Shawn Wilson likes extreme sports; he finds putting his life
in danger exhilarating, but on his latest cliff diving
stunt, he injured himself a bit. With football training camp
two weeks away, he must be in top shape. His teammate Hunter
tells his fiancée Emerson, who knows just the person to help
Shawn: her best friend Sage Kaufmann, who does therapeutic
yoga. Yoga is not Shawn's idea of fun, but upon hearing the
name "Sage," he knows he must go at least once to see if
it's the Sage he has met once before.
The premise for HOT & HEAVY is not the most original, as I
have read a couple of stories in a similar vein recently,
but on the strength of how much I had enjoyed the His
Royal Highness duology, I wanted to see what this
series was all about. As the title implies, HOT & HEAVY is
not the book that will cool you off on a hot summer day,
because it is scorching! Shawn and Sage have an insane
chemistry that leaps off the page, and while the romance is
solidly based on their physical connection, Tracy Wolff had
me believe that they were in for the long haul.
HOT & HEAVY is told in both Sage and Shawn's points of
view, and their voices are so distinctive, that the prompts
when chapters switch narrators wouldn't even be necessary.
The dialogues are terrific, especially between Shawn and his
Lightning teammates; how often do you catch yourself
laughing out loud when reading: "Seriously?" While it's
obvious that HOT & HEAVY is not the first book in the
series, I felt I already know some of Shawn's fellow
footballers rather well: Clay and Tanner are fabulous
characters, and I can't wait to read their stories. At the
time, I felt the yoga scene was a tad long, but in
retrospective, it was to give us a glimpse of who Shawn and
Sage were deep down. While Shawn is reckless, Sage is
anything but, and their respective backstories showed us
why, especially in the case of Sage's mother, who is some
piece of work!
Ms. Wolff's descriptions provide amazing visuals, and the
rock climbing episode nearly made me dizzy with fear. The
sex scenes are plentiful and really HOT & HEAVY, but the
author is just as adept at conveying intense emotions and
intimacy and blending everything smoothly for a well-
balanced story. It seems that Tracy Wolff has another winner
with the Lightning
series!
When a daredevil football stud tries to get into your
yoga pants, you know class is about to get interesting. The
New York Times bestselling author of Down &
Dirty returns with Hot & Heavy.
Sage: Although I come from a long line of
free-spirited yoga teachers, sometimes I wish my life could
be just a little more normal. More ordinary. More
boring. Easier said than done, especially since it’s
on me to keep my family’s studio up and running every time
my mother wanders off to find herself. But that’s when my
best friend sends me a sexy new student: Shawn Wilson, a
slick wide receiver with a death wish and a chip on his
broad, muscular, irresistible . . . wait, what were we
talking about again?
Shawn: They say I’m an adrenaline junkie. The
truth is, I only really feel alive when I’m risking my life:
Snowboarding, parachuting, BASE jumping . . . the kind of
fun team management considers breach of contract. When my
coach orders me to take yoga to “center myself,” I’m
pissed—until I get an eyeful of delectable, flexible Sage
Kaufmann. Unfortunately, she’s determined to keep things
between us strictly business. But if Sage can get me
to enjoy downward dog, maybe I can convince her that
scorching hot sex could be the perfect shot of adrenaline.