Desert Isle Keeper Review

Hot Under Pressure

Boutique owner Ashley Larsen hates flying, but when she’s seated next to a really hot guy — financial guru David McLean — on a flight to Los Angeles, her day is about to get a whole lot better. When the flight is delayed for several hours, their instant attraction really starts heating up. In the airport café they connect over food and shared divorce stories and on the plane they share some cramped quarters for several hours. By the time the flight is finally canceled due to bad weather, they’re more than ready to put that attraction to the test.

The plan is to have some great sex and go their separate ways since Ashley’s work and family is in Chicago and David has a great career in New York City and is still bitter from his divorce. What neither expects is to develop feelings for each other. So what begins as a one-night stand soon becomes a heated cross-country love affair.

The major obstacle for them, aside from location, is Ashley’s family: Her recovering alcoholic sister, young niece, and worrywart mother. The family dynamics are dysfunctional to say the least, and Ashley has become so used to being the one who fixes everything that she can’t seem to break away — even for her own happiness.

I had so much fun escaping into this book. The chemistry between Ashley and David is off the charts; I swear sometimes the heat between them was radiating from the pages. On top of that, I liked Ashley and David as people. They’re not perfect and they’re not without baggage, but I think that’s what makes their HEA all that much sweeter. They’ve both been through painful divorces — especially in David’s case — and on some level they’re still recovering from those experiences and learning to love again. The growth of their relationship and the conflicts that arose felt real, and I was rooting for them the whole way.

There was only one thing I didn’t love about Hot Under Pressure, and really it was such a minor annoyance. Ashley often has short, imaginary debates with her sister in her head, and that’s just not a character quirk I’ve ever enjoyed. But, while the debates were slightly annoying, they did provide insight into Ashley’s sister and their relationship, so they didn’t detract much from my overall delight.

I discovered Kathleen O’Reilly with last year’s O’Sullivans series and am so glad I found her. There’s something about her stories that just hook me. I’m adding Hot Under Pressure to my keeper shelf, and eagerly awaiting her next Blaze.

-- Katie Mack

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