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NIGHT HEAT - Brenda Jackson Harlequin Kimani/Arabesque September 2006 |
SYNOPSIS: Intent on taking over Erin Mason's struggling company, corporate shark Sebastian Steele is instead taken over after a sizzling, unforgettable night of passion with Erin.
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE: |4+| Jennifer Brathwaite
REVIEW: Sometimes, the very thing you thought was the last
thing you wanted, is exactly what you need and often the
responsibilities you thought made up your whole world, prove to be not
as important as you may have believed.
NIGHT HEAT is the classic story. Boy meets girl. Boy becomes part owner
of the construction company girl thought would be hers alone. Girl,
resentful of boy’s presence, refuses his advances. In the novel, the
girl is Jocelyn Mason and the boy is Sebastian Steele. In his desire to
fulfill what he felt was a debt he owed to the man who made him a man,
Bas moves to the small town of Newton Grove to lend his expertise to his
departed friend’s company. Angry that this outsider has been drafted to
help her run a business she knows inside out, Jocelyn makes her dislike
evident and pursuit difficult for Bas on the romantic front.
The story moves well with a credible progression as it pertains the
development of the relationships of the different individuals in the
text. The division of time between the main characters, Jocelyn and Bas
and the secondary players, Leah, Jocelyn’s sister and Reese, Leah’s
childhood sweetheart, is ideal, keeping the reader interested in both
stories.
The small town setting of Newton Grove works favorably in the book. It
informs character behaviour and becomes almost like a character of its
own. Bas’s need to get his a home in the town because his landlady has
taken it upon herself to save his life by changing his poor eating
habits, whether it kills him or not is an excellent example. In
addition, the disparity between Newton Grove and Charlotte, small town
versus big city, is representative of the differences in Jocelyn and
Bas’s lifestyles and experiences.
Everyone in NIGHT HEAT is captivating. Reese, Bas, Leah, Jocelyn and
even Jim Mason are all well-rounded and great writing makes them come to
life. The dialogue is also engaging. Reflective of the characters Mrs.
Jackson has written, Jocelyn’s temper, Bas’s arrogance, Reese’s quite
‘good-guyness’, all conversations are totally authentic.
All in all Brenda Jackson’s most recent Steele book is wholly enjoyable.
It takes a bit long to get to the more intimate aspects of the story but
watching the evolution of the character’s relationship is still
satisfying. Further, I found myself at times more invested in the growth
of Leah and Reese’s relationship than in that of Jocelyn and Bas.
Regardless, an asset to the Forged Of Steele series, NIGHT HEAT sets up
well for future stories and is a delight for readers who like their men
made up of splashes of arrogance, sexiness and inherent goodness and
their women confident but still with a degree of softness and
vulnerability.
reviewer@romanceincolor.com |15th October 2006