Hotshot (Buchanan-Renard, #11) in Tall, Dark & Deadly

Oct 30, 2013 Jonetta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romantic-suspense

Originally posted on The Book Nympho

Quick summary
Peyton Lockhart can't believe her good fortune when she lands a dream job as a food critic for a prestigious magazine. When that dream turns into a nightmare, her childhood idol, FBI Agent Finn MacBain, steps in to give assistance. Little did he know that "little Peyton" was going to finally get her Hotshot hero.

What worked
The beginning of the story was really great, especially the prologue. Finn and his two brothers stole that portion of the sto ...more

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Feb 25, 2015 Kirsten rated it liked it · review of another edition

I really enjoy Ms Garwood's contemporaries. This one, however, was not one of her best. Though the couple had some good chemistry, I felt that the plot was a little forced and that the hero was a little too alpha. But, I guess that went with him being a "hotshot". Still, it was a nice fun read. ...more

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Jul 09, 2013 Barb Lie rated it really liked it

Hotshot by Julie Garwood is a romance thriller. This was an enjoyable read with a mix of romance, family relationships, mystery, danger and a wonderful couple. We meet our couple when they were very young; Finn our hero, was 14 years old when he saved Peyton, only 6 at the time, from drowning in her family’s swimming pool, during a party.

Peyton always had a crush on Finn, following his Olympic swimming career, as she grew up. Finn though never really paid attention to Peyton. The story picks up Hotshot by Julie Garwood is a romance thriller. This was an enjoyable read with a mix of romance, family relationships, mystery, danger and a wonderful couple. We meet our couple when they were very young; Finn our hero, was 14 years old when he saved Peyton, only 6 at the time, from drowning in her family’s swimming pool, during a party.

Peyton always had a crush on Finn, following his Olympic swimming career, as she grew up. Finn though never really paid attention to Peyton. The story picks up years later, as Peyton, who having graduated from college & having spent time learning to specialize in cooking under a culinary chef, heads for Minnesota to work for a cooking magazine. Her dream job turns into a nightmare, as she is sexually harassed by her boss.

Finding out that her boss had a bad temper, and was becoming aggressively dangerous, Peyton leaves and goes back home to Texas. While attending a wedding, Peyton meets Finn, and to his surprise, he sees this beautiful woman walking toward him, who proceeds to give him a kiss. Peyton realizes Finn does not recognize her, and calls him by her nickname for him, when they were young…Hotshot. Of course Finn is shocked that the scrawny child he saved, and who would follow him around, was now all grown up and a beautiful young lady.

Finn, who is now an FBI agent, notices Peyton’s car has bullet holes. She explains to him that when she left Minnesota, someone was following her. She proceeded to tell him the story, and Finn decides he needs to investigate and protect Peyton.

What follows is an exciting story, as Peyton’s life is possibly in danger, but she is determined to bring the truth out, so that she can save other women from this awful man. But Peyton’s sister and friends convince her to say nothing, and move on.

Then Peyton, and her sisters are offered a deal take over their Uncle’s oceanfront resort in Florida to fix it up, bring it back to it’s former luxurious state, and if they show a profit, it will be come theirs to own. Her sister Lucy is another one Garwood’s wonderful characters in this book. The scene shifts to Bishop’s Cove, an oceanfront resort, where the sisters will work to bring it back to its former glory, but betrayals, family jealousy will make it that much harder to succeed.

During all of this, the threat against Peyton is still real, and Finn is determined to protect her. What follows is a beautiful romance between two wonderful characters in Finn and Peyton. We know from the start that Peyton falls hard for Finn, but dedicated to his job, he refuses to allow himself to commit to anyone, though he doesn’t truly understand his strong feelings for Peyton. Their sexual chemistry was hot, but despite that, Finn wouldn’t let it sway him.

But when danger rears it head against Peyton, Finn returns and works out a plan with her to reveal the people sabotaging the resort, as well as working with the FBI to expose her former boss in Minnesota.

