out of one of their arses. I know it was a turning point for both Damian and Micki and how they perceived their future, but it didn’t do much for me in the end.
Outside of that issue, I enjoyed the book. I like how things went with the whole Yank and Lola storyline and really liked getting to know Roper more, which makes me want to skip ahead to his book, but won’t. Instead it’s Sophie’s turn on the chopping block and I’m interested in what it will take for the last Jordan sister to fall.
Cool, collected Sophie Jordan loves her daily routine running her family's top sports management agency, as long as she gets to stay behind the scenes. But with big sister on maternity leave and little sis on her honeymoon, she's forced to step up to the plate. And a recent media crisis surrounding the disappearance of super-agent Spenser Atkins is not going to make the job any easier.
Enter star quarterback and notorious bad boy Riley Nash who, for reasons of his own, needs to track down Atkins. Up until now, Sophie has kept a strict no-dating-clients policy, but each day with Riley makes her rule near impossible to follow. With her job and her heart on the line, Sophie will need to make the toughest choice of her life!
***3 Stars***
I’ve been waffling over this one because, overall, I enjoyed this book, but it wasn’t Sophie and Riley’s romance that held my interest. I liked it, it was sweet, smexy and enjoyed the whole opposites attract thing they had going on, but it was Spencer’s story line as well as a surprise plot twist that snuck into the mix, that kept me turning the pages to see how it would all end up.
Even though I wasn’t all in with Riley and Sophie it isn’t to say I didn’t like them. I did and found it interesting that though on the surface they appeared different. Riley is spontaneous and has a fly by the seat of his pants mentality and Sophie is all about following the rules and sticking to a schedule, but they have the same issues and simply go about dealing, or not dealing with them differently. The reason I wasn’t all in with them was because their road reminded me too much of Micki and Damian’s. Having read Hot Number recently I saw too many similarities in how everything happened and it was just a struggle for me to be fully invested. But with that being said, I did like how they balanced each other out and liked seeing their perceptions shift.
I really wanted to love this one because I have a thing for opposites attract tropes, but it just didn’t get there. The prologue was awesome but after that things just dragged for me and as much as I hate to say it, it was because it was just too similar to Hot Number for me. I needed a change of pace and it didn’t happen. But at about the 50% mark things started to pick up because of the whole Spencer issue, which had a nice little surprise plot twist within it as well as how Riley’s personal life played into the story. It gave a little more depth to the story and characters and was a good vehicle to get both Riley and Sophie to work through their issues.
Just one short season ago, major league center fielder John Roper had it all: the looks—and personal life—of a sports hero and the public's adoration. But this hot property's lucky streak has run out. After a World Series disaster, fans diss him, shock jocks mock him and his dysfunctional family hassles him for money he really can't spare.
Now it's up to him, and Hot Zone publicist Amy Stone, to get his life back on track.
Amy finds it's easier said than done. What with the constant intrusions of his nutty family, a crazed fan playing stalker, and Roper's refusal to put his own needs first, she's starting to think that life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be. But when the two retreat to a secluded lodge, the sexy center fielder throws Amy a curveball—one she never saw coming...
***4 Stars***
I’ve been all over the place with this series, but was hopeful that this last book would have me ending on a high note and thank the book goddesses, it did. I still had moments of wanting to strangle the characters, ALL of them, but I thoroughly enjoyed John and Amy’s story and how everything ended up playing out in the end.
I already had a crush on John after meeting him in Hot Number. He may have been a player, but seeing him be bestie/brother to Micki was what told me there was way more to this man than met the eye and that gut feeling was correct. He’s sweet, sexy, caring, charming and has a huge heart, which has tendency to get him into the middle of things that he shouldn’t, but shows that beneath the surface he’s a real good man.
Amy may not have had a huge role in Hot Item, but she did make an impression, especially when it came to what she had to deal with when it came to her mom and aunt and I really enjoyed getting to know her better. She’s driven, caring and has a backbone of steel when the situation calls for it. She had her issues, but seeing her work through them and comes to terms with everything going on her life was worth the frustration she put me through.
I loved John and Amy’s journey to their HEA and a lot of that was because they didn’t know each other. They had a relatively blank slate on both sides going into it, so there were minimal preconceived notions of who the other person was and I enjoyed watching as they got to know each other. It felt, for lack of a better word, organic. I liked how they balanced their working relationship and their personal one and their bantering was fun and flirty. The twists and turns in their road weren’t necessarily surprising considering the outside forces they were dealing with, but they worked well in being the catalysts for them to grow separately as well as show them how good they were together.
The crazy in this was pretty epic. I swear I don’t remember the last time I read a book where so many adults acted like children, thankfully that did not include John and Amy, they had their moments but nothing like the people they were dealing with. The supporting cast of characters made it real easy to love John and Amy. The stalker issue was done well, I had my suspicions on who was behind it and was partially correct when the stalker was revealed. Overall this was a fun read and a great book to end the series with.
~ All copies provided by Rock Star PR LC/Authors review crew & voluntarily reviewed ~
After a successful fifteen-year career with various New York publishing houses, and over 40 sexy contemporary romance novels published, N.Y. Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Carly Phillips is now an Indie author who writes to her own expectations and that of her readers. She continues the tradition of hot men and strong women and plans to publish many more sizzling stories. Carly lives in Purchase, NY with her family, two nearly adult daughters and two crazy dogs who star on her Facebook Fan Page and website. She's a writer, a knitter of sorts, a wife, and a mom. In addition, she's a Twitter and Internet junkie and is always around to interact with her readers. You can find out more about Carly at www.carlyphillips.com.
Comments
Post a Comment