Review - Hot and Bothered

Title: Hot and Bothered
Author: Dianne Castell
Publishing Date: 2008
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Rating: C+
Sensuality: Hot
Book Disclosure: I purchased a new copy.

Hot and Bothered is the first in a series of books that takes place in Savannah, Georgia. Four women who have been close friends since childhood are all somehow connected to the disappearance of the heir to a wealthy hotel owner. Griff, the wealthy hotel owner, hires Charlotte to find the missing heir. Charlotte is a private PI and with the help of her girlfriends begins to unravel more than just the missing heir. Charlotte finds herself in danger on more than one occasion and it is not just a coincidence. To complicate matters Griff and Charlotte have long since desired one another but never acted on that desire. Although now that Griff and Charlotte are spending more time together, it's getting increasingly harder to do.

Right away, Ms. Castell immerses the reader with “Southern Charm”. It feels like the town of Savannah was created as its own character in the book. The customs and traditions of the people really come out in the writing. The characters' pasts are all intertwined and somehow connected to the mystery that Charlotte is trying to uncover.

I felt that the romance was the weaker part of the story because Charlotte and Griff have to share the spotlight with Charlotte's friends. And those friends are also involved in romantic entanglements. Therefore much of the romance between Griff and Charlotte felt secondary. However, I did enjoy Griff and Charlotte's interactions with each other. They are both fairly straight forward with their emotions - although I can't understand why they waited so long to act on their feelings for each other. It almost seemed like their relationship progressed too quickly over the course of the story to be believable especially in light of them not acting on their crushed for such a long time.

There is a continuing story arc that isn't quite resolved by the end of Hot and Bothered that will be carried into the next book in the series which is Hot and Irresistible. I have in the TBR and I'll probably get to it eventually.