Review: Bella Andre "Never too Hot" - #Review #BellaAndre #HotShots

Publisher: Bantam

ISBN:  978-0440245025

My rating: 3.5/5

A TOUCH IGNITES. A FIRE BURNS.
AND THE HEAT HAS JUST BEGUN.

Deep in the cool green mountains of the Adirondacks, wounded firefighter Connor MacKenzie has come to rebuild the 100-year-old MacKenzie family cabin – and to be alone. A horrific blaze has left him scarred inside and out and certain of two things: He’ll get back on his hotshot crew no matter what it takes, and any woman who ventures too close will not stay long.
Ginger Sinclair has been burned by a different kind of fire. Having just escaped from a bad marriage, she’s retreated to the safety of the lakeside vacation town in upstate New York to start a new life. She’s done with men, with relationships, with the danger of desires that can rage out of control – until she unexpectedly encounters Connor MacKenzie. As a hot summer on the lake grows ever hotter, they find themselves sharing a cabin and a romance that will swiftly engulf them both. (bellaandre.com)
 


My rating

I have to admit, the story took me by surprise. Having picked up the book merely because I read Hot Shot #1 and #2, this book contained that little bit of something which was missing in the first two stories. It had lots of clichés in it, but all in all, I enjoyed reading it.

We met Connor in the previous books when he ended up in hospital after a getting severely burnt in a bushfire. Two years later, while still waiting to be re-instated to the Hot Shot crew, he takes his mind off by repairing his grandparents' cottage in the mountains of the Adirondacks, which is currently occupied by Ginger Sinclair.

While Connor is running from his from his life as it is without being a firefighter, while Ginger is running from a broken marriage, trying to find herself.

I loved the issues in this book with Connor severely scarred, yet still sexy, and Ginger the curvier woman, trying to enjoy life without her parent's money, doing what she wants to do and not what she's told to do.

One of my favourite scene is, when Connor pulls her in front of a mirror and makes her "see" how beautiful she is.

 All in all - nice read..

Review: Janet Evanovich / Lee Goldberg "The Heist"

Publisher: Bantam

ISBN: 9780345543066

My rating: 4/5

FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare is known for her fierce dedication and discipline on the job, chasing down the world’s most wanted criminals and putting them behind bars. Her boss thinks she is tenacious and ambitious; her friends think she is tough, stubborn, and maybe even a bit obsessed. And while Kate has made quite a name for herself for the past five years, the only name she’s cared about is Nicolas Fox—an international crook she wants in more ways than one.
Audacious, handsome, and dangerously charming, Nicolas Fox is a natural con man, notorious for running elaborate scams on very high-profile people. At first he did it for the money. Now he does it for the thrill. He knows that the FBI has been hot on his trail—particularly Kate O’Hare, who has been watching his every move. For Nick, there’s no greater rush than being pursued by a beautiful woman . . . even one who aims to lock him up. But just when it seems that Nicolas Fox has been captured for good, he pulls off his greatest con of all: he convinces the FBI to offer him a job, working side by side with Special Agent Kate O’Hare.

Problem is, teaming up to stop a corrupt investment banker who’s hiding on a private island in Indonesia is going to test O’Hare’s patience and Fox’s skill. Not to mention the skills of their ragtag team made up of flamboyant actors, wanted wheelmen, and Kate’s dad. High-speed chases, pirates, and Toblerone bars are all in a day’s work . . . if O’Hare and Fox don’t kill each other first.



My thoughts

 

I picked up the book because of Janet Evanovich's name.

 

BUT it isn't Stephanie Plum.

 

BUT it isn't bad.

 

Okay, the blurb says it all. There's Kate O'Hare, FBI agent with the need to proof herself all the time, and Nick Fox, charming, funny and clever conman. Kate's been on his heels for years and when she finally catches him, he makes a deal with the FBI top level.

 

Initially boring, I got interested once the story moved to the Greek island of Athos and then to Berlin. And from then on it was a constant move to different locations while the next con was cleverly executed.

 

The characters are interesting and the banter between Kate and Nick quite funny. The story is very cleverly written, scenes beautifully described in detail, and every character introduced to detail so the reader has a clear picture and wouldn't get confused with the amount of characters involved in the book.

 

Loved Jake, Kate's father! 

 

@_Iris_B Thanks for the rave review, Iris. I hope you'll like THE CHASE in February even more!
— Lee Goldberg (@LeeGoldberg) November 10, 2013

Lee Child - The Enemy (Reacher #8)

Publisher: Bantam

ISBN: 9780440423003

My rating: 3/5




You’re in the Army now, son…
New Year’s Day, 1990. The Berlin Wall is coming down. The Cold War is ending. Soon America won’t have any enemies left. The Army won’t have anybody to fight. Things are going to change. Jack Reacher is the Military Police duty officer on a base in North Carolina when he takes a call reporting a dead soldier in a hot-sheets motel. Reacher tells the local cops to handle it—heart attacks happen all the time.
But why is Reacher in North Carolina, instead of Panama, where the action is? Then the dead man turns out to have been a two-star general who should have been in Europe. And when Reacher goes to the general’s house to break the news, he finds another corpse: the general’s wife. What is he dealing with here? The last echoes of the old world… or the first shocks of the new?
Winner of 2005 Nero, Barry and (yes, this is not a typo) Jack Reacher awards. The Nero Award, for literary excellence in the mystery genre, is awarded by The Wolfe Pack. The Barry Award for Best Novel of the Year is awarded by Deadly Pleasures magazine. The Jack Reacher Award win was the first annual award presented by Crime Spree Magazine and it was for the very readable, appealing-to-every-age, Jack Reacher novels! (Lee Child.com)


My thoughts

Say what ?

I do love Reacher and have loved most of his stories, or should I say Lee Child? BTW,  I almost fell of the seat when I saw Lee's cameo in the movie. Too funny.

Anyway - this one wasn't for me. I couldn't follow. I felt lost most of the time and noticed myself putting the book aside more often than usual. I really liked the sub-plot of Reacher's "family affairs". But really, most of the details of the main plot were just beyond me, I'm afraid.

I got the gist of who killed who, but the "real" why is still a mystery.

Any verdicts, yet, on the movie from you?