Caught in the Act by Samantha Hunter

No redeeming features

1 star

Gina Thomas can’t believe the lengths she’s going to to help her sister. That’s how she finds herself dressed in the sexiest, skimpiest Hallowe’en costume and breaking into sexy lawyer, Mason Scott’s house to steal incriminating photos.

Mason can’t take his eyes off the sexy siren that walked through his door so when she offers him a fantasy, he can’t say no. But when Gina’s sister leads them both into serious trouble, Mason begins to realise that fantasy isn’t nearly as good as reality.

Goodness me this was a bad book. I liked the premise and the idea that by dressing in a costume you can turn yourself into someone you’ve always wanted to be but that was honestly about it.

There was zero sexual tension or chemistry between any of the characters and I’m not sure how we were supposed to care about them as they were so lifeless and flat. Gina was a dull character, Mason was stereotypical and the secondary characters were just pointlessly bland.

I am also happy to suspend reality in a story but when the gangsters showed up and people started putting themselves in totally ridiculous situations simply to create some drama in the story, I knew that this book definitely wasn’t a keeper for me. I honestly don’t feel that I can recommend this book to anyone, unfortunately. If you’re reading the Dressed to Thrill mini-series then you might want to give it a read to see how it fits with the other stories but other than that I would give it a miss. 1 star.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Disappointing summer anthology

2 Stars

THE GUY DIET by Thea Devine

Food columnist Lo Cavallera has decided that it’s time to give up men. Unfortunately newspaper editor Jed Costigan has plans to change her mind.

Written in first person and also third person, this is a terribly written, pretentious and cringe-worthy story with a shallow, distasteful heroine and a lackluster hero. It wasn’t hot – just juvenile and crude. Embarrassingly bad.

LIGHT MY FIRE by Debbi Rawlins

Marketing guru Jordan Samms has been ordered to take a break from her hectic life. She decides to take a wilderness vacation where hunky tour guide Zach Wilde might just take her mind off her work.

A pretty stereotypical story of high flying city girl stuck in the wilderness. While being fairly well written – unfortunately the heroine was sarcastic, spoiled and deserved a good slap of reality. The hero could do so much better which isn’t ideal in a romance.

NO RESERVATIONS by Samantha Hunter

Edie Stevens is shocked when she gets to her holiday cottage by the ocean only to find it occupied by gorgeous Joel Roberts because of a mix-up with the dates. They plan to steer clear of each other but they didn’t count on their sizzling chemistry.

It isn’t the most interesting story I have ever read but this was still a sweet, enjoyable tale with likeable characters and a good, solid romance. Easily the best story of the bunch.

This is supposed to be an anthology of stories that are hot and perfect for summertime reading. Unfortunately, the first two stories are mind-numbingly bad and despite the sweet warmth of Samantha Hunter’s tale, it just isn’t good enough to make this book one I would recommend. There are much better anthologies out there that I think would be a more satisfying read. 2 stars.