Hott Take (Hott Springs Eternal 2) by Serena Bell-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 16, 2024

he hard part isn’t acting like we’re falling for each other. It’s pretending we’re not.

Shane: My grandfather’s will has me between a rock and a Hott place. If I don’t score a celebrity wedding, my sister will lose her wedding planning business—and our family’s land. As a playboy movie star, I know Hollywood’s ins and outs. But finding two celebrities in love is tougher than it looks.

Enter Ivy Scofield—the beautiful star of one of TV’s most beloved failures. She’s hiding from her past in Rush Creek, running a community theater for troubled kids. She needs my family’s wedding barn to save her program. So we make a deal: I give her the barn—she gives me her hand in fake marriage. Lights, camera, action—and cut—right?

Not so fast. Planning our fake wedding is way more personal than I was expecting. I’m learning Ivy’s quirks, preferences, and pet peeves—and that’s before I walk in on her enjoying my most infamous on-camera scene. Plus she’s slowly peeling back my layers—the ones I’ve built up to protect myself. If someone doesn’t do something soon, we might discover that the only thing fake about this wedding is the way we keep pushing each other away.

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REVIEW:  HOTT TAKE is the second instalment in Serena Bell’s contemporary, adult HOTT SPRINGS ETERNAL erotic, romance series focusing on the HOTT siblings: Quinn, Shane, Preston, Tucker, Rhys, and their sister Hanna (Wilder at Last 5/ Wilder Adventures)-a spin off from the author’s WILDER ADVENTURES series. This is actors Shane HOTT, and Ivy Scofield’s story line.

SOME BACKGROUND: The HOTT Springs Eternal series focuses in the aftermath of the death of the Hott family patriarch. Grandfather Hott has a number of stipulations and guidelines if the siblings are to inherit the family fortune. Each sibling is required to honor their late grandfather’s request if their sister Hanna is to keep the HOTT Springs resort.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Ivy and Shane) HOTT TAKE focuses on Shane Hott. Grandfather Hott has demanded that Shane contract a celebrity wedding for the family owned Hott Springs Resort but with only a six month window, Shane’s chosen couple are not necessarily a guaranteed affair. Meanwhile Ivy Scofield, whose own acting career has stalled in the face of betrayal and lies, runs a community theatre for troubled children but without a venue, Ivy is struggling to keep the theatre afloat until an offer from fellow actor Shane Hott pulls Ivy into a fake relationship and marriage with our story line hero. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between our story line couple, and the potential fall-out when Shane and Ivy’s time together comes to an end.

The world building continues to focus on the demands of their grandfather’s will. The stipulations and directives are overseen by someone who is hoping the siblings fail but Shane is determined to provided a celebrity wedding even if he is one-half of the couple in question.

The relationship between Ivy and Shane begins as a business arrangement: marry Shane, and Ivy’s theatre company can use the Hott family ‘barn’ but from the outset Ivy is determined to keep their relationship from becoming too real, and in the end, heart break will pull Ivy out of Shane’s life. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top sexually graphic language and text.

Once again, there is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including the Hott siblings. We are introduced to Ivy’s ex-Anthony, attorney Weggers, and Ivy’s sister Nia.

HOTT TAKE is an another story of loss, power and control, family and relationships, acceptance and love. The premise is captivating yet familiar; the romance is seductive; the characters are desperate yet determined.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one HOTT SHOT

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy