With phones ringing off the hook, the normally "behind the scenes" Sophie Jordan has to come out front and center and face all the upheavals happening at the recently merged family businesses of Athletes Only, a sports management agency, and its subsidiary Public Relations firm, "The Hot Zone". With older sister, Annabelle, off on maternity leave and Micki, the youngest, enjoying a honeymoon, Sophie is the only one available to face the massive fall-out from a leak by a gossip columnist on the sexual orientation of her top sports agent. Not only the best in the business and a lifelong friend, Spencer Atkins has chosen a bad time to go AWOL from the firm when word got out that he was gay. Sophie needs to find him and fast with the upcoming pro football draft on the horizon or they could face massive client losses, especially to their main rival, the Cambrias Agency.

As if that wasn't disaster enough, the lovely Sophie get totally rattled when the sexually teasing superstar quarterback Riley Nash comes on to her in her office. Determined to avoid dating jocks at all costs, she finds herself ensnarled by him as he signs with her, so he can also find Spencer - his biological, but unacknowledged father! He needs to keep him quiet or life can prove difficult for his adoptive father, running for the U.S. Senate in Bible Belt Mississippi. Not only does this complicate things for Sophie as she fights off her emotions for Riley, but, her good friend and publicist, Cindy James, falls hot and heavy for Miguel Cambrias, owner of the Cambrias Agency. Miguel is eager to woo away John Cashman, a top NFL star, before Spence can sign him on board. With all those problems and sabotage at the office, the normally tightly controlled Sophie doesn't know who she can trust.

Carly Phillips has a real winner with HOT ITEM! A great read on its own, her many fans will find it an awesome ending to her trilogy of sports and romance. The interplay and bantering between Sophie and Riley is in a league all its own. You will also delight in the development of the characters as their explore their feelings for each other as well as their relationships to other family members. A winning touchdown, indeed!