Author: Summer Devon
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 103 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: I didn’t hate Hot Under the Collar. I just wish I had liked it more.
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: Attorney Sam Trevisani never thought he’d play the bad guy, but now his job to stop a dog park makes him the enemy of every dog owner in town—and whenever he meets his main opponent, Dan Bailey, the vet gives him the evil eye. Tired of playing for the wrong side, Sam has to find a solution. Maybe the tempting Dr. Bailey can help him find a solution for his restless need for change. Or maybe it’s his attraction to the vet that pushes Sam to pay a late-night visit.
Tired of town politics and manipulative games, Dan has no interest in helping the flashy lawyer. Yet Sam’s dogged interest in him proves oddly appealing. Dan reluctantly allows the attractive lawyer into his house and sparks fly. Sam doesn’t mind hookups, but Dan doesn’t do them–yet in one night, they both change their minds.
Determined to keep Dan from running away from something promising between them, Sam has to get past his attorney uncle, Dan’s pack of misfit dogs, and a powerful but unpleasant client who could end not only the dog park but any chance of romance between the lawyer and the vet.
Review: This review is a bummer because I really wanted to be telling you guys about how adorable Summer Devon’s Hot Under the Collar was, and how much I loved these guys; but, unfortunately, I don’t get to rave about this one. I wanted to like it. I expected to. I’ve totally enjoyed Devon’s collaborations with Bonnie Dee. But, in my opinion, there just wasn’t enough here to really get this story off the ground.
Sam, who, funnily enough, was supposed to be the ‘bad guy’, was my favorite thing about the book. He was funny and sweet and kind of quirky. He wanted to practice a different kind of law than the unfulfilling cases he was working at his uncle’s law firm—but, Sam kept working there out of obligation because Uncle Ricky had lent him the money for law school. Sam also didn’t want to stay in the closet forever, but felt that, if he stayed with Ricky, he’d have to. When it came down to quitting, however, Sam kept chickening out. Until Dan lit a fire under him.
Sadly, Dan was nowhere near as likeable as Sam was. His character was surprisingly flat, and didn’t at all make me believe that he was someone Sam would get fired up for. We learn that Dan and Sam went to high school together, though Dan doesn’t initially remember Sam at all, but that connection was thin. In fact, any connection that they had at all throughout the book felt completely one-sided. It was very much Sam pursuing Dan, and Dan being standoffish and uptight.
All in all, the book was cute, but, as I said, nothing to rave about. I liked Sam quite a bit, but didn’t feel any tangible connection to them as a couple. Basically, I was simply underwhelmed. I didn’t hate it. I just wish I had liked it more.
You can buy Hot Under the Collar here:
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