In HOT SUMMER NIGHTS high-priced call girl Leslie Morgan decides to leave her position as "Carolynne" (with an e), an escort for the New York escort service Club Fantasy, and take some vacation time for herself. Retiring to the Connecticut town of Sound's End, Leslie plans to catch up on her reading, laze around at the beach, and not think about her job for a month while she determines if she just needed a break or if she really is burned out on the professional sex trade. She never expects that her summer of leisure will turn out to be just as fast-paced and exciting as her position back home due to the small town's inhabitants.

For instance, the town mayor, Suze, is the type of woman who just has to know everything. Suze makes it her business to know the ins and outs of every Sound's End resident, and she just knows something is strange when Leslie comes to town. Then there's Abby, the wife of a New York entertainment lawyer, who is convinced that her husband is cheating, but not sure if she should do anything about it. There's Vicki, the town sexpot who is threatened by Leslie's looks and confidence, and who stirs the pot in the small Eastern town by announcing plans to open a store specializing in erotic goods. And finally, there's Brad DeVane, a sexy New York cop who spends his days swimming laps in the ocean and driving the women of Sound's End crazy with his charm and good looks. Though Leslie initially finds herself attracted to Brad, she knows that it isn't a good idea. A cop and a hooker? Please! Little does Leslie know, Brad is actually in Sound's End recuperating from an on-the-job injury, and to find out more information about Leslie, Carolynne, and Club Fantasy.

HOT SUMMER NIGHTS was entertaining and engaging, and I was never bored at any time. It's the classic summer beach read and has an interesting storyline to boot. The "hooker with a heart of gold" is rarely done in a way that makes you able to empathize and understand the heroine's choice, with the notable exception of Pretty Woman. Joan Elizabeth Lloyd took a taboo subject and tackled with an interesting and likeable heroine. Though at times Leslie was a bit too girl next door for my taste, I can understand that in order to make her likeable she couldn't be the hard-nosed, seen-it-all prostitute that one might expect. Still, the fact that the town's inhabitants turn to her for advice, from hormonal teenager to unhappily married friends to shy waitresses , was a bit of a stretch for me.

Furthermore, there were a number of different characters who alternated as narrators, and it was difficult at times to distinguish between them all. Though the story was interesting, my chief complaint is the Lloyd has a problem with voice. For instance, at one point a teenage girl says, "I must look a fright." However, the narration by the extra characters gave the story added depth that wouldn't have been possible if it had been told entirely from Leslie's point of view. Meeting the inhabitants of Sound's End is one of the things that made the story three-dimensional, and for that reason, I can say that the voice inconsistencies were only a minor inconvenience. Other than this relatively minor problem, HOT SUMMER NIGHTS delivered exactly what it promised. A fun, fast-paced summer beach read filled with hot summer nights filled with passion and entertainment.