'Hot' reads

The weather here has been foggy and cold for about a week and I can't seem to get warm today. No rain, which is good, but continuously grey and foggy. Anyway, I recently finished two books with 'Hot' in the title . I read somewhere that in the winter you should read books set where it's hot such as the desert or tropical locations because it will make you feel warmer. And alternatively during the summer read books set somewhere cold because it will make you feel cooler. Hmmm, must be psychological, but there may be some truth to that because when I really get wrapped up in a book, I block out my surroundings and practically dive into the pages :). I recently read Nance's Jigsaw set in Northern Michigan in winter with vivid descriptions of snow and frigid temperatures that made me feel chilled.

I picked up Crazy Hot by Tara Janzen because of all the buzz from other bloggers and because I had enjoyed River of Eden by Glenna McReynolds (Janzen's pseudonym). CH was slow starting out. This is the first book in the Special Defense Force (SDF - a secret special ops group) series and a bunch of characters are introduced via a letter in the first chapter. I had to keep paging back and forth to this letter to try to figure out who was who. And the action picks up speed immediately causing me some confusion. But I quickly figured out the characters and plot and it turned into a fun ride. Regan is a palentologist who is searching for her missing grandfather. She drives to Cisco, Utah, looking for Quinn Younger who she is hoping can help her locate him. Regan and Quinn have a past history. They met when they were teenagers and Quinn developed a crush and infatuation for Regan since he accidentally catches her dressing and saw her almost naked. I loved these two characters and the secondary characters as well. And the sex was HOT, loved it. I also liked how the restored turbo charged cars had girl's names and were an integral part of the plot. My car-crazy husband would like this one (if I could get him to actually read a book). Between the hot setting (temperature-wise) and hot sex, this one will warm you up on a cold winter night. My Grade: B

Hot Target is the 8th book in the Brockmann's SEAL Team Sixteen series. This one was pretty good but I'm getting a bit sick of this series. I really want to read Max and Gina's story which I believe is told in the next one, Breaking Point. After that, it's going to take some great reviews and a lot of good buzz for me to pick up the next one. HT is Navy SEAL Cosmo Richter's story with Jane Mercedes Chadwick, a movie producer and takes place while shooting a movie in California. The movie involves the story of a gay WWII hero and Jane's life is being threatened by a radical homophobe. Cosmo is one of Tom Paoletti's team assigned to protect her. I never really warmed up to Jane and Cosmo and thought these characters were a bit flat. HT also features a gay storyline with FBI agent Jules Cassidy, Robin Chadwick (Jane's brother), and Adam (Jules' former lover). I thought this story was fascinating and enjoyed it more than the primary one with Jane and Cosmo. My Grade: B

Maybe the reason I've been so cold today is because I've been reading Her Body of Work by Marie Donovan which is set in Chicago in winter. Brrrrrrr. I think I better find something in my TBR pile set in the Sahara Desert or the Amazon jungle or maybe some tropical island. Oooo, that sounds good. I feel warmer just thinking about it.

Update: Just checked Brockmann's website and Book #10 in the series has a working title of Into the Storm with a tentative release date of December 2006. It's Mark Jenkin's story (whoever he is?). I'm hoping I can stay away from it, but I may need a support group.