Publisher: Dutton
Published: August
26, 2013
ISBN: 978-0525953012
Genre: Contemporary
Romance
Format: Print
Obtained via: Publisher
Reviewed by
name and email address: Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com
Peyton Lockhart skirted death as a little
girl thanks to her neighbour, Finn MacBain.
While he popped up in her life several times as she was growing up, Finn
had his own plans and agenda. First he
went off to win not one but three Olympic gold medals, graduated law school and
finally signing on with the FBI.
Each year on her birthday Peyton sends him
a card or email or text thanking him for saving her life. After all, she wouldn’t be having those
birthdays if he had not jumped in her family pool and performed CPR saving her
life. Aside from those yearly messages
Finn barely gives the little girl from next door another thought. That is, until, her life takes a rather
frightening turn.
Peyton hasn’t made the best choices in men…career
yes, but men, not so much. When she is
offered a job, pretty much sight unseen, as a food critic, she heads off to
Dalton to take the job. Once she arrives
the women aren’t exactly friendly, the men ogle her a bit and her boss…well he’s
a walking, talking sexual harassment claim.
And not the kind who will take no for an answer. Peyton flees Dalton and heads home where
things take a turn for the better…or so it seems. Her uncle has a deal for her and her two
sisters—a year to turn his failing Florida resort around. Before she can dig in several things happen
that put her rather quickly in danger’s way.
When trouble starts it is her childhood hero, Finn, who swims to the
rescue. But is a childhood hero really the man of her dreams?
The last few books in Julie Garwood’s
Buchanan FBI series have become flatter and flatter. I love Garwood’s books—SHADOW MUSIC, one of her historical romances, is one of my all time
favorite romances. With SWEET TALK though, something seems to
have shifted and not in a good way. HOT SHOT left me pretty cold. Most of the story is a third person narrative
of “Peyton did this”, “Peyton did that.”
I had to keep pushing myself to keep reading and found myself hanging on
to the points where there was dialogue.
There, and only there, did I read the vintage Garwood I so enjoy. She has such a great way with words—at time I’ve
imagined sitting down to a coffee with her just to hear these gems from this
favorite author of mine. But the
dialogue filled scenes were just too few and far between in HOT SHOT.
And the series seems to have become
formulaic…three women: one spunky smart,
one sweet, one ditzy. Sometimes they’re
sisters, sometimes they’re friends, but the pattern is there. Except for the need for a tie-breaking vote
there really wasn’t any need for the third sister, Ivy, in HOT SHOT.
The plot twists around the resort were
well done. And Debi…she’s one of those
characters you just look forward to the next scene because you just love to
hate her. Every time she came along I
wanted to smack her – not in a “boy is she stupid TSTL way” but in a “man, I
want to set that chick straight” way.
True Garwood fans will enjoy HOT SHOT simply because it is Garwood;
if you are new to this author, read one of the earlier books in this series
first because it really isn’t a good example of what a fabulous writer she
truly is.
This is an objective review and an endorsement of this
book.
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