Publisher: Avon
Release Date: September 25, 2018 (out now!)
Source of my copy: publisher
Series: Heartbreaker Bay #6
My rating:
Synopsis
Who needs mistletoe?
Most people wouldn't think of a bad Santa case as the perfect Christmas gift. Then again, Molly Malone, office manager at Hunt Investigations, isn't most people, and she could really use a distraction from the fantasies she's been having since spending the night with her very secret crush, Lucas Knight. Nothing happened, not that Lucas knows that — but Molly just wants to enjoy being a little naughty for once...
Whiskey and pain meds for almost-healed bullet wounds don't mix. Lucas needs to remember that next time he's shot on the job, which may be sooner rather than later if Molly's brother, Joe, finds out about them. Lucas can't believe he's drawing a blank on his (supposedly) passionate tryst with Molly, who's the hottest, smartest, strongest woman he's ever known. Strong enough to kick his butt if she discovers he's been assigned to babysit her on her first case. And hot enough to melt his cold heart this Christmas.
It's been forever and a day since I read a Jill Shalvis contemporary romance. I'm so happy to jump into her brand of romcom again with Hot Winter Nights, the sixth book in her Heartbreaker Bay series. I haven't read any of the previous books in the series, but that's okay because Hot Winter Nights can be as a standalone.
Our heroine Molly Malone is the lone woman in Hunt Investigations, a security and investigative firm, where she works as the office manager for the past two years. Molly enjoys her job, but lately she's not satisfied just working behind a desk gathering intel from a computer--she wants to join the men on a job outside the office. But, her boss Archer Hunt and her older brother Joe Malone, who also works for Archer, do not believe she's ready and are quite protective of her.
When Molly's neighbor comes to her for help about a bad Santa who may or may not be swindling his employees and who may or may not be part of the mob, Molly agrees to help and also jumps at the chance to prove her investigating skills to Archer and Joe. Archer knew she'd take on the case with or without his approval so he calls on our hero Lucas Knight to assist her on her first case without letting her know that he's actually her glorified babysitter.
But, after being shoot on the job a few weeks earlier, Lucas had been sidelined and was bored out of his mind. When Archer tasked him with looking after Molly, he reluctantly agreed since it's better than sitting at home twiddling his thumbs. However, Lucas and Molly were in for some awkwardness as the morning after a drunken night where he remembered nothing, Lucas had found Molly in his bed. Lucas knew he's a dead man if Archer and Joe finds out, but Molly wasn't about to tell him that nothing actually happened. She's having to much fun torturing the sexy man she's had a crush on for forever. Lucas was attracted to Molly too, but secretly, in respect to Joe, his co-worker and friend. However, as Molly and Lucas work on the bad Santa case, Lucas may not be able to resist Molly after all.
Overall, I enjoyed Hot Winter Nights. I especially enjoyed the first ten chapters when we first meet the Hunt Investigations team, our hero and heroine, Molly's friends, the elves (aka the women who worked for the bad Santa)--there were some great comedic lines and banter between them all that's pure Jill Shalvis. But, once Molly and Lucas got deeper into the case and we delve more into their pasts, things got more sober and serious and I missed the fun banter. I did enjoy the mystery of the bad Santa though.
And Lucas and Molly themselves were great! I liked Lucas right away, but there were times I got annoyed with Molly when she'd take stupid chances and put herself potentially at risk thinking she could handle herself. I liked Molly, but her stubbornness and no-one-tells-me-what-to-do attitude was at times frustrating.
If you're a fan of Jill Shalvis, definitely pick Hot Winter Nights up. It was an entertaining weekend read, with a great cast of characters--if you read the other books in the series, you'll especially enjoy the cameos from characters in the previous books--and a fun mystery.
It took Lucas Knight longer than it should have to realize he had a woman in his bed, but to be fair, he had a bitch of a hangover. Even worse than that, last night was a blur, prompting him to take quick stock. One, there was a bundle of sweet, soft curves against him. Two, his head was currently threatening to secede from the United States Of Lucas. And three, his side hurt like … well, like he’d been shot.
It’d been two weeks since he’d gotten caught in some crossfire on the job and he hadn’t yet been cleared for more than light duty – something he’d obviously managed to ignore last night given that he was palming a nice, warm, feminine ass.
Think, man.
Straining his brain, he remembered taking a pain med before going to O’Riley’s Pub to meet up with some friends. A client had been there, someone he’d recently helped save from a multi-million dollar corporate espionage. The guy had ordered shots to toast to Lucas and … shit. Knowing better than to mix pain meds and alcohol, he’d hesitated, but everyone had been waiting on him, glasses hoisted in the air. Thinking just one shot couldn’t hurt anything, he’d knocked back the drink.
Clearly, he’d been wrong and it’d been enough to mess him up big time, something he hadn’t been in years, not since his brother Josh had been killed. Shoving that away for another time – or never -- Lucas cracked open one eye, but when his retina was stabbed by a streak of sunlight glaring in through the window, he immediately slammed it shut it again. Taking a deep breath, he told himself to suck it up and opened both eyes this time, learning two additional facts.
He was naked and completely uncovered.
And the woman snugged up at his side was rolled up in his comforter like a burrito.
What. The. Hell.
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website, www.jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.
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