I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
Hot Finish
by
Erin McCarthy
contemporary romance in a paperback edition on August 3, 2010 and has 284 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include High Stakes, My Immortal, Bit the Jackpot, An Enchanted Season, Fallen, The Taking, Bad Boys of Summer, Bled Dry, Flat-Out Sexy, Sucker Bet, Hard and Fast, When Good Things Happen to Bad Boys, First Blood, Slow Ride, The Chase, The Night Before Christmas, Out of the Light, and into the Shadows, Jacked Up, A Date with the Other Side, Heiress for Hire, Bad Boys in Black Tie, True, Seeing is Believing, Believe, Shatter, Sweet, Burn, Gone with the Ghost, Murder Drama with Your Llama
Third in the Fast Track romantic racing series revolving around a group of stock car drivers.
My Take
It’s greatest value is in its resolution of Suzanne and Ryder’s relationship with which McCarthy has been teasing us for the past two stories. It’s a satisfying resolution but no great tensions or dramas despite McCarthy’s trying to create them.
Suzanne discovers that she really doesn’t like the person she’s turning into. Manipulating clients to do/choose the more expensive option just so she can make the money. Along the way, McCarthy encourages Suzanne and Ryder to look within themselves for the reasons their marriage didn’t work.
I think Tuesday Talladega is going to turn out to be Nikki.
The Story
With her maintenance coming to an end, Suzanne needs an income, and she thinks she’s found it in returning to her roots in wedding planning. The problem is Nikki, one of those bridezillas…and “that girl is so dumb, if she threw herself on the ground she’d miss”. Nikki is an unappreciative, drain of a bride who can’t make up her mind.
That’s not the worst of it. It appears that Suzanne and Ryder may not actually be divorced. And with all the to-ing and fro-ing, Suzanne’s pregnant. Just like the first time around when Suzanne was sure that Ryder only married her because they had to.
The Characters
Suzanne Jefferson has been divorced from Ryder for two years now. She still loves him but she can’t live with him.
Ryder Jefferson still doesn’t understand why Suzanne walked out. He still wants her. He still wants to be married to her.
Nikki is marrying Joshua Strickland, one of the up-and-coming stock car drivers. Unfortunately for Josh, Nikki mostly wants the prestige and the money a driver represents.
Elec Morgan and Tamara Briggs-Morgan with their kids, Peter and Hunter along with Ty and Imogene and Evan Morgan play minor supporting roles.
The Cover and Title
The brilliantly red sunset in the cover is more of a hot start with a nicely muscled upper torso clad in worn bluejeans with a bit of his black knit boxers showing above the waistband. He leans back against the red hood of a car almost stroking it.
My interpretation of the title is the Hot Finish to Suzanne and Ryder’s predicament.
