HOT ITEM

Author: Carly Phillips ISBN: 0373771223 6/2006 Publisher: HQN

Seen on the sidelines . . . What star quarterback has been spotted with a new flavor of arm candy? It’s notorious bad boy Riley Nash, but his newest flame is the last person this reporter could imagine—none other than Sophie Jordan, beautiful, buttoned-down co-owner of The Hot Zone, the industry’s top sports management agency. What’s behind this unlikely team? Some say it has to do with the sudden disappearance of super agent Spencer Atkins. Could there be a connection between the red-hot quarterback and the missing dealmaker? Or has the famous groupie magnet simply met his perfect match in cool, collected Sophie? Watch this space, because the resulting news is bound to be one Hot Item.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Carly Phillips is one of those authors where I feel comfortable not even reading the back blurb of her books before I pick them up. She is an incredible author with a great vision for each and every one of her books. Her writing is realistic, sexy and over the top fun!

In this, the third and final installment of The Hot Zone trilogy, we get Sophie's story. Sophie has always been my favorite sister. Maybe it was because she is such a control freak perfectionist and I was excited to see which hot, sexy jock was going to turn her world upside down. Or maybe it was just that Sophie is so much like everyday women that I know, always trying to be someone they aren't to cover up their imperfections and insecurities.

Sophie is the PR gal for The Hot Zone. Not wanting to mingle with jocks, she would rather spend her time doing the party planning, the fundraising, charity events, things of that nature—things that keep her out of the line of fire, so to speak. She has always had a teensy crush on Riley Nash, but would never admit to something so silly! When Riley walks into her office searching for the truth from her uncle's partner, Sophie is forced to admit that Riley absolutely raises her blood pressure.

Riley Nash is a jock in the finest sense of the word. He is hot, loaded and can ooze charm like nobody's business. His character is larger than life, and seems to fill up every page. He has always had a secret little thing for Sophie Jordan, and does his best to unnerve her whenever they are together. Riley goes to Sophie for help finding the answers to some pretty serious questions, questions that will change his life. In the process Riley gets his questions answered and finds something that he never bargained for.

While I was sad to see this trilogy wrapping up, I was glad that this installment was done with the same class and downright fun that the other two books were overflowing with. Sophie's story in HOT ITEM is delightful, and brought everyone in the family together one last time for faithful readers of The Hot Zone trilogy.

Kristal Gorman