Hot Under Pressure (Harlequin Blaze #485)

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Synopsis

Clothing boutique owner Ashley Larsen hates flying, but unfortunately it's become a regular part of her job. To get through it, she has her lucky pink bunny slippers that help her to relax, but when a hot guy is seated next to her on her latest flight, she almost wishes she didn't have them on. However, in spite of her silly footwear, sexy David McLean strikes up a conversation with Ashley. When the flight is grounded due to mechanical issues, the two spend hours together, getting to know one another, and when it's delayed overnight, they can't get to the hotel fast enough. But Ashley only intends for it to be a one night stand. After all, between all of her family responsibilities and the fact that he lives in New York and she's in Chicago, how could they possibly manage a relationship?

Financial analyst David McLean is a divorcee who's had a hard time getting back into the dating scene. With Ashley the conversation flows and the connection feels real, even though she only plans for them to share the one night. When their flight finally gets underway again, he secretly leaves her his business card with an invitation to call, and when she does, he's excited to hear from her. Thinking that allowing real life to intrude on their red hot affair will diminish it, Ashley merely wants to rendezvous in various cities across the country while they're traveling for work, a proposition to which David initially agrees. But soon he finds himself wanting more. When he discovers that her boutiques are struggling financially, he offers his help, since that's his area of expertise. Ashley manages to let him into her business life, but can she ever trust him enough to allow him a genuine glimpse of her personal life or will they simply stay in their little fantasy bubble without ever going deeper?

Review

Hot Under Pressure is the first book in Kathleen O'Reilly's Where You Least Expect It series. However, as far as I can tell, the books don't have any common characters, just the shared theme of two people meeting under unusual circumstances and discovering a red hot chemistry. With this seeming to be the case, I'll hazard a guess that the books in the series are really stand-alones. This one is about Ashley and David who meet on an airplane while both are traveling for business. When the plane is grounded due to a mechanical issue, they spend hours enjoying each other's company, and eventually spend the night together. Although they only intend for it to be a one-night stand, they both find the "stranger sex" to be wildly stimulating, so when David leaves Ashley his business card with a note to call anytime, she can't resist. They make arrangements to meet in various cities across the country where they engage in a red hot love affair. At first, Ashley is reluctant to let real life intrude on their steamy encounters, thinking that it will ruin the sex, but eventually they start to grow closer despite living in different cities. David helps Ashley with an idea for reinvigorating her faltering chain of boutiques, while Ashley helps David reconnect with his estranged brother and ex-wife. But despite Ashley falling for David, she struggles with letting go of unhealthy family ties, leaving David out in the cold on more than one occasion and leaving the reader wondering if they'll ever be able to get on the same page and in the same city permanently.

Ashley is a divorcee, who's living with her mother, sister, and niece to help out her sister, who is a recovering alcoholic. She followed her dream of starting a small chain of mid-range fashion boutiques, but sales haven't been great and she's struggling with finding a way to get her stores back on track. She travels frequently, searching for new, up-and-coming designers to feature in her stores, but she hates flying. The only thing that gets her through it is her trusty bunny slippers that help her relax a little. Then she meets David when he's seated next to her. The two hit it off and spend hours together after their flight is grounded. The chemistry is immediate and off-the-charts, so when the airline puts them up in a hotel for the night, they share a room. The sex is phenomenal, but Ashley plans to simply remember it all fondly until she finds David's business card that he secretly left for her. That begins their multi-city love affair. At first, Ashley is reluctant to share personal info, wanting to just live in the sexy little fantasy world they've created, but eventually real-life intrudes when a crisis with her sister causes her to head home early from one of their encounters. Ashley knows that she owes David an explanation and gradually starts to open up to him, but she still struggles with letting go of her sister and embracing a future with David. At first, I had trouble connecting with Ashley, because initially she seemed a bit shallow. Once her family dynamics are revealed, I related a little better, but I still had some issues with respecting her choices. Although I understand the pull that family sometimes has on a person, I couldn't help agreeing with David that her relationship with her sister was unhealthy and codependent. I was glad to see her take David's advice regarding her business and that she finally was able to grow with regards to her family as well, but it took a little too long to get there for my taste.

David is a Wall Street financial analyst who was also divorced after his wife cheated on him with his own brother. It was a devastating loss, because he'd always been close with his brother and now he feels like the two people he loved most can no longer be a part of his life. Even though they've been making overtures to mend fences, he can't quite get past his anger at them to meet with them or even be in the same city. But that's exactly where he finds himself when the plane he's booked on ends up grounded. However, he had the incredible luck of getting stranded with an attractive woman who gets his motor humming in a way he hasn't felt in a long time. After spending the night together, he knows he wants to see her again, so when she calls, he eagerly accepts her invitation to keep meeting up in various cities. Soon he knows he wants more, especially after she helps him reconnect with his brother and ex, but Ashley still holds back, not wanting him to meet her family or even tell them about him. Although he'd do almost anything for her, it leaves him wondering if they have a future when she leaves him in the lurch more than once to go save her sister from yet another calamity. I liked David. He's had his confidence shaken by the affair and divorce and is struggling with the idea of getting back in the dating pool. He's clearly a good lover, since Ashley can't get enough of him, and he tries to be emotionally supportive. When it comes to her business he formulates a brilliant plan that revives her boutiques. But he also doesn't hesitate to call her on the mat when she seems to be letting her sister walk all over her, which made me respect him.

Hot Under Pressure ended up being an OK read for me. I felt like the author couldn't decide whether it was supposed to be a chick lit story or a women's fiction with a little romance and sexy times thrown into the mix. The first half of the book was kind of dull and shallow, while also being light and breezy more like chick lit would be. I can't say that either fashion or financial analysis are all that interesting to me, so the descriptions of their jobs were a bit of a snooze. I'm also not a huge fan of stranger sex or sex-only relationships, and with Ashley resisting sharing personal info even after multiple meet-ups with David, it left an emotional disconnect. Then suddenly the story shifted gears to become a more angsty read à la women's fiction, when both David and Ashley start dealing with their respective family dramas. David had good reasons for being upset, and although he does reconcile with his brother and ex, it's realistic and not a walk in the park. Then there's Ashley who seems to keep choosing her sister over David, which was a bit frustrating to me. A part of me understood where she was coming from, but at the same time, it wasn't really fair to David. All of this had the effect of making me feel like the story was a little too realistic for my taste. I generally read for fun and escapism, so dysfunctional family drama like this doesn't usually do a lot for me. Been there, done that, don't really want to read about it in my sexy romances. If I want something this real, I'll go read a non-fiction book.

In addition to the story not entirely being to my taste, I had issues with some of the love scenes. There sometimes seemed to be steps missing (eg. clothing not being removed, condoms not being put on, etc.), which made them a bit choppy, but nothing is more frustrating than having a fade-out love scene that doesn't even end in a climax for the couple, which is the case with more than one of them. Then there were also a number of editing issues (typos, incorrect verb tenses, awkward wording, etc.) that could be a little distracting. Even Ashley's last name is different in the cover blurb than in the story, and in the story, the spelling changes on a few occasions. All of this made for a so-so read. Although the characters and story started out rather shallow, they did prove to have some depth, and overall, I was happy with how it all ended. I just would have preferred a little less realism and a little more escapism.

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Kathleen O'Reilly @ GoodReads