Wendy the Super Librarian‘s review of Sultry Storm (Mother Nature Matchmaker Trilogy, Book 2) by Celeste O. Norfleet
Contemporary romance released by Kimani Romance 1 Jun 09

I have this horrible addiction to “cabin romances.” Those stories where the author throws the hero and heroine into close quarters due to circumstance. Which is basically why I picked up Sultry Storm, the second book in the multi-author Mother Nature Matchmaker trilogy. Unfortunately the “cabin romance” aspect of the story wasn’t enough to override a heroine who I spent most of the novel wanting to strangle and a hero who had a tendency to throw off creepy-weirdo-stalker vibes.

Mia James’ fiance has just eloped with a pert and perky coed. To top it off, an e-mail he wrote telling her that he was leaving her because she’s “frigid” somehow got sent to several of her colleagues at the college where they teach. To say she’s humiliated is an understatement. Then she gets word that her deceased father’s house in the Florida Keys is being foreclosed on. Yup, you guessed it, the jack-ass ex-fiance had assured her he hired a management company to take care of the house. Despite the fact that she had been estranged from her father prior to his death, she races down to the Keys, during a hurricane no less, to save the house.

It’s on the rain soaked streets that she meets Deputy Sheriff Stephen Morales. Stephan was friends with Leo James, who talked a lot about his daughter. So much so, that Stephen fell in love with her without even meeting her in the flesh. He desperately wanted Mia to return to the Keys, but not during a hurricane! To top it off, there are aspects of his relationship with her father that she is unaware of. Things she doesn’t know. Yup, you guessed it, when the truth comes out she’s going to be pissed.

The problem with this story is that it starts off with a set-up that doesn’t do the heroine any favors. I don’t care if it is your daddy’s house, driving to the Florida Keys during a hurricane has got to be tops in the Too Stupid To Live Romance Heroine Handbook. To make matters even worse, Mia is also one of those infuriatingly insufferable heroines who is so stubborn that she won’t listen to the hero when he tries to spill his guts. “No, let’s not talk about my father now. Let’s talk about it later.” “No, I don’t want to read these old newspaper articles now, let’s have sex!” Inevitably what always happens with brain-dead heroines like this is that she eventually finds out the truth from a third party and she’s infuriated that the hero “used” her and didn’t tell her the truth.

That’s because you didn’t want to listen you dumb bimbo! Argh!  😡

Stephen is a bit more likeable, but the whole falling in love with a woman you’ve never met is pretty creepy. This guy is about one step away from making a photo shrine of Mia in the back of his bedroom closet. The romance itself is also problematic because while it’s not quite love at first sight, it’s pretty close – with these two talking marriage in a matter of days. Oh sure, they spend a lot of time having sex (and I do mean a lot – the book is almost one long love scene), but given Mia’s stubbornness and Stephen’s borderline creepiness, I was left wondering how many marriage counselors currently live on Key West.

The Key West setting is certainly interesting, and the impending hurricane offers plenty of fodder for external conflict. That said, it wasn’t nearly enough for me to overlook a heroine I wanted to repeatedly smack and a hero whose sanity I questioned on more than one occasion.

Grade: D+

Summary:
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Mia James will do anything to save her family home—even drive into the eye of a hurricane. But from the moment she comes to the rescue of a rain-soaked stranger, another kind of storm rages.
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Stephen Morales thinks he’s dreaming when he sees the sultry beauty tending to his wounds by candlelight. And he wants more than shelter from the storm. Soon the sexy deputy sheriff is tempting Mia to throw caution to the gale-force winds and give in to a night of passion neither will forget.
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But a new tempest is gathering, swirling around a tumultuous family secret that threatens their future. With the Florida Keys erupting, Mia and Stephen can play it safe—or risk everything for a love that’s sweeping them beyond danger, beyond deception…beyond anything they’ve ever known.
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series: