Review: Hotshot by Julie Garwood

Publish Date: August 6, 2013
Kindle {p. 368}
Genre: Suspense
Source: Publisher
Peyton Lockhart, Finn McBain

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. Julie’s previous two titles, The Ideal Man and Sweet Talk, both debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list.

I loved Finn and Peyton from the very beginning. I thought they had a very sweet relationship when they were children, and I was eager to see how it progressed once they became adults. The relationship between Peyton and Finn was the major draw that kept me going with this one.

The overall romance side of the novel was it's shinning glory. I loved the interaction not only between Finn and Peyton, but that of her sister Lucy and Christopher. Although as a reader, I wish we could gotten to know Christopher a little better. The fight/arguing those two did the majority of the time they were together was fun to watch.

Now on the side of the suspense, it was all that suspenseful. It didn't really add anything to the story other than a need for Peyton to call on Finn. The whole situation with Peyton and her previous employer and that of her cousin Debi, just seemed ridiculous. Debi should have never been allowed anywhere near the business no matter how much of a tantrum she threw. And her ex-employer was just plan stupid.

I love Julie Garwood's contemporary novels, but this one wasn't one of my favorites. I loved it for Peyton and Finn, and they will rank among some of my favorite Garwood couples, but the suspense storyline feel short for me.