Throwback Thursday HotShot - Julie Garwood

Friday, January 9, 2015

Book Review - HotShot - Julie Garwood

Title: HotShot

Author: Julie Garwood

Stars: 5 out of 5 I got this at my online library

Review:

I have never read Julie Garwood but I saw this book show up as a suggestion on my Library account so I thought sure why not it sounded interesting enough.

Peyton Lockhart graduated from a prestigious French Culinary school and got her dream job as a food critic but quickly finds out her dream job might not be what she wanted it to be. She quickly moves back home and runs into her childhood crush Finn MacBain at his brother’s wedding.  

Seeing Finn again brings back that crush she once had on him and with 8 years different in age she figures he will never really notice her. He does notice the bullet holes in her car.

Than her Uncle offers her and her two sisters a chance to run his oceanfront resort but the catch is they need to be able to show a profit in one year to be able to keep the place?

Peyton finds life isn’t always what you plan it to be and sometimes you have to roll with the punches.

This was my first Julie Garwood book and boy she is into background details making sure the readers is invested into every characters she writes. Which I have a love hate relationship with because I would find myself lost in the details she created about each character.  However I love it because you never need to guess why someone is doing something.

Payton is a fun, sarcastic character that the reader cannot help but love and root for from the beginning to end of the book. Finn MacBain is your typical alpha male character with time entertaining moments but Payton steals the book.  The dialog in the book is fun quick and will keep the readers reading along with some sexy senses as well.

I loved that Julie Garwood created secondary characters and flushed them out making them integrated into the story. I was excited that they didn’t bog down the story but kept it going and I wanted to know what happened to them.

The Villains are nasty and very dark but Julie Garwood offset the darker parts of the book with real housewives - characters that will drive the reader to laugh or crazy.

I really enjoyed the book and plan to read more from Julie Garwood in the future.

Thanks Heidi for this review.

Synopsis:  #1 New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood returns with a novel of family drama, suspense, and—of course—romance. 

Peyton Lockhart and her sisters have inherited Bishop’s Cove, a small, luxurious oceanfront resort, but it comes with a condition: The girls must run the resort for one year and show a profit—only then will they own it.

A graduate of a prestigious French culinary school, Peyton has just lost her job as a food critic. Out of work and in a bad place personally, a year doing something completely different sounds wonderful.

There are countless challenges and too many people who want to stop the sisters from succeeding. Among them are Peyton’s contentious cousins, who are outraged that they didn’t inherit the resort, as well as a powerful group of land developers who have been eyeing the coveted beachfront property.

It’s soon apparent to Peyton that their efforts are being sabotaged, but she refuses to let the threats scare her—until she’s nearly killed. She calls on her childhood friend and protector, Finn MacBain, now with the FBI, and asks for his help. He saved her life once; he can do it again. 

Author Information:  With more than 35 million books in print and 26 NEW YORK TIMES bestsellers, Julie Garwood has earned a position among America's favorite fiction writers.

Born and raised in Kansas City, MO, Ms. Garwood attributes much of her success to growing up in a large family of Irish heritage. "The Irish are great storytellers who relish getting all of the details and nuances of every situation. Add in the fact that I was the sixth of seven children. Early in life, I learned that self expression had to be forceful, imaginative, and quick," says Ms. Garwood. 

She began her writing career when the youngest of her three children entered school. After the publications of two young-adult books, she turned her talents to historical fiction. Her first novel, GENTLE WARRIOR, was published by Pocket Books in 1985. Since then, she has branched into other genres including contemporary romantic suspense. Today, her name appears regularly on the bestseller lists of every major publication in the country, and her books are translated into dozens of languages around the world. Her bestselling novel FOR THE ROSES was adapted for the HALLMARK HALL OF FAME television movie ROSE HILL.

Ms. Garwood lives in Leawood, KS and is currently working on her next novel.