Hotshot was an exciting story filled with action from start to finish. In between the suspense, we have a wonderful story of the sisters working to rebuild the resort, and love is in the air for both of them. Will Finn open his eyes and his heart to Peyton? Will they find out who is sabotaging them in time to save the resort? Will Peyton be able to stop & expose the ex boss, before he comes after her? So many questions that will answered by the end. But the best part of Hotshot is the romance between Finn and Peyton. I do recommend this book to all who like romance, suspense and a fun exciting read.

Barb
The Reading Cafea ...more

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Sep 30, 2013 Christina T rated it really liked it

My big mistake in reading this book was starting it after finishing another truly amazing romantic suspense novel. Coming off of a seriously awesome sauce of a book and trying to read another book of the same ilk is setting it up for failure. Unfortunately I didn't think of that until after I finished reading Hotshot. I really tried to separate the two but I kept comparing them over and over again. I feel kind of bad about it too but it is what it is.

What Worked For Me: Typical of Julie's writin My big mistake in reading this book was starting it after finishing another truly amazing romantic suspense novel. Coming off of a seriously awesome sauce of a book and trying to read another book of the same ilk is setting it up for failure. Unfortunately I didn't think of that until after I finished reading Hotshot. I really tried to separate the two but I kept comparing them over and over again. I feel kind of bad about it too but it is what it is.

What Worked For Me: Typical of Julie's writing style this book contained witty dialogue and just plain fun banter between the characters. Finn and Peyton had great chemistry together and their first 'meeting' during the Prologue was pretty amazing. Some of the secondary characters were pretty interesting also. Ultimately the story ended up being set in Florida and I really enjoyed the resort descriptions while the girls where remodeling it.

What Didn't Work For Me: Several things, unfortunately. First of all, the story relies on the reader suspending their disbelief. A LOT. Peyton is being described as a stunningly beautiful, well traveled woman who even spent several months studying the culinary arts in France. Yet, she remained a virgin. It is unclear as to how old she really is but I would estimate her age to be around 24. The problem I have with romance books with a contemporary setting having the heroine a virgin is that it is not typical of this day and age unless there is some meaningful significance behind it. There was no significance to Peyton being a virgin other than a string of horrible dates with unfortunate men.

The reader also had to suspend their disbelief that one person could all of a sudden have multiple people out to get them. This seems to be a theme to Garwood's contemporary heroines and one I'm not thrilled with. The multiple 'bad guys' create multiple story lines which can muddle the book up a bit.

The characters themselves are interesting but Peyton flip flops between really intelligent, witty and wise to spontaneously jumping headfirst into situations without thought. Her sister Lucy is nothing more than a shrieking shrew and I wanted to shove her face first into wet cement just to shut her up. How any man could view her as potential mate material is beyond me.

In a Nutshell: Overall this book does have some problems but I did enjoy it. I have a long term love affair with Julie's work and in my eyes she can really do no wrong. I know that there seems to be a lot more issues than good points in my review. As a reviewer I feel obligated to acknowledge the issues in addition to explaining the good stuff. When I rate a book I tend to go by my gut feeling. Did I enjoy this book? Yes. Will I read it again? I just might. Will I read the next book by Julie that comes out? Definitely.

Oh and I can't end my review without mentioning one of my favorite quotes from the book (there are several because this is what Julie does best).

"You have to set a trap," Peyton told them.
Both men looked at her, and Finn asked, "What do you have in mind?"
"I don't know. That's your area of expertise. I'm a chef. If you catch him, I'll make you a soufflé." ...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Jackie Lane rated it it was amazing

Peyton is a graduate of a culinary school. She is offered a job at a magazine. The job is not what it was supposed to be and the boss is a sexual predator. Peyton quits and is now unemployed.

While she is attending a wedding she sees a childhood friend, Finn MacBain. Peyton is filling in for a week at a temporary job and quickly needs to flee. Peyton was saved from drowning by Finn when she was a little girl and he's always been her "hotshot".

Bullets fly, there are car chases and Peyton is in the ...more

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May 16, 2013 Bea rated it liked it

Shelves: action-mystery-thriller, romance, reviews, beas-book-nook, arc, read-in-2013

Approximately the first half of "Hotshot" was a fast, easy read. Finn and Peyton meet as kids when he saves her life and they stay in touch over the years. Peyton's first job out of college doesn't go well even though it seems like a dream job at first. She leaves in disgust, determined to stop her former boss's sexual harassment of his employees but from a safe distance. He is not inclined to let her leave on her own terms and her life is threatened. That's when Finn, now an FBI agent, walks b Approximately the first half of "Hotshot" was a fast, easy read. Finn and Peyton meet as kids when he saves her life and they stay in touch over the years. Peyton's first job out of college doesn't go well even though it seems like a dream job at first. She leaves in disgust, determined to stop her former boss's sexual harassment of his employees but from a safe distance. He is not inclined to let her leave on her own terms and her life is threatened. That's when Finn, now an FBI agent, walks back into her life. He hasn't seen her since she was a teenager and is shocked to discover that she's sexy and gorgeous. He's also shocked to find bullet holes on her car. He immediately demands to know why and before you can blink, the FBI is involved in her sexual harassment case. To be honest, I was never sure why the FBI was involved. It started as a sexual harassment case and then her life was in danger. All I really know about the FBI is what I read in books such as this one and what I see on TV so for all I know it made perfect sense for the FBI to be involved but it didn't make sense to me. The second half of the book, where the mysteries took over the story, was slower and at times tedious.
At first, I really enjoyed the romance but the more I think about it, the less certain I am. She's fresh out of college and although she's dated, she's never been involved and never been in love. He's eight years older, very experienced, and certain he knows what she wants. That latter leads to a disappearing act on his part and also a misunderstanding between he and Peyton. She's so young and inexperienced while he's not and it really felt at times like a very unbalanced relationship. She does stand up for herself, but he has a tendency to roll over her. He's smart, athletic, handsome, confident, and loves his family. Peyton also loves her family, is not quite as confident but determined and spunky, is an excellent cook and inclined to be impulsive (though we're told she's not). They are cute together and both are funny but it just feels very uneven the more I think about it. He's not abusive or anything like that but the power balance is uneven. He's her first love and her first relationship and voila! we are presented with an HEA. Eh, maybe it's just me.

One thing I enjoyed was how Garwood handled the family relationships. Both Peyton and Finn's families are happy, loving, and get on each other's nerves. They feel real and I was happy to see a break from dysfunctional families. Peyton is one of three girls and Finn, one of three boys; for a while, I thought they might all pair up but that didn't happen. Although all three girls have acquired (NOT inherited, as the blurb says) the resort, the youngest sister Ivy is barely in the book at all and I'm not sure why she even exists. She's completely irrelevant to the story. The oldest sister Lucy is more integral to the story and even gets her own romance in the book.

There are two mysteries in addition to the romance. The first one involves Peyton's former boss, who is out to stop her before she can ruin his plans for money and power. There's no suspense; we know who's after her and why, we know who his associates are and we know, because this is a standard formula romance, that she won't come to any real harm. I think that we were supposed to be surprised by two of his associates but they were telegraphed early on. The only real question is how Peyton will bring him down.

The second "mystery" has to do with who is sabotaging the remodel of "Bishop's Cove" but again, it's telegraphed early on who the saboteur is so the only suspense is how that person will be caught. There's no tension. In both cases the villains were cartoonish and under-developed.

"Hotshot" is a very formulaic, fast read that would be perfect for the pool or beach, where you just want to relax and get lost in a story. Despite the flaws, I enjoyed the story. ...more

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Sep 03, 2013 Sheery rated it liked it

Shelves: romantic-suspense, fiction, read-in-2013, part-of-a-series

3.5 stars. I liked this book but found that it dragged in places. Overall a good book in an ongoing series, though.

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Dec 03, 2023 Charlene rated it really liked it

Shelves: follow-this-series, adult-themes, law-enforcement, crime, rated-not-reviewed, public-library, group-read, series-by-author, romantic-suspense

This book and the previous one in the series struck me as 3.5, rather than full 4-stars.
I can't put my fingertip on the problem, but something was too predictable or slick for me. ...more

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