Running Hott (Hott Springs Eternal 4) by Serena Bell-review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date

A jilted bride. A jaded divorce lawyer. A full tank of gas. What could go wrong?

Rhys: As a cutthroat New York City divorce lawyer, it’s my job to end marriages. Lifetime commitment? It’s for the birds. I do everything in my power to avoid it…until my grandfather’s will says that to save our family’s land, I have to become a wedding planner.

Worse, my first client is Eden Becker. She’s the sunshine-y disaster whose ex-husband I represented a few years ago in their divorce. Eden’s first marriage was a nightmare, so why does she think another one is a good idea?

Turns out, I’m not wrong. Her jerkwad fiancé jilts her, and as her wedding planner, I’m also her getaway vehicle. Now we’re on the road together—and all my complicated feelings about this beautiful, naive optimist are in the car, too. Along with a wild attraction I’ve been fighting since we first faced off across a conference table.

If this road trip goes on too much longer, I’m going to do something I’ll regret forever.

Like fall in love.

•••••••

REVIEW:RUNNING HOTT is the fourth instalment in Serena Bell’s contemporary, adult HOTT SPRING 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 New York divorce attorney Rhys Hott, and professional quilter Eden Becker’s story line. RUNNING HOTT can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary but I recommend reading the series in order for back story as there is an ongoing premise throughout.

SOME BACKGROUND: The HOTT Springs Eternal series focuses in the aftermath of the death of the Hott family patriarch. Grandfather Fox 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 in Rush Creek. If the orders of the will are not adhered to, the land and everything on it will be sold to an international mining company.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Eden and Rhys) RUNNING HOTT follows in the aftermath of the wedding that never happened. Eden Becker was minutes away from marrying the man whom she loved when the ‘new wedding planner’ Rhys Hott announced that her groom had upped and run. Rhys Hott never wanted the position as wedding planner but his grandfather’s will has deigned him the latest victim of his grandfather’s attorney, a man who is secretly enjoying the anxiety of the Hott family siblings. A cross country journey to retrieve what is hers, Eden finds herself looking at Rhys Hott with a different set of eyes, eyes that no longer saw Rhys as the angry attorney but as a man who is struggling with his own place in the family.

The world building focuses on Eden’s determination and drive to make it on her own, as Rhys struggles with what he wants, and a change in his future.

The relationship between Rhys and Eden begins acrimoniously as Rhys and Eden have a contentious past in which Rhys once represented Eden’s ex husband in their combative divorce. A successful quilter, and a woman scorned twice, Eden refuses to jump into another relationship but something about Rhys calls to her heart. The $ex scenes are intimate and provocative without the use of over the top,sexually graphic language and text.

We are reintroduced to all of the desperate Hott siblings, their significant other and Grandpa Hott’s attorney Arthur Weggers, as well as the introduction of Eden’s ex-fiance Paul Graves. Tucker’s story line is next.

RUNNING HOTT is a story of secrets and lies, betrayal and heart break, family and relationships, acceptance and love. The premise is captivating and entertaining; the romance is seductive; the characters are determined, desperate and dynamic.

Reading Order and previous reviews
Hott Shot
Hott Take
Some Like It Hott

Reviewed by Sandy

Copy supplied for